Monday, November 8, 2010

All Souls Procession

Over the weekend I went to the All Souls Procession in Tucson. It is an annual event that is inspired by Mexico's Dia de los Muertos. Here is a desciption of the history from allsoulsprocession.org.:

The All Souls Procession is perhaps one of the most important, inclusive and authentic public ceremonies in North America today. The Procession had its beginnings in 1990 with a ritualistic performance piece created by local artist Susan Johnson, who was grieving the passing of her father. Inspired by Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos holiday, Johnson felt she should honor her father in celebration and creativity. The performance was very well received and many artists were inspired to continue growing the Procession into its modern incarnation.



Today we find ourselves organizing over 20,000 participants on the streets of downtown Tucson for a two-mile long human-powered procession that ends in the finalizing action of burning a large urn filled with the hopes, offerings and wishes of the public for those who have passed. Inside the event are myriads of installation art, altars, performers, and creatives of all kinds collaborating for almost half the year to prepare their offerings to this amazing event. The All Souls Procession, and now the entire All Souls Weekend, is a celebration and mourning of the lives of our loved ones who have passed.




The lovely Alisha!



















Giant jellyfish floating in the sky!

Love it!

Sorry for all the blurry photos! It was hard getting images of a moving procession with no flash! :)

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