So I’m going to a Canadian festival roughly modeled after Burning Man alone this week. I’ve never gone to something like this before, but expect to have a weird time (hopefully in a good sense).
Have you ever gone to something kinda like this (BM itself, a regional burn, outdoor multi-day music festival with that kind of vibe)? I’d love to hear people’s stories/hard-earned wisdom.
Never been to burning man but I would have loved to have tried it. I did go to Bonnaroo for 4 years straight and 6 years total. Almost a 7th but the fest was legit cancelled an hour before we were going to start driving. And yeah so many amazing stories to count. The first year going holds a special place in my heart since it opened me up to a whole new world. I went with friends who knew other friends. Campsite was about a dozen of us and made new friends for life after that. It’s overload being able to not only have some of the best moments ever, but also see some of your favorite bands where some will do something you may never see elsewhere. Wish I could do this again someday, but I do think we are all done at this point sadly. I did say when we get really old like late 50’s we should go back in style. We ran into several older groups of people that had hilarious stories to tell and I kind of want to be them haha.
Last year I went to “Rock to the park”, a free Colombian rock/metal festival. I went inside the “pogos” (mosh pits), some sort of way of violent dancing common in metal concerts, where everybody pushes everybody. I stayed there basically all night, despite being a very thin and physically weak person.
I think it was the most fun I’ve ever had in a social event.
I love me a mosh pit! Mosh pit would be the north American term. From now on however, I call it a pogo
Cheers.
I’m literally taking a break from the sun, packing out from a regional burn at this very moment. So many incredible stories and incredible people. Lots of cool, kind people who are just excited to share something they’re excited about with others (especially at smaller events/regionals).
My hard earned wisdom is that you are not an audience member at a burn- you’re a participant, an integral part of the experience for everyone else, so don’t be afraid to talk to folks and to join in on whatever shenanigans are going down. Also, bring more sunscreen than you think you’ll need and apply it more often than you think you should.
So I’ve considered attending these sorts of things for a while. And honestly, I think I’d be a good fit, based on what I’ve read about the sort of people camps look for. I’m cooperative, easygoing, helpful, and I like contributing to common goals. I have more experience in nature/camping than 99% of people and am well versed in LNT. I have a fair bit of experience doing diy projects, and am at least somewhat competent with carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, welding, and building/deconstructing temporary structures. I’m a big wall climber and am rope access certified, and am good at solving problems of moving heavy things where I need them or using leverage and ropes to exert lots of force. And I have the sort of athleticism that lets me do manual labor in the hot sun all day. For all practical purposes, I think I’d be a great addition to most people’s camp.
you’re a participant, an integral part of the experience for everyone else
But this bit is honestly terrifying. Really, I never really “got” the appeal of festivals… you just show up at a place and… look at things? Talk to people? Based on pics and videos I’ve seen of these events, the art looks cool. And the people I’ve met who are burners are cool people. But I feel a kind of existential dread that once the work is done and it is time to “enjoy” the event, I’ll just end up walking around, looking at things, being like “that’s cool”, awkwardly talking to no one or having very shallow, surface level conversations, and being bored.
So I challenge you: convince me that going to one of these events will be a good time.
Lol, your last paragraph resonates. I’ll probably have more to say about it once I’ve actually done it, but that’s basically the risk - either you’ll go, get out of your shell a bit, and have a good time, or you’ll be kinda bored and anxious.
Will say that based on your skill set, you’d probably do well with the crew that goes out and does initial setup or a bigger, more involved camp. In doing the grunt work, you’d likely make a connection with those folks which will help bolster the social experience of it all.
I think you should give something like this a shot - worst you could say is you tried it out, and had a meh time. But it could be awesome - I’ve yet to see someone talk about a festival like this and say “Yeah, I went - I was bored and lonely as shit”.
I prefer covering up to regular sunscreen. A sarong or two will keep the sun off effectively. I found a few days of sunscreen application while camping got pretty manky.
