5pm Saturday, November 8th, 2025
Photo by Anna Androsova, 2023
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Photo by Anna Androsova, 2024
Attending the Procession
WHEN & WHERE ⦁ SCHEDULE ⦁ WHAT TO BRING ⦁ ACCESSIBILITY
When and where:
The Portland All Souls River Procession occurs in early November, typically the Saturday on after All Souls Day. It is located in North Portland, Oregon by the Cathedral Park and St Johns neighborhoods.
The 5th annual procession will begin at 5pm on Saturday, November 8th, 2025 with an opening ritual and invocation in the Green Anchors community pavilion at 8940 N Bradford Street.
Event parking is available at the Cathedral Park boat ramp, (Pay-to-Park until 7pm, free thereafter), and restrooms and portable toilets are located at Green Anchors.
Schedule:
4 pm: Early arrival for volunteers.
Please plan to arrive an hour before the event if you have signed up for a character or ritual role.
5 pm: Event begins with Welcome, & Letters to the Dead
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.
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 back home with you 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 to the river’s edge and site of the River Ritual, accompanied by illuminated lanterns and giant puppets. This year's main procession route will wind through the Green Anchors gardens, arriving at the river front within Green Anchors. Surfaces include paved, bark-mulch, grass and sand, and there is a paved slope down to the river.
6:15 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.
6:45 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 along the beach. The band then leads the procession back to the Pavilion for the Celebration of the Living
7pm-10pm: Celebration of the Living
Following the ritual and return, participants and audience members are invited to the Green Anchors community pavilion for musical revelry until 10pm. 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.
What to bring:
Photo by @melissa_wellspring
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 an memorial altar with flowers, lights, photos, and the things that they love.
Offerings for the river whose healing powers we will call upon on 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 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 only available for folks with accessibility needs. 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.
We will have a few seats available in the Pavilion and by the beach for those with limited mobility. An alternate processional route may be preferred that avoids the bark mulch and grass of the gardens, and instead follows the paved driveway from the pavilion to the river's edge. Please note that there is a downhill slope to this route. Alternatively you may prefer to view the River Ritual from the viewpoint area above the riverfront.