zobra

Zobra is a term with multiple potential referents, most commonly encountered in connection with the Santa Fe, New Mexico festival known as Zozobra. In that context, the name is often shortened or variably spelled as Zobra in English-language coverage. The festival centers on a large wooden effigy built to symbolize gloom.

The Zozobra figure, also called Old Man Gloom, was created in 1924 by artist Will Shuster and has since become a longstanding community event. Each year, the figure is paraded through the city and then burned in a public ceremony intended to symbolize the dispelling of gloom and the beginning of a new cycle for the community. The event attracts visitors from the region and is notable for its historical continuity and its role in Santa Fe’s cultural calendar. The name Zozobra itself is related to the Spanish word zozobra, which conveys distress, unease, or trouble, and the festival embodies a communal ritual of release.

Beyond the Santa Fe festival, Zobra can appear as a surname or as a toponym in various regions, though such uses are less widely documented and may be specific to local contexts. In literary or media contexts, Zobra may be used as a fictional place name or character—sometimes as a variant spelling of Zozobra in creative works.

See also: Zozobra; Old Man Gloom; zozobra (Spanish term for distress). This article may be expanded with additional verified uses of the term Zobra.