Amy Ijams walks in honor of a beloved family dog that unexpectedly passed away a few days before the Procession.
The Community Altar Dedication Ceremony took place on Tuesday, Nov. 4 from 6-8 p.m. People dressed in traditional Indigenous Mexican attire were dancing and making music, the drumbeat so powerful that it could be felt through the sidewalk. A waxing gibbous moon sat in the clear night sky.
The ceremony, which was held at the MSA Annex on 267 S. Avenida del Convento, was one of several smaller events leading up to the All Souls Procession on Nov. 9, most of which would also take place at the MSA Annex. The dancers were Grupo Coatlicue, a local troupe specializing in traditional dances indigenous to central Mexico and one of many collaborators with the All Souls Procession project.
After an introduction by host Ruben Urrea Moreno, Coatlicue members Teresa Ortíz and Jennifer Torres performed a blessing by facing the four cardinal directions, as well as up and down, offering burning incense to the spirits associated with each. Then the dances and music began. The festivities were interspersed with more speakers including Moreno, All Souls Procession artistic director Nadia Alev Hagen Onuktav, two other Coatlicue members and several of the event's attendees. Many of them discussed loved ones who had passed away and the All Souls Procession's personal importance. The altar behind them was covered in "ofrendas", offerings, that had been collected over a month's period.
Ofrendas are images and other memorabilia honoring the memory of deceased friends and family. They're an essential part of the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos, but although the Procession is inspired by the holiday in some ways, it is not intended to represent or replace it. Instead, it's a multicultural mourning event with roots in Tucson's art community that is currently organized by the non-profit organization Many Mouths One Stomach, an artist collective who stated on their website that they wish "to create, inspire, manifest and perpetuate modern festival culture."
"The All Souls Procession is typically the first Sunday after All Souls' Day," Susan Tiss, a member of the All Souls Media Circle, which documents the event each year and donates the photographs and videos to Many Mouths One Stomach to distribute under a Creative Commons license, said. "But when All Souls' Day falls on a Sunday, or sometimes even on a Saturday, we do it the following weekend [...]. Out of reverence for those events, and for those very sacred religious observances, we don't want to have our event appear to be conflicting with that, and we want to have people be able to participate in both."
The celebration, currently in its 36th year, took place on Nov. 9, but the lead-up earlier in the week included several smaller events: the family-friendly Procession of Little Angels on Nov. 8 and two separate Dance of the Dead concerts on Nov. 7 and 8.
The Procession of Little Angels, which was held this year at the Literacy Connects campus on 200 E. Yavapai Road, offered arts and crafts activities and a small procession geared toward children and their parents. It also hosted live music performances by the children's groups Mariachi Las Aguilitas de Davis and the Tucson Girls Chorus as well as a stage appearance from Stories that Soar, a program offered by Literacy Connects that stages theater performances based on stories submitted by children with a professional crew and actors. Dozens of parents and their children attended the event, which began at 3 p.m. and ended at 7 p.m.
On Nov. 7, Dance of the Dead: Flow for the Soul featured artists Max Low and MNTRA as well as dancing, fire performance and local and national DJs. On Nov. 8, Dance of the Dead: Snow Raven in Concert featured the headliner as well as Sound Journey with Kati Astraeir and John Vorus and the Cacao Ceremony with Readings of Luz. Immediately after the All Souls Procession's finale on Nov. 9, they held another Dance of the Dead concert as an afterparty.
Although the All Souls Procession began at 6 p.m. on Nov. 9, gatherers were invited to arrive at the intersection of Grande Avenue and Speedway Boulevard as early as 4 p.m. As the sun began to set, people continued to gather into a massive crowd; the All Souls Procession website estimates over 200,000 people attend each year. The crowd's attire was widely varied: some participants were dressed in casual clothes, some had painted faces, some were in formalwear with colorful Día de los Muertos-themed decorations and some were in full costume with masks. Many different community organizations were present, including schools and churches, and some were in matching outfits. Many were accompanied by friends and family members, with some carrying boards covered in pictures of their departed loved ones.
Chelsea Grote attended the procession for the first time this year. "I already knew about [...] the tradition," Chelsea Grote said, wearing a black dress and facepaint. "I was just kind of looking to see what was in the town, and I saw this, and I thought, 'Why not try it?'" Chelsea Grote was accompanied by her mother Shirley Grote, who she asked to come with her. "So far, it just seems like there's a lot of people from all over the place getting together to, I guess, celebrate their loved ones," Chelsea Grote said. "It's pretty cool."
Linette Gomez had a very different reason for coming. "Today we're here to honor my nephew James Sanchez, who was murdered in 2022," Gomez said. She was accompanied by close friends and relatives of the victim, all wearing custom T-shirts with his image printed on it. One held a sign commemorating Sanchez, who was 16 when he was killed in a Catalina park. "There [were] six individuals who ambushed him and murdered him [...] That's what the charges are," Gomez said. "So we are still dealing with [the] trial today." (Two of the men involved, Joseph Nolan and Richard Miller, were found guilty at a trial in April, where Nolan was sentenced to life in prison and Miller was sentenced to 5 years' probation.) For Gomez, who started attending the procession in the wake of his death, it's a moving experience. "It's beautiful, it's heartfelt, it's everybody coming together to remember their loved ones who have passed and to remember with us in our hearts forever," Gomez said. She also appreciates the unhurried atmosphere: "We walk in peace. There's no rush. We are just here to be with one another."