I know - technically, any other event is an alternative, as is not going.
I have never gone to the Burning Man festival for a number of reasons. The foremost reason is that I am on the east coast, so it is a lot of work for me to get to. But over the years, I don’t like what the event has become, Some might say that it is a victim of its own success. As I understand the intentions behind it, the festival was an anarchist gathering and temporary autonomous zone. But the amount of bureaucracy and money around it these days really seems to me more to undermine its original purpose.
So, I thought it might be nice to have a space for discussing other campouts, festivals, etc which place an emphasis upon autonomy and non-commercialism. The sorts of events which don’t involve expensive tickets, or the feds camping with you.
I watched Easy Star All Stars play the tightest set I’ve ever heard followed by The Proclaimers absolutely destroying. It was ace, and then they burnt up thon Wicker Min.
You can’t smell anything at Burning Man. Playa dust is an alkaloid powder. It clogs up everything, especially your nose, throat, and (often) lungs. “Playa lung” is a known issue for some people out there too long. This is part of why you see all the pictures of people in goggles and dust masks. It isn’t for the cool style. It is because the entire environment is composed of a powder, sometimes hardened into dunes.
Once you’ve been breathing it for a day or two, you really can’t smell much of anything anymore (and it tends to neutralize some of the acids we produce on our skins as well, which is why people wash their feet in vinegar solutions at Burning Man).
Winter Blast. You must first be a member of Western Pyro. (Those who have access to the Lounge may have seen photos of me holding explosive devices. They are from Winter Blast.)
(Jumped the video to the bow ties, but it’s all good.)
You can blow shit up legally! And watch others’ wild inventions. You can even build your own shells and fire them down on the line.
There’s also PGI, a similar affair but worldwide. Ned Gorski and his crew shoot stuff at the PGI shows.
Full Gorski build of an Italian-style 6-inch salami shell:
One last thing, if you don’t want to go to the trouble and expense of membership, you could save yourself something like $800 and just go to SARA Park (in Lake Havasu City, AZ) during the Winter Blast shows and sit in the stands with the public. I think they might charge $5 or something to get in. I can tell you that being behind the scenes is way better, but you really can’t find a better pyro show in the Western US.
It easily beats BM for the pyro, unless you’re in it for the huge fireball alone.
When setting large effigies on fire, it helps to have a place that’s basically made of ash where the only flammable thing for a hundred miles are greasy hipsters.
If you want to hang out with a bunch deranged militant hippies. Been to so many regionals and know/known so many Rainbows and the whole thing is a failed experiment of creepy psychos.
They are not good people. Form A-camp to the casuals it’s become a really bad scene.
