Zozobra, also known as Old Man Gloom, is a towering 50-foot marionette effigy built from wood, wire, and cotton cloth that is ceremoniously burned each Labor Day Friday during the Fiestas de Santa Fe in New Mexico. Rooted in the Spanish word for anxiety, the tradition began in 1924 when artist William Howard Shuster, Jr. created the first figure, inspired by Mexican cartonería and the burning of Judas effigies. Attendees are encouraged to purge their personal troubles—which have included divorce papers, parking tickets, and even a wedding dress—by placing them inside the effigy to be destroyed in the flames. The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, which has overseen the event since 1964, hosts a dramatic spectacle at Fort Marcy Park featuring live music and a pageant where torchbearers battle Zozobra's "Gloomies" before the fiery climax. Drawing over 60,000 in-person spectators and hundreds of thousands online, the 2007 edition was certified by Guinness World Records as the world's largest marionette, and attendance improved notably after the event was shifted to the Friday before Labor Day in 2014.