Burning man 2005

After all these years of thinking about it, now is my time to actually do it. I declare here before all my fellow twirlers that it is going to be my #1 goal for 2005 to attend burning man and although I haven't dabbled into fire poi yet, what an awesome experience to be a part of something so spiritually uplifting and proud. Anyone who has been or is going, I would luv to hear from you, either here in public forum or by all means, feel free to email me privately. Thank you. I'll still read thru the many threads and start to get into burning man mode..thanx gang
Sandy

Great goal!

Burningman has certainly opened up many peoples eyes to alternative art and radical self expression. I've never been since I'm always hanging out with the cool kids in Europe at the time or setting up for school...

Which reminds me, I only have 11 months to think of an excuse not to be able to make it to burningman next year.

Good luck and save up! It often takes a bit more money than people think to get there, so start the piggy bank now!

Oh and Welcome to HoP...

I'm only concerned that one of the smelly mods might think this should be in the 'events and gatherings' section because of the title.

*waits for NYC to get a smack for the smelly comment*

I hope for your sake its from Flash!!

Hrm... *gags at own odour*

I can't wait to smother you in my special scent when I see you at Burning Man 2005, NYC. And, cos this thread is really asking for experiences and musings, I will allow it to say in this forum. Thanks for pointing it out, Mr Pedantic.

Burning Man is an amazing experience. It can be overwhelming at times.

The best quote anyone gave me before my first, and so far only, Burning Man experience was:

"People go to Burning Man looking for what they want, but Burning Man will give you what you need. It doesn't always happen, but most people I know have had at least one moment where everything just seems too much."

My wise friend was right, at least where I was concerned, and My moment came when I crossed the threshhold into the Temple of Joy (year 2002). I absolutely broke down in tears. I was alone at the time, my friends recovering from their respective hangovers from the burn the night before.

I wasn't the only one in tears there...the emotions contained in that structure were intense. The energy weighed on you with each step as you approached the entrance, and smothered you as soon as you walked in. This was the first Burning Man after the 9-11 tragedy. . .a lot of folks let go a great deal of pain in the walls of the stucture...

I don't mean to get all metaphysical, but it was an incredibly cathartic moment for me, and left the biggest impression in many ways. Spinning fire out there, on the playa is a magical moment, as well. You don't do it to show off, but to share. The talent at that one event is amazing.

With luck, Mand and I hope to be out at Burning Man next year...but plans are up in the air.

One note - don't worry too much about the fire poi. It is in no way a rally for fire performers. Fire is only an icon of something much larger. it is something completely different - something you will not expect no matter how much you've heard about it. Don't worry about getting good with your fire poi before august 2005. Hell, if you don't even take your fire gear, there is a fair chance you won't even miss it while you are on the playa. Instead it is much better your first time to concentrate on the things around you - the things that will engage you, the things that will change you. As Spitfire () so sussinctly said, burningman will give you what you need to find in yourself and in others (and that will be very differnt than you thought). don't let some notion that you absolutely must burn your poi on the playa get in the way of finding that. In fact, I'd tell you (other's may disagree however) to make a concious effort to leave your fire poi at home no matter how tempted you are to bring them (and 20 cans of fuel) with you. do not waste time on what you already know while you are there. Instead you should concentrate on exploring (in many different ways) the first time you are there. And I very strongly recommend that if you do take your fire poi to black rock city, do not make a mission out of getting to spin in front of the man just before he burns. This is absolutely not worth all the time and effort and other things you must sacrifice to have this "privledge" - unless you are and absolute fanatic about the idea doing so, you should trust me on that one.

Vanize has a point....spinning at Burning Man should not be your main focus. Experience the Event.

Spinning as part of the Burn Procession....is also more trouble than what it's worth. Vanize and I both have experience in this matter....

Enjoy the event, spin for pleasure if you want, but don't make it a number one priority...there's so much to see, do, and be there...

Errrrmm silly question but whats burningman i wanna go i wanna go.....

<EDIT: response to NYC retracted. Reasoning: don't want to give him the satisfaction>

I have a question about Burning Man...

After looking at countless photos of boobs and willies, is Burning Man really, at the crux of the matter, about nudity and free love?

Not that it would stop me from going if that's the case!

when I was there it was more about old blokes getting out their pierced willies than it was about general nudity. I think I saw about 3 completely naked women in the whole time I was there (compared to 100s of naked blokes)...perhasps I was at the wrong camps? dunno free love? it cetainly seems to be.

I think the main thing that came through for me was 'freedom of expression' and I think thats the best it could be, and thats what I'll go back for.

