Hundreds of people will gather Saturday evening in the Cathedral Park for the fourth annual edition All Souls River Procession in Portland.

This free celebration for all ages includes masks, puppets and ritual remembrances of the dead. Moni Searsone of the three founders of the event, described it as a “theatrical, ritualistic and immersive artistic experience”.

It coincides with All Souls Day, but Sears said, “I don’t think it has any particular religious or spiritual content.” I want people to feel invited to bring their own cultural backgrounds.

The All Souls River Procession is organized by the artist collective Roots of the Wildlands. The event will feature at least seven large puppets, including the “Mother of Bones” and a 22-foot illuminated water dragon.

“We all have roots that go back to wild lands and celebrations of connection with nature or with nature spirits,” Sears said. “Many of us would have had ancestors who held different celebrations using masks, puppets, precision and certain types of theatrical presentation.

“It still happens in some parts of the world, but we’ve pretty much lost it in most parts of the United States, with the notable exception, of course, of the carnival culture of New Orleans.”

The first Portland All Souls procession took place in 2021, when the world was still reeling from the pandemic and mourning those who had died from it. The inaugural procession consisted of only a few dozen people, but their number increases every year.

Sears is expecting several hundred participants this weekend, depending on the weather, including about 60 people playing character or ritual roles.

The public is invited to attend, not only as an audience but as an active contributor. Participants are encouraged to bring their own costumes, rattles, drums, masks and lanterns (or any other light source, since some parts of the course are dark). Organizers also suggest bringing a blanket or something to sit on for the riverside ritual.

Suggested costume themes are “Light and Dark, Threshold, Ancestors, Seeds, Autumn, Nature and Connection to Place.”

Events begin at 5 p.m. at the indoor community pavilion at Green acres8940 N. Bradford St., an incubator site for small businesses and artists. This is a time for participants to add photos or flowers to a community altar and write the names of their dead in a “Book of Souls.”

Ceremonies begin at 5:30 p.m. with dancing, storytelling and audience participation. The procession crosses the Cathedral Park at 6 p.m., along a path of approximately 800 meters.

Below the St. Johns Bridge, messages to the dead will be burned above the river. The procession, led by the Portland Samba group Bloco Alegríawill then return to Green Acres for a dance party that will continue until midnight.

Parking is at the Cathedral Park boat ramp. Find more information for online participants at pdxallsouls.org.

—Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive and This is Oregon. Contact her at [email protected].

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