My thoughts on the renegade burn (AMA)

[spolsky]

Some quick thoughts on the Renegade Burn!

- I estimate it was about 25,000 people
- Not much “big” art due to BLM rules but plenty of small, meaningful, interactive art.
- Theme Camps brought their A game. You could spend the whole week visiting organized activities at theme camps. All the usual stuff was there. Breakfast and coffee camps, including the usual shenanigans like Naked Breakfast, day parties, intimate and friendly bars, big “nightclub” style dance parties, at least four major live music camps including one hip hop and one bluegrass, probably ten camps just on esplanade with good DJs, camps with amazing installations like the LED dome at Reverbia, Altitude Lounge with a perch to see the whole of center playa from a high perch, the 8-bit bunny steam bath, several big tents with lectures on the usual psychic manifestation stuff, multiple big yoga/mindfulness camps with all day programming, the Billion Bunny March, Halcyon’s Pink Ride, people just passing out pickles, bike repair, whatever you remember from Burning Man in past years was there in some form.
- The population was burners. Everyone was Burning Man Friendly.
- A lot of people who had been to Juplaya or last year’s renegade burn were expecting that it would just be like “camping in the desert” and maybe a little bit of visiting neighboring camps. No. It was not that. It was Burning Man.
- On average it felt like more experienced burners who knew what to do and how to behave, although there were plenty of newbies and the newbies were being inculturated just like normal years.
- For example, people mostly drove very slowly, got to their camp, then switched to bikes. There was less driving and the dust from driving than in normal years.
- There were a few motorcycles and dune buggies, but you would hardly notice them and riders were courteous
- Did not see any guns or “off grid survivalist” types. Zero. It was all burners doing burning man things.
- It was not 1996. That was a different world.
- More diversity than in normal years. The free admission helped.
- Nevada put a big medical camp near the entrance to the desert and there were plenty of emergency services available. A neighboring camp to us even got someone arrested due to a domestic violence situation. Sheriff came over, solved problem, no big deal. There were BLM rangers available but no police harassment… much less law enforcement presence and abuse than in 2019, and you hardly ever saw cop cars blasting around playa at high speed making dust for fun.
- Before the event everyone was obsessed about poop for some reason. It was a non issue. A lot of people had RVs, some organized camps brought private Porto-potties, and a lot of people brought camping toilets and used those. We also carried around urinal bags so you could pee without going back to your camp. They had some chemical that turned your pee into a solid and you tied it and put it in your knapsack … easy peasy. I did not see anyone poop on playa. I did see some peeing on playa on the burn night but that happens every year.
- Art cars were out in force. Many of them were full fledged art cars, specifically Robot Heart was just like any year, with thousands of people dancing … the only difference was a few dozen cars parked nearby in addition to the thousands of sparkly bicycles. Many art cars were in janky abbreviated form. For example Baaahs didn’t have enough crew to set up the whole sheep but they had four LED panels and a DJ booth. There were cool, creative art cars that were pretty simple (like, a Jeep with four flags, LOL) that never would have gotten a permit in a normal year but that just made the whole thing feel way more accessible and home-made. I would say at peak on burn night there were at least 10 art cars with BIG parties in front, and probably 100 neat looking art cars sailing around.
- At least during the event, I did not see any moop at all on the playa. I picked up one zip tie somewhere but the place was really clean.
- There was very little wind and I didn’t experience a single white out. The camps that brought carpets and pillows lucked out and those stayed clean all week!
- The smoke from California’s fires flew over us a couple of times. Mostly though it was beautiful and clear and you didn’t see anyone with masks.
- The BLM was nice and didn’t give anyone a hard time. They finally asked the skate camp to dismantle their half pipe on Friday after it had been running four days, out of fear of injury. They did not give anyone a hard time about non-climbable art. Reverbia built a big live stage out of scaffolding for concerts, and stuck one tent underneath to make it a “shade structure.”
- There were two beautiful temples. One larger one was a tent structure with a beautiful architecture and amazing light sculptures around it. Behind it was a smaller (house-sized) wood temple with the usual memorials stuck to it; that received special BLM permission. (It was built entirely out of otherwise unusable wood scraps). On Temple Burn night it was disassembled and burned in beautiful artistic burn barrels surrounded by a circle of participants.
- Queer presence felt (to me) much smaller, proportionally, to a normal year. Patsy’s was open every afternoon and was probably the main hangout. The first real queer party was Friday night, a joint production of Baaahs and Celestial Bodies. There were a few people from Comfort and Joy and Gender Blender camping with Baaahs. There were still plenty of queer people visible throughout the city and as usual 30% of the bicurious straight boys were pullable.
- I camped with Rootpile, which took in a lot of Theme Camp Operators whose campers hadn’t come. We won Burning Man with our Friday night hoedown (moonshine, pork tacos, bottomless beans, and bluegrass music).
- The art I brought was a 40’ antenna with LEDs that helped everyone in our neighborhood find their way home in the absence of a street grid. You could see it from across the playa. At the base was a red telephone hotline that served as a wormhole to other places and times.
- Also at our camp was Rob Smith’s wind chimes, made entirely out of fire extinguishers.
- Man Burn night. Wow. Monumental. Everyone came to playa and sat or stood or danced in a big circle. The art cars set up behind the people in a wider circle just like any other year (and without a whole team from Perimeter guiding them). Instead of a man burn, there was a spectacular light show created with hundreds of drones flying in precisely synchronized patterns that was amazing. Someone told me that it was the greatest thing they had ever experienced, and that did not seem out of whack.
- Just when you thought the drone show was ending, a bunch of drones that had been dark switched on revealing a 100’ high man in the center of playa. The audience went wild. It was incredibly surprising how emotional the scene was. I’m bawling just thinking about it. The man rotated slowly to face everyone, then raised his arms. Depending on which DJ you were closest to and how fast they could react, you probably got some incredibly moving music. (kudos to mustache Joey at Baaahs). Finally the drone show simulated the man burning to the ground and created a pool of “embers” on the ground which the participants rushed. The mega party on playa lasted all night.
- The number one subject of conversation was what a great burn we were having, without the Org. “What do they really add to the Burn for the $40 million that they spend?” People wondered. $475 tickets that make the event inaccessible and less inclusive? Huge multi-hour lines at entrance and exit? Huge payoffs to the Pershing sheriff so he can hire rent-a-cops to beat the living daylight out of naked tripping hippies?
- A lot of things that the org has thought are just incredibly important are probably not so important. It turns out that the burn is just as good when art cars do not hide their wheels. It turns out that ebikes are not a huge tragedy, and in fact motorcycles and dune buggies don’t really break burning man. It turns out that exodus doesn’t have to be so slow. It turns out that nothing bad happens when nobody inspects cars checking for plants. It turns out that without streets, EMS can still find their way around. It turns out that random frat boys coming in to leer at naked girls are no bigger a problem when tickets are $0 than when they are $475. It turns out that the bizarre requirement, flying in the face of decommodification, to have coffee for sale at center camp was a myth. It turns out that people can bring enough ice to get by without Arctica, and in the absence of the org selling ice, someone will bring a 53’ refrigerated truck stuffed with ice and just hand it out for free.

