Honoring the dead, uniting the living: Tucson celebrates 36th annual All Souls Procession

Tucson, Ariz. – Tucson celebrated its 36th All Souls Procession on Sunday, an event established in 1990 that typically attracts over 150,000 attendees to commemorate loved ones who have passed away.

According to its website, Tucson’s All Souls Procession originated within the city’s arts community, having been originally organized by local performance artists and visual artists as a creative way to honor the dead. Its timing draws from global traditions that view this season as a moment when the boundary between the living and the dead grows thin. 

Over time, the event expanded to include participants from diverse backgrounds, each contributing or adapting rituals inspired by traditions such as Mexico’s Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), Japan’s Obon, Brazil’s Candomblé and Scotland’s Samhain.

With Tucson’s population being 43% Hispanic according to U.S. Census data and about 70 miles from the Mexican border, it’s no surprise that the All Souls Procession is heavily influenced by Día de Muertos traditions and iconography, such as communal altars called ofrendas featuring portraits of deceased loved ones, their favorite foods and objects, papel picado (cut paper decorations), and cempasúchil (marigold) flowers. Many attendees also dress up as La Catrina, a well-dressed skeleton wearing a large hat who is a symbol of death and the Day of the Dead in Mexico.

While Día de Muertos remains a central influence, reflecting how many attendees choose to connect with their ancestors, the Procession stands as a broader, inclusive celebration of remembrance rooted in Tucson’s multicultural landscape.

Last Sunday, Jessie Bustamante walked the procession for his son Seth Bustamante, who took his own life in September 2022, the day after he turned 23.

“For us, it's more of a memorial and a little bit of a remembrance, and the walk gives us the solitude, and we spend the time just remembering — remembering the times that we spent, good or bad, and just the different things that we did together and the different adventures,” Bustamante said. 

Bustamante described his son as a dreamer with a strong determination to do anything he set his mind to. His bright smile was unwavering through life’s highs and lows. 

Participating in the procession allows Bustamante to walk with his grief alongside thousands doing the same for their own loved ones. 

“I think everyone grieving and thinking, you know, thoughts of the past all together — I think it has an emotional energy. It just consumes you,” Bustamante said. 

This year, attendees assembled on Grande Avenue at 4 p.m. and began the on-foot procession at 6 p.m. Along the way, ambassadors silently received written messages and remembrances for deceased loved ones from the moving crowd and placed them in the communal urn. 

Celisa Ramirez walked for her grandmother, Fresia Lopez, who passed away in September at 100 years of age. 

“We walk this every year for our angels, but this year, it's dedicated to her, because she was so grand,” Ramirez said. “She taught us about family, she taught us about culture, she taught us about love and she taught us about death.”

Ramirez and her sister wore their grandmother’s artwork — jewelry and clothing she made by hand. 

“We're with her till the end and will continue to be with her. She can live through us forever. Por los siglos de los siglos,” forever and ever, Ramirez said. 

The procession is organized by Many Mouths One Stomach which, according to its website, is a Tucson-based collective of artists, teachers and community activists who come together with the intent to create, inspire, manifest and perpetuate modern “festal” culture. This year’s theme is “Now is the time to be Brave.”

Cecilia Martinez and her family have participated in the All Souls Procession since 2012, when her father Gilberto R. Cariño died. Since then, they have lost other family members that they now walk for, too.

“[The procession] brings up a lot of good memories that we had with them, and when we come out, we just laugh at stuff we used to do together,” Martinez said. “It's nice for everybody to come out and share on this special day with everyone. It's like a blessing for everybody to be out here for the same reason, you know, for losing a loved one.”

Elizabeth Nañez was there for her son, Daniel Anthony Arriaga, who was murdered at 18. Next February will mark two years since his death. 

“They shot him in the back of the head. By the grace of God, he didn't pass away at that moment. I was able to say goodbye to him… he was an organ donor, so he was able to save eight lives that day and I'll always be proud to be his mom,” Nañez said. 

While holding a large canvas sign that read “Justice for Daniel,” Nuñez emphasized that attending the All Souls Procession is one of the many ways that she refuses to let the world forget about her son. 

“He was a friend, a brother. He was an amazing kid. He was an athlete. He always challenged himself, and he was harder on himself than he should have … He did everything, everything that you could think of. He did it. The only thing he didn't do was skydiving, and that's my journey next,” Nuñez said. 

The procession ended in the Mercado District, where attendees gathered by the stage to watch live musical, dance and acrobatic performances by various artists, including Snow Raven, Aurelia Anne Cohen and Claire Sheffler. The celebration culminated with the burning of the urn, filled with the hopes, dreams, blessings and names of the dead.

Alessandra De Zubeldia is a previous James B. Steele fellow in investigative business journalism who recently earned a master’s degree in investigative journalism from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. She grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, and has lived in Arizona for over a decade, where she centers her reporting on the voices and experiences of marginalized communities.