For nearly ninety years, visitors and locals of Santa Fe, New Mexico come together to burn their worries and troubles of the year in the form of Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom. Zozobra enters Ft. Marcy Ballpark every year as a giant papier mâché marionette that is built and burnt by the local Kiwanis Club. The event usually takes place in the second week of September to commence the annual celebrations known as the Fiestas de Santa Fe. The Fiestas de Santa Fe take place in the second week of September to celebrate the Re-conquest of the city by Spanish colonists in 1692. The week is filled with masses, novenas, parades, and most notably Zozobra.

William Howard Shuster, Jr. created the first Zozobra in 1924. Shuster was an artist that worked heavily in building the local arts community. He was most likely influenced by the Mexican cartonerias used to rid cities of evil during Holy Week. In the weeks leading up to the festival, people can write down the problems they wish to burn with Zozobra and bring them to the offices of the Santa Fe Reporter. Many people use the opportunity to burn legal papers as well. The box of gloom burns at the feet of the effigy during the event.

Zozobra is nearly fifty feet tall, and holds the current Guinness World Record for the largest marionette in the world. Every year the hair, bowtie, and sash of the marionette change while the face remains the same. Today, more than 50,000 people attend the ritual burning of Zozobra.