Port Said celebrates Easter by sending terrorism up in flames

CAIRO – 17 April 2017: A symbolic holocaust awaits terrorism in Port Said as part of a long-standing Easter tradition, where puppets symbolizing rejected social customs and hated characters are burned in an annual public parade.

Following the tragedy of the Palm Sunday attacks, the “Allenby Puppets parade” has been dedicated to send dolls representing terrorism up in flame. A smaller part of the performance will also burn puppets designating price hikes in Egypt.

“Port Said will burn up terrorism and high prices because they are phenomena that highly affect modest citizens,” said Mohsen Khodeir, a famous Allenby puppet artist in Port Said, adding that the initiative aims to “show the concerted effort to eradicate terrorism and its roots.”

Allenby puppets have been used as symbols of oppression and unfairness in the city since 1925, inspired by the Greek community in Port Said. The tradition first started when the city burned a puppet resembling Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, the British High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan, to celebrate his retreat to the United Kingdom.

The parade is held every year in Khodeir Theatre, located in one of oldest neighborhoods in Port Said.

Additional reporting by Mohamed Awad and Mohamed Azzam from Port-Said


Allenby puppets artist Mohsen Khodeir - Photo by Mohamed Awad


Allenby puppets workshop - Photo by Mohamed Awad


Allenby puppets workshop - photo by Mohamed Awad