N.M. - Attendance may be limited for Zozobra amid surging virus cases
Each year, thousands of people gather at Fort Marcy park in Santa Fe, New Mexico to watch the building-high marionette go up in smoke.
Zozobra represents gloom and despair, and by setting him on fire, the city burns away its own gloom and despair. This will be the 97th year Zozobra has burned.
Ticket sales may be limited for the public event, slated for Sept. 3, in the wake of the latest surge in coronavirus cases. “We’re considering it,” Ray Sandoval, the event’s organizer, said by phone Wednesday.
The move would have to be approved by the board of the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, which produces the event. The board was expected to meet Wednesday night to discuss the idea of limiting attendance, but no decision would be made until Thursday, Sandoval said. Earlier this month, Sandoval said 30,000 tickets already had been sold for the popular event and there were about 10,000 tickets left to sell. He also has said making Zozobra an online-only event, as it was last year, was a possibility.
New Mexico and other states across the country have seen a dramatic rise in case counts over the past month due to the delta variant. The New Mexico Department of Health reported 878 new cases of the virus Wednesday, including 30 infections in Santa Fe County.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/attendance-may-be-limited-for-zozobra-amid-surging-virus-cases/article_4b58cb40-0076-11ec-880f-cf5159e464ae.html
