SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 16 AUGUST 2021: If you grew a tad tired of 2D events this past year, has Santa Fe—The City Different—got something for you.
While the old west’s ever premier trading post is an internationally renowned and beloved destination, the ancient and enigmatic city still has a few riddles wrapped inside its mysteries. Why exactly will townsfolk gather Friday September 3 of Labor Day Weekend for the 97th time to cheer uproariously in rapt joy at the burning of a gigantic five-story marionette named Zozobra?
“Zozobra is an eerie, 50-foot-tall specter who embodies all the many forms of gloom that build up in people and society during the year,” said Kiwanis Chairman and longtime event producer and director Ray Sandoval. “He is by far the largest and strangest of so many incomparable New Mexico folk art traditions, but also the most magical as he loses his dark battle to the Fire Spirit brought to life by the collective goodwill and united spirit of all who yearn for a better world.”
Runnin’ Down A Dream: The arc of history bends toward justice
Like America, Santa Fe has faced centuries of challenging cultural division due to its unique geography and history. In 1924, American painter and WWI veteran Will Shuster created Zozobra to foster more inclusivity. Thanks in no small part to this spectacularly captivating artistic and ritual tradition, the city continues to forge progress as a beacon of tolerance, creativity and welcoming as exemplified by its routinely being voted one of the topmost friendly destinations in the U.S. and world.
The burn has seen the community through World War, depressions, drought, decades of America’s racial, social and cultural upheaval and now pandemic. Santa Fe welcomes the world to our backyard in person or virtually to help us repel all deadly foes as one global community and to fill hearts with the love and hope we so need.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot: I want my Z-TV!
While the technological innovations from last year’s no-live-audience program are back—including live telecast and webcast with web participation—thanks to the vaccines, so too are the 60,000+ adoring family and friends from around the planet who last year respected protocol and stayed away to protect each other and help contain one of the all-time gloomiest of events: the Corona Virus Pandemic.
This year as always, Kiwanis generates money and support for key charities but will also specially honor healthcare workers. Further, with the return of the annual Decades Project that will culminate in the event’s centenary celebration in 2024, two massive, million-pixel screens will debut for the huge 1980’s-themed party on the field below the stage.
Don’t You Forget About Me: The decades project reborn
Anyone from the 1980’s will never forget the profound blend of triumph and tragedy, technological innovation and cultural and fashion frivolity that marked a time both like no other and with unmistakable ties to here and now.
Events ranged from the deeply serious gloom of the AIDS virus, Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, Exxon Valdez spill, and the Iran/Contra scandal to the glorious Solidarity movement and falls of the Berlin Wall and Soviet empire.
We loved the Rubik’s Cube and Pac Man, and culture was never the same after the birth of cable television—to say nothing of the advent of the personal computer. A woman broke through and ran for vice president and another actually got seated on the Supreme Court. Amidst all the revolutions, David Letterman revolutionized late night television, comedy and ironic culture, the Brat Pack took over Hollywood, and Boy George, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper brought a joyous new bounce to the airwaves and yes, some whack weirdness and plastic to fashion.
As with the five prior Decades Project burns, once again all of Santa Fe and people from all fifty states and a couple dozen nations will gather downtown, honor glooms and joys old and new, and burn any trace of sadness, worry, and ill will in the purgatorial fires of Zozobra—the OG Burning Man.
In The Name Of Love: Children, community & charity
Zozobra is a festivity—nothing short of July 4, Thanksgiving & New Year’s Eve rolled into one—but Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improve the world one child and one community at a time. They’re caretakers of the Zozobra tradition to bring joy and unity to everyone but also to support some very special charitable organizations.
When you participate in any way, not only do you help rid yourself of darkness, you make a difference in a child’s life too. Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe will donate the net proceeds of the 2021 Burn My Gloom campaign to nonprofits that help make life better for children. Past recipients include: Cooking with Kids, Casa Familia, Girls Inc., Reel Fathers Ltd., Wise Fool, Dreamers Project, Girls on the Run, Unlocked Minds, and Assistance Dogs of The West.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Tickets & info
Two years ago, 5,000 tickets were sold by August 1. This year, the total was 33,000. A sold-out show is given, so get clicking now at www.burnzozobra.com/event-information/tickets.
On September 3, the pageantry will also be televised live from Ft. Marcy Park in downtown Santa Fe on New Mexico ABC affiliate KOAT Channel 7 and live-streamed online at https://www.koat.com. The program begins at 8:00 p.m. MDT and will be archived and viewable after the event. Complete details on everything are at www.burnzozobra.com.
Don’t Stop Believin’: Burn my gloom from anywhere & gift a gloom too
Last year over 100,000 people took advantage of the first-ever online gloom entry. For a dollar, you can write out your gloom—anything that’s bothering you in any words you wish—and it will be printed out and placed inside Old Man Gloom for proper burning up and away. This year, glooms will be printed on virtual masks.
You can further whoop on Zozobra and buy a Burn My Gloom gift for anyone else at the same nominal “buck-a-gloom” for charity. Enter details at www.burnzozobra.com/gloom and your friends and loved ones will be able to enter glooms privately online too.
Another One Bites The Dust: Back to the future
Those who hark back to 1980’s nightlife know that anytime the DJ played “Burning Down The House” the party was about to go into overdrive. In Santa Fe, that spirit is still going, gets a deep breath of fresh air this September 3—and anyone who has ever attended The Annual Burning Of Zozobra will tell you that we burn down the house like no one else anywhere.
As we cautiously pass into a more liberated phase of the Covid-19 catastrophe, we fully recognize the ongoing physical, emotional, and economic hardships that so many continue to face in the U.S. and around the world. Our hearts are with you as we gather together as one people in the primordial tradition of ritual fire to cleanse and begin again anew.
Please join us.
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Contact:
John Feins
johnfeins.com
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