The Portland All Souls
River Procession

Held Annually the first Saturday of November
at Cathedral Park and Green Anchors PDX

Photo by Rusty Blazenhoff

In the fall of 2021, Moni and two friends, Ivy Stovall and Mellissa Berry decided to create a small walking procession with masks and handmade lanterns through Cathedral Park to the Willamette River. It was held around All Souls Night, and used art and land-based ritual to acknowledge those lost during the first year of the Covid 19 pandemic, and to honor and remember the larger community of beloved dead, both human and other-then-human. Then following the wildfires in 2022 they decided to do it again. And yet again in 2023 in response to the war in Ukraine, and the war between Palestine and Israel.

Over the next three years the walking procession grew from around 30 friends of friends to an all-ages community art event with about 300 people attending.

In the months that have led up to each procession Moni has held maskmaking and lantern-building workshops, and supervised crews of volunteers to assemble giant puppets and props.

And with the collaboration of Ivy and Mel, the amazing folks at Green Anchors which has been hosting the even since the beginning, and many wonderful volunteers, the event continues to expand. And there are some very exciting plans currently in development for the 2024 and 2025 events!

The 4th Annual All Souls River Procession will start at 6pm Saturday November 2nd, 2024.

Visit http://www.pdxallsouls.org for more information or to get involved.