Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin On Friday of Labor Day Weekend, the community of Santa Fe celebrates the Burning of Zozobra. This ..
. [+] cultural tradition marks its 100th year in 2024. Melinda Herrera Photography Santa Fe has its own version of a burning man festival and it’s turning 100 in 2024.
Known as The Burning of Zozobra , this annual event involves the lighting up of a giant mythical villain towering over the city’s Fort Marcy Park. It happens on the Friday before Labor Day. This year, its date falls on August 30.
Zozobra’s origin story is linked to an artist named William Howard “Will” Shuster Jr., who came up with this menancing-looking character. The Philadelphia-born Shuster studied art after high school but was then drafted and sent overseas amid World War I.
He would develop respiratory problems, resulting from exposure to the warfare use of mustard gas. After returning home, Shuster’s cousin, who was also a physician, gave him two medical options. The Burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe features a schedule of performances before the igniting of .
.. [+] Zozobra.
Bryce Risley Photography “[He] says that you can stay in bed for the next six months here in Philadelphia and die, or you can move out West and die of rattlesnakes and whiskey,” said Event Deputy Ray Sandoval, “and Shuster liked to always tell people that he chose the rattlesnakes and whiskey, so he moved out here.” Shuster, a painter and sculptor, was among its foun.