The 102nd annual Burning of Zozobra is set for Friday at Fort Marcy park, and this year the towering fire spirit will come dressed as King George III with a crown and scepter. Than Povi Martinez will be passed the torch as the new fire spirit when the night reaches its climax.
Tens of thousands are expected to pack the venue for the one-night ritual, which opens its gates at 4 p.m. and sends the crowd into music and the annual beach ball toss before Old Man Gloom burns sometime after 9 p.m. Attendees must be inside by 8:45 p.m.
The gathering has a clear civic purpose wrapped inside the spectacle. The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe puts on the yearly burning, and this year it has teamed with the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. That is why the theme is The Tyranny of Gloom vs. the Spirit of '76, and why the beach ball toss is paying tribute to Dolly Parton instead of sticking to a more familiar crowd-pleaser.
There is also the weather, which rarely cares about pageantry. The event goes on rain or shine, even though there was a 30% chance of rain Friday in Santa Fe as of Wednesday. Organizers are preparing anyway, and so are the Gloomies, who will dress on theme too. Old Man Gloom will also wear an 11-foot faux powdered wig made of concrete tubing and white rope, a costume that seems built as much to impress the crowd as to survive the fire.
For Martinez, the moment is personal because the torch handoff is not symbolic only; it is part of the show’s living machinery. That is what gives the night its pull. By the time the flames go up, the crowd will know whether this year's Zozobra leaves Santa Fe lighter, as organizers hope, or simply adds one more reason to come back next year.