Josh

I have been thinking about going to burning man for 7 years now, but only seriously wanted to for 4. I know, not seriously enough, otherwise i wouldve been already. All i was wondering is. Does anyone on HOP from England go, it seems that most people i speak to (not on HOP i must add) havent even heard of it. Also when i have been in the usa and been able to go its been alot of trouble convincing others to. So i was hoping that here i would find some UK kindred spirits to head over there with. The traveling isnt the problem its always been the lack of transport out to blackrock.

UK HOPers, Ow and Jo (Derry) go. I assume others do too

hope that helps,

Josh

I can't believe I have to ask this question, but after trawling the burning man website and e-playa I still can't figure it out:

When is Burning Man 2005? Is it the same dates each year or what?

*feels dumb*

it is always the same - the last day is the first monday in september (labor day in the states) - so the beginning is always a week before.

Thanks for that Vanize.

What day do you recommend I get there, considering I'll be flying into Reno and renting a car to drive to the festival (international planning takes time, and I have to figure out my budget!). When do you usually get there vanize?

Looking at the calendar, it seems Monday 5th September is the last day - so, is this the day that everyone leaves, or do most people leave on the Tuesday? When does the Man burn? The Sunday night?

Sorry for all the questions.

One of these days I'll make it out there.

I'm gonna wait til it goes all corporate and I can stay at one of those Hotel/Casino deals.

I've got friends that get there anywhere from Saturday before it officially starts to the Wednesday of it. This past year, the rules officially changed as to when the masses were allowed in. It used to be that you could arrive early (before Monday) without a problem. Now, only registered theme camps with a designated location are allowed in early.

Getting there early in the week is nice because you get to see the city develop. It goes from being rather desolate to being rather crowded, and you need to find new landmarks to get back to your camp as the week progresses. The people that arrive on Wednesday don't have as much vacation time left. They arrive when the city is mostly done expanding. A lot of when you arrive also depends on how long you can deal with the harsh conditions that are out there. Not everyone wants an entire week of dust storms, super heat, and drastically cold temps at night.

well, Spritie covered the arrival pretty well. I personally feel getting there as early as possibly is totally worth it because it takes a couple days to really get into the groove of it, and somehow it is enjoyable to be ahead of the curve - to have settled in and be able to watch others adapt. Plus you get a much better handle on where the really fabulous stuff is early on (because they usually have to set up early) - later everything is so chaotic and hectic, it is hard to sort out the lay of things if you just arrive plop in the middle of the crazyness.

It used to be that if you arrived on Wednesday, things were still pretty mellow and it was thursday through sunday that had the real chaos, but the last few years things are pretty much full-bore by tuesday - but still with a noticable bump on wednesday/thursday when all the folks who can't get so much vacation time fly in. I'd say definitely get there before wednesday if humanly possible, first Monday if you can manage it, and if you can arrange to help out a theme camp, then get there on the first saturday or sunday.

The Man burns Saturday night, and the temple on sunday night. the majority of the people bugger out on monday morning, though a significant number leave on sunday because they have to drive more than 24 hours to get home (e.g. it takes about 40 hours of driving to get there from Houston, Texas). Some pack sunday, wait for the temple to burn, chill another couple hours, then leave in the dead of night. Others linger for a long time - days or even weeks (though most of the latter are volunteering to help tear down and clean up). I don't think you really get kicked out per se, though by Tuesday I suspect you will be encouraged to leave. Tuesday would be my choice, as it allows plenty of time to wind down from the climax of activities, though I have never had the pleasure of travelling with people who didn't have to be back to work early that week, so monday early is the latest I've ever left. Often times the lingerers who get the worst of the desert weather for some reason - cars buried by dust storms and what not.

what else? er... not sure.

oh yeah, if you do a search, you'll find my additions to the burningman survival guide somewhere around HoP. Let's see...

ok, here

Solid advice - thanks so much vanize and spritie! Really appreciate it.

There's plenty of advice around about BM, weather, water, ect.
What I think is more important is your personel community.
People have gone to BM with nothing, bumed around and had a great time. Others have planed packed toiled and left early.

I advise, to choose a group of compatable nuts.
My group is mutaytor in Gigsville, we share water, showers, drugs, electricity, work, and are generally suportive.

If your all alone in a tent on the outskirts or walk-in camp, you will come away with a compleately different perspective.

There are many fire tribes, some are goth, tribal, hippy, ect.

If your into drugs and erotic fire play you will probally be freaked out by goth tribes like spikes.

Spend the year getting to know who your going to be with its kind of like getting married.