Participants are also welcome to add their glooms at the annual ZozoFest, a festive precursor event that takes place the weekend before Zozobra burns.

Legal papers, divorce documents, mortgage pay-offs, parking tickets, a Martin guitar and even a wedding dress –– have all found their way into Zozobra to go up in smoke.

[2] "Zozobra" is a Spanish word for anxiety, worry, or sinking and was chosen by Shuster and newspaper editor E. Dana Johnson after a trip they made to Mexico.

It is said that the idea was influenced by Mexican cartonería (papier-mâché sculpture), specifically the effigies exploded during the burning of Judas that takes place on Holy Saturday or New Year's Eve, as a way of ridding oneself or one's community of evil.

[citation needed] Each year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over 60,000 people attend the event and hundreds of thousands watch online.

A group of youthful dancers symbolize the children of Santa Fe, whom Zozobra has converted into his minions by clouding their minds and robbing them of their hope and happiness.