Don’t wait to get Zozobra tickets this year

Don’t say we didn’t warn you, but don’t wait to buy tickets to the 100th anniversary of the Burning of Zozobra. Wait, and all the tickets will be sold. The burning doesn’t take place until Aug. 30, but all the premium tickets are sold, and as of Tuesday, 69% of general admission tickets had been snapped up. That means, come the day of the burn, it will be almost impossible to stroll down to Fort Marcy park, snap up a ticket and walk in. The event is being capped at 65,000 people because of security, so when the tickets are gone, they’re gone.

Admission still will be free for children 10 and under, and members of the Kiwanis Club — sponsors of the burn — have been working with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to set aside 5,000 free tickets to distribute to people who might not otherwise be able to afford to go. Until July 31, tickets are $30 each, with $5 locals’ discount; on Aug. 1, they go up to $35, and on the day of the event — not that there will be any — tickets are $40.

Buying early is the best way to ensure a spot on the field when the marionette designed to hold the city’s glooms goes up in flames. For traditionalists among us, it’s worth noting that young people as Gloomies will be back in 2024; Kiwanis and its insurance providers found a way to make it happen. There’s a buzz around the centennial.

Already, the Kiwanis Club has persuaded the city of Santa Fe to name the baseball field at Fort Marcy park after the marionette — Zozobra Field at Fort Marcy park is a mouthful, but the designation ties the annual event with more routine use of the field — complete with time capsules, which will be constructed at the corner of Bishops Lodge Road and Artist Road, to be opened at 25-year intervals.

Then there’s a Zozobra statue — 20 feet of gloom — that has been approved for placement at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center in late July or early August. Santa Fe sculptor Don Kennell will create the whimsical statue, to be placed on Grant Street. It will be blue and orange, and constructed of steel that resembles fabric. Best of all, the plan is to place a plaque by the statue with a QR code that will link the viewer to information about the statue’s origins.

As those of us from Santa Fe know, Zozobra was invented 100 years ago by artist Will Shuster, who wanted to lighten up the more serious Fiesta de Santa Fe celebrations. He was inspired by Holy Week traditions of the Yaqui Indians in Arizona and Mexico. In them, a statue of Judas is carried around a village only to meet his fate in flames. The first Zozobra burned at a private party, but the celebration expanded over the years, garnering national and international attention and inspiring the Burning Man sensation in the Nevada desert; tickets there, for comparison, are $575, plus a $150 fee for a vehicle.

As the century continued, Zozobra grew until finally it appeared that Zozobra would outgrow Fort Marcy park. The cap on numbers makes that less likely. What’s more, Gov. Lujan Grisham recently allocated $5 million from capital outlay funds for park upgrades. That will enable the park to remain the home of Zozobra safely.

What is impressive about Zozobra’s long run is that it began with volunteer efforts, and that’s how it continues to operate. The artist willed his creation to the Kiwanis Club, which successfully has kept it alive. Hundreds of volunteers, every year, do the hard work of designing and building Zozobra, erecting it and providing security on the night of the burn. Money raised from ticket sales pays for the bulk of the event, with excess revenue donated to children’s charities. From the 2022 burn, $100,000 was transferred to the Downtown Kiwanis Foundation to distribute; applications are being taken now to hand out net proceeds from 2023.

Of course, with increased demands for security and safety — rightfully so — the costs of staging the event will increase. Another centennial innovation has been the establishment of a nonprofit dedicated to the Preservation of the Burning of Zozobra. The nonprofit organization is committed to ensuring the financial sustainability of Zozobra, allowing Kiwanis to pay the bills in good times and bad. The community’s children will be remembered, too. After paying the bills, excess dollars will go to the Kiwanis Foundation, which awards grants to nonprofits that support children every year.

Want to be a part of the celebration? Get your tickets soon, or else enjoy it on television, because come August, Zozobra will be going up in flames, just as it has done for a century.