$20 camp shower and a storage bin solves the mank, but I burn easy, so its a yes and situation for me. :)
Nice! Glad you had a good time!
Yep, I’m trying to keep the participatory aspect of it as front of mind as possible. Goal is to talk to as many people as possible, and say yes to as much stuff as I can (within reason/limits of personal safety). Was hoping to have some particularly cool thing/wandering experience at the ready, but for lack of planning gonna try and compensate by bolstering cool shit other folks are doing where the opportunity arises :).
If you’re heading to Sideburn, get the dust app. (If you haven’t already). https://dust.events/docs/intro/ (link for Android or iOS app is here).
It is an app (for burning man & regional events) that has details of theme camps, art, music & the events on during the festival. They may have a paper guide and the app can be more up to date.
I recommend having a look through the events so you have the option of preparing for any you require something specific for (like a particular color clothing etc). The app doesn’t require internet access after retrieving the event data if you don’t have reception at the location.
Yes, many
Yes, many
May you regale us with one? How about your least favorite memory and then a strange one?
I don’t know where to start. You should have been there
Went to burning man 15 years ago.
This is not hyperbole : the most fun I ever had
And I’ve lived a life of fun
It’s worth noting that Burning Man from 15 years ago is not the same Burning Man today and it’s tragic.
I’ve heard that from folks closer to Burning Man before - what’s different from your perspective?
To keep it short and simple, it was more organic back then. Today, it’s more of a “designer” experience. You can still have a hell of a lot of fun, but it just feels less natural.
“I read somewhere online” that big luxury tents have been propping up owned by organizations that basically sell the entire experience as a package to rich people.
Nowhere near as exciting as Burning Man. But I was at Reading '05 in the UK. The year of the Reading camping riots. It was insane. All out debauched celebration alongside morons being in charge of camping equipment whilst inebriated. This amounted to gas canisters and fireworks placed casually on the tops of campfires, leading to one guy having his balls shredded by shrapnel as he walked too close to one of the pires.
I witnessed a few walking wounded, stumbling to make their way to medical help, dripping with blood, being hindered by the utter chaos that filled the ‘roads’ between campsites. People were clinging to the sides of fire engines as they tried to wade through the drunken zombies, a group pushed an ice cream truck over with the operator still inside and the marshals all got trapped in their crows nests and pelted with all sorts of projectiles (including flaming) whilst people set their tents and remaining equipment on fire below instead of having to clean them up and cart them home.
I’ve never been in a situation like it. Utterly surreal, super scary but also kinda dumb fun at the time when you’re 17… I can remember the festival being quite good before all hell broke loose on the last night!
me trying to find an article about 2005 specifically, only finding comments on forums and inferior social media platforms saying “Oh yeah, that’s just the Sunday at Reading, flaming tents and explosions are the norm, happens every year”
That’s a hell of an experience!
Yeah I’ve been hearing that it kind of repeats itself every few years. I can’t comment on any other year, but witnessing 2005 was an eye opener. I was trying to find an article to link too but only came across one from 2022 that referenced 2005 (and apparently 2002) being exceptionally bad, comparing them to 2022.
I used to go a lot around then, idk why (youth maybe?) but we weren’t that scared… maybe because it was a tradition of our group after the music on Sunday night to go on an adventure around the campsite, making friends with random other camps sharing drinks, uh various substances and generally chilling with randoms. So even though we were aware of all the chaos and mayhem going on around, we just cared about chatting gods-knows what to people we’d never met before
Now I do remember the bottling 50 Cent got in '04, my mate threw a camping chair on the stage. Funny back then, still funny now
Uses to go to Mountain Jam at Hunter Mountain in NY almost every year. It’s still a smaller event than the big ones and I think it makes a huge difference. It’s amazing but I haven’t been since before the pandemic. Camping with a couple thousand of your closest friends that you’ve never met while live music plays all day and night is incredible. Just migrating between campsites and sitting down for beers with everyone while they do the same with your campsite is a lesson to humanity.
Yes.
No.
