THE MEANING OF ZOZOBRA

Posted by Maria Costasnovo in Santa Fe, Zozobra

Thousands of people come from other cities and states to be a part of Santa Fe’s Zozobra celebration: the burning of a giant marionette called “Old man Gloom” or “Zozobra,” which dispels the hardships and travails of the past year. Zozobra means, literally, “anxiety” in Spanish, but what does Zozobra really means for people who come to the oldest capital city in the United States for this celebration?

If there was a synonym for  Zozobra at the Sept. 5 burning, it was “family.” The whole Fort Marcy Park was full of families sharing just their time. Ben Gomez, a Vietnam veteran, has been coming to this event since he was a kid. He used to bring his son; now also his granddaughters come with them.

“It’s an important day because the whole family meets every year. When my son was a kid, he danced up there. We just come here, sit in the yard and spend the whole day together. For us this is an important tradition, we all come together, buy funny hats and we become this in a family day. We just enjoy being together.”

Friendship also had its place at Zozobra. The whole park was full of teenagers, both enjoying themselves, and volunteering. One group had come from Northport School, in New York, as part of the International Baccalaureate Program. In this program, they go to a city every year to help in any event. Last year, they went to New Orleans, and this year they came to Santa Fe, where they seemed impressed with the city and the event itself.

“This is really different from New York, and we love it,” Anna said. “Yesterday we were in Pueblo, helping in one of the kitchens for poor people, and today we are here welcoming people as ushers.”

As the sun was leaving and the night was coming, more people arrived at Fort Marcy Park. Everyone wanted to be in the front row to see how the marionette was burnt. People moved in closer and people began yelling “burn him.” Soon, they did just that. Before long, the fireworks began while the fire burnt what was left of Zozobra, and all the bad things from the past gave way to the good ones from the future.