Zozobra the Kid Rides In
Tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 13, 2027
The 103rd Burning of Zozobra is Friday, September 3, 2027, at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe. Tickets are not on sale yet, and that is on purpose.
Why April 13?
On April 13, 1881, a judge in Mesilla, New Mexico, handed Billy the Kid his sentence. So April 13 is the day Zozobra the Kid gets his. We are calling it Judgment Day. The sentence is carried out September 3, by fire, in front of tens of thousands of witnesses, and you are invited to be one of them.
There is a practical reason too. We want the 103rd merchandise on the shelf the same day tickets open, including the winning designs from this year’s contest, so you can get your ticket and your gear in one stop.
Who Is Zozobra the Kid?
For his 103rd year, Old Man Gloom rides in as an outlaw. Not one outlaw. All of them. Zozobra the Kid is every villain the Old West produced: the snakeoil salesman, the rustler, the claim jumper, the crooked lawman, the card sharp, and the land-grabbing man in the good suit who never fired a shot and took more than all the others combined.
Zozobra has never had a face of his own. Every year we give him the shape of whatever the age fears, so we can see clearly what we are burning. The outlaw fits him better than most. He arrives friendly. He takes by charm long before he takes by force, and the legend grows bigger and better loved than the man ever was. That is what gloom does. Zozobra the Kid is gloom with a good reputation.
New Mexico does not have to import this story. Billy the Kid sat in a jail in Santa Fe and wrote letters to the governor from it. Our Old West villains were real, and they were here.
And yes, you asked for this. A country western Zozobra has been one of our most requested themes for years.
Until April 13
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 13, 2027. Got a question about the 103rd? Ask Old Man Gloom at burnzozobra.com/ask. Want to help build him? Volunteer sign-up opens January 1.
Judgment Day is April 13. Burn him September 3.
¡Viva el Viejo!
