All Souls Procession

All Souls Procession. The All Souls Procession is a large-scale, community-created public ritual and procession held annually in Tucson, Arizona. Founded by artist Susan Kay Johnson in 1990, it has grown into a major civic event drawing tens of thousands of participants. The event is a contemporary, non-denominational adaptation of Día de los Muertos traditions, focused on mourning, remembrance, and celebration of deceased loved ones. It is organized by the nonprofit arts collective Many Mouths One Stomach.

History and origins

The procession was initiated in 1990 by local artist and Butoh performer Susan Kay Johnson as a personal response to the death of her father. Inspired by the Mexican Día de los Muertos celebrations she witnessed in Mexico, Johnson created a small, personal processional art piece through the Barrio Viejo neighborhood. The event resonated deeply with the Tucson community, which has strong cultural ties to Sonora and the broader U.S.-Mexico border region. Over subsequent years, it evolved from an intimate artist-led action into a massive collaborative project, formally becoming a project of the Many Mouths One Stomach collective in the early 2000s. Its growth parallels the increasing mainstream recognition of Día de los Muertos within the United States, while maintaining a distinct, locally-rooted character.

Event description and activities

The event culminates in a two-mile nighttime procession through downtown Tucson, typically on the first Sunday of November. Participants, often numbering over 150,000, wear elaborate costumes, masks, and face paint, carrying marionettes, effigies, and ofrendas (altars). A central feature is the Urn, a large container into which participants place written prayers, messages, and mementos for the dead. The procession concludes at the Finale, a large-scale performance art spectacle held at the Grande Avenue terminus, where the contents of the Urn are burned in a dramatic, ceremonial fire. Throughout the preceding week, related workshops, such as those for building giant puppets or creating papel picado, are hosted by the organization and community partners.

Cultural significance and symbolism

The procession serves as a secular, inclusive civic ritual that provides a public space for collective grief and celebration. It synthesizes influences from Mesoamerican traditions, particularly the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl, with modern performance art, anarchist principles, and community organizing. The burning of the Urn symbolizes release, transformation, and the communal sharing of memory. While honoring the Mexican origins of Día de los Muertos, the event consciously avoids cultural appropriation by fostering a unique, evolving tradition specific to the multicultural context of the Sonoran Desert. It is widely regarded as a defining cultural institution for Southern Arizona.

Community involvement and organization

The event is entirely funded through grassroots efforts, including grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, local business sponsorships, and individual donations. The organizing entity, Many Mouths One Stomach, operates as a volunteer-driven arts collective guided by principles of radical inclusion and non-commercialism. Hundreds of community volunteers contribute to roles ranging from street marshaling and installation art construction to workshop instruction. Local organizations like the Food Conspiracy Co-op and Borderlands Theater often participate. The procession has no formal spectators; all attendees are considered active participants in the creation of the ritual.

Related events and influences

The event has inspired similar community processions in other cities, such as the Honolulu Memorial Day parade of remembrance. It shares philosophical and aesthetic roots with global events like the Burning Man festival in Nevada and the Carnival of Venice. Its structure is influenced by the work of processional artists like Peter Schumann of the Bread and Puppet Theater. Within Tucson, it is a cornerstone of the annual Día de los Muertos celebrations, which also include events at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Mission San Xavier del Bac. The procession's ethos of community-built art continues through the collective's other projects, including the Procession of the Species workshop series.

Category:Festivals in Arizona Category:November events Category:Day of the Dead Category:Culture of Tucson, Arizona