It was a great burn!

[FlyingMonkey]

spolsky,

Thank you very much for your thoughts. It seems that one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic is that we don't need the BORG to have a Burn that in all likelihood is more like the old days. Lets hope that the Playa is left pristine and the road back to Fernley isn't littered with trash.

I think I and many others would gladly attend an Alternate Burn instead of the Official Burn form now on.

Renegade Burns forever!

[SippyCupODoom]

Rootpile did a great job and brought a fantastic setup for their camp. I loved your LED tower. It became my guiding light at night. I studied it for some time on Friday night.

For myself, this year was a mixed bag. I met more 20+ Year Burners than I have ever met. People were very friendly and happy to see one another, it was great to experience.

The dirt bikes and dune buggies were not something I would bring back. 630A on Saturday morning a drunken biker slammed into our neighbors parked truck at 35-40 mph. Sun was up, there were no visibility issues.

Double compound fracture to his leg and narrowly missed killing a woman sleeping in her tent next to the truck. That created fear and trauma for 3 camps who had nothing to do with this guy but we all rose to the moment to track down medics and LEO to help him while leaving us to pick up the debris as well as his bike spilling gas in camp.

Dirt bikes and dune buggies seemed to love the large open space in front of our camp to do burn outs, kicking up massive dust walls and hauling ass at high speed all hours of the night. It created stress and concern that we could be run over.

People seemed much more “radically self responsible” this year and that was great to see but I also experienced many more people showing up to camp in their car with 3 gallons of water and no shade or lights and expected people to just deal with them being totally unprepared and then asking for help.

Thanks to Super Dave and his bike stunt, we spent a couple hours with Sheriff Carmichael. A guy who brings a lot of equity and wisdom to the playa. I am grateful I got to hear his perspective of the Renegade Burn plus the main event. He gave us both the good and the bad of this year. Sounded similar to when the main event happens with the exception of dirt bike accidents and high speed chases.

I missed the streets and the big