When & Where | Schedule | What to Bring | Accessibility | Procession Order & Themed Groups
When and where is it?
The Portland All Souls River Procession occurs in early November, typically on the Saturday falling nearest to All Souls Day. It is located in North Portland, Oregon by the Cathedral Park and St Johns neighborhoods.
The 4th annual procession will begin at 5pm on Saturday, November 2nd, 2024 with an opening ritual and invocation in the Green Anchors community pavilion at 8940 N Bradford Street.
Parking is at the Cathedral Park boat ramp, and restrooms and portable toilets are located at both Green Anchors and at the boat ramp parking lot.
Event Schedule
4 pm: Early arrival for volunteers.
Please plan to arrive an hour early if you have signed up for a character or ritual role.
5 pm: Welcome, Letters to the Dead, & Music and Dance Group Bulla!
Procession participants gather at the Green Anchors community pavilion at 8940 N Bradford St for a general welcome and the opportunity to add names of the dead to the Book of Souls and place paper messages to the dead placed in the Reliquary.
The group Bulla! will also lead processional dances and group singing in the pavilion that the audience is invited to join in with.
There will also be a large community Altar of Our Beloved Dead that participants may like to contribute flowers or other offerings to, or place a photo of a departed loved one upon the altar for the evening (to be taken home afterwards).
5:30pm Opening Ceremony & Invocation
The guardians of the four directions are summoned, and we meet the leading characters of this year’s procession in a creative performance which mixes ritual art, audience participation, dance and storytelling.
6 pm: The Procession
Walk with us through Cathedral Park to the river’s edge and site of the River Ritual, accompanied by illuminated lanterns and giant puppets. The procession follows a “there and back” route comprised of just under a ½ mile of paved paths and sidewalks. There is also an optional portion of the route closest to the river that is composed of grass and/or sand. Audience members are welcome to find a spot from where they can watch the procession go by, and/or to follow the procession along to the river. This year’s procession to the river will be headed by Bulla!
6:30 pm: The River Ritual
Simultaneously an elaborate performance of ritual theater and an offering to the dead and to the river. As grief and beauty come fully together, the names of the dead will be read aloud, and the messages to the dead will be burned over the river. Then we let our tears flow as we stand together in shared sadness and love, with the sounds of the lapping river waters and gentle music wrapping around us.
7 pm: The Return
Once the names are read, the messages burned, and the tears shed, a different music begins. One that starts slow, but builds into a rhythm that reminds us of life. A band assembles and takes their place on the “stage” of the beach. This band then marches, leading the entire procession all the way back to the beginning of the route. This year’s procession from the river will be headed by Portland Samba band Bloco Alegria.
~ 8pm: Post-processional Revelry at Green Anchors,
8940 N Bradford St:
At the end of the procession through Cathedral Park, participants and audience members are invited to the Green Anchors community pavilion for musical revelry until midnight. Bring a night picnic or enjoy delicious soup made by our soup crew. Children of the Moon will perform, to be followed by a DJ.
When & Where | Schedule | What to Bring | Accessibility | Procession Order & Themed Groups
What to Bring:
- A ceremonial costume and/or decorative mask. Suggested themes: Light and dark, threshold, ancestors, seed, autumn, nature, connection to place.
- A lantern (Strongly recommended to navigate through the dark night)
- Messages for the dead written on paper, to be collected by the Reliquary Attendants during line-up and the first half of the procession, to be burned at the river’s edge during the River Ritual.
- Tokens to honor and remember those who have recently passed on, to wear or carry with you.
- A wagon “float” made in honor of your beloved dead, decorated as a portable memorial altar with flowers, lights, photos, and the things that they love.
- Offerings for the river whose healing powers we will be calling upon this night. (Biodegradable offerings please. If plant-based, no invasive species.)
- A blanket or something that is comfortable for you to sit on by the river.
- A picture or symbolic item to place on the community pavilion’s altar of our beloved dead of any loved one (human or non-human) you wish to honor during the event, (and then to take back home with you afterwards).
- Rattles, tambourines and drums.
- If the forecast calls for rain, we recommend you bring a large umbrella embellished for the procession.
Accessibility
Event parking within Green Anchors is available for folks with accessibility needs only. We will have parking spaces marked with blue wheelchair signs located between the Green Anchors pavilion and an ADA portable restroom. Accessibility parking access is via the main Green Anchors gate at 8940 N Bradford street (next to the train tracks).
At 6pm the procession will leave Green Anchors and travel through Cathedral Park to the river by N Pittsburg and the new swim dock. We have two suggested routes for folks with accessibility needs to enjoy this part of the event:
1. Those who are able to use a walker or wheelchair along a paved 0.4 mile there-and-back route can drive from Green Anchors parking to the Cathedral Park boat ramp parking lot where they can park their vehicle and rejoin with the procession. There will be parking spaces marked with blue wheelchair signs around the north perimeter of the parking lot, and a second portable ADA restroom will be located there as well.
After the main portion of the procession comes out of the Green Anchors event gate at the NW corner of the parking lot (event gate not recommend for folks with accessibility needs due to bark mulch and a steep ramp), it will then cross the parking lot to a ramp with yellow handrails that will provide access to the main processional route along Cathedral Park’s paved pathways.
Please note that there is one spot in the park where the pathway has root damage. That area will be marked with a cone and additional light provided to help with navigating the obstacle.
2. Folks who prefer to skip the path though Cathedral Park can drive from Green Anchors to N Pittsburg and park their vehicle there, (please do keep the vehicle turnaround portion of that street clear of parked cars), where there is a paved vantage point looking down onto the beach where the River Ritual will take place. That area should offer a beautiful view of the entire procession approaching as it travels through the park.
The River Ritual will last from approximately 6:30-7:15pm, then the procession returns to Green Anchors via the reverse route/s.
When & Where | Schedule | What to Bring | Accessibility | Procession Order & Themed Groups
Procession Order & Themed Groups
The procession consists of several themed groups and bands, as follows:
1. The Willow Dancers / Procession Band #1
Dressed in white and carrying paper lanterns made from branches, the Lantern Dancers guide our procession to the river. This year Bulla! , leaders of community dances including Cuban, World Folk, and Sacred will head the Willow Dancers, and they invite community members who would like to join the dance to bring a lantern and join them at the head of the procession.
2. The River Dragon and her Retinue
The River Dragon carries the presence of the river to the parts of our event that occur beyond the water’s edge. She is accompanied by various water beings clad in blue, aqua, grey and teal. Join in and become part of her rippling current!
3. Procession Band #2
The Undercurrent Chorus brings up the rear of the dragon’s retinue with circle singing that all are invited to join in with.
4. Procession of the Species
In honor of the other-then-human lives lost, especially due to environmental degradation. Consists of plant and animal puppets, costumes and masks, and is led by our Giant Salmon lantern. Any community members who are interested are invited to join along with costumes, puppets or effigies that represent animals (including pets!), plants, or entire ecosystems. Inspired by the the Earth and Spirit Council‘s Procession of the Species that was held in downtown Portland from 1999-2002.
5. The Elementals
Our four Guardians of the Elements and directions, Salmon (water), Coyote (fire), Mushroom (earth) and Owl (air) will bring up the end of the Procession of the Species section of the procession, and transition us into the portion of the procession that features our ritual characters.
6. The Soul Tenders
Those who carry the paper mache reliquary containing messages to the dead, the attendants who collect the messages, plus the Book of Souls that holds the names of the recently departed dead.
7. Blood & Bones
Image credit: Anna Androsova, 2023
The Blood are a red veiled chorus of beings (or a multi-part being) representing the blood that links us through the generations. They are led by the Ritual Leader, and are followed by the Bone Mother, a towering skeleton queen.
8. Procession Band #3
This year we are excited to announce that Bloco Alegria will be one of our procession bands. They will play bone music to accompany the Bone Mother on the way to river, and samba beats to guide us back to the pavilion, leading us into the Celebration for the Living.
9. Our Beloved Dead
Led by Grandmother Moon, this group consists of all others who want to join the procession. Participants are encouraged to carry lanterns, or to decorate and bring “float wagons” decorated with lights and flowers and images of their beloved dead. Our new giant puppets The Ancestors will travel within this group. We invite any community members who feel drawn to honor and invite in their ancestors to join in here as well.
Image credit: Ada Matusiewicz, 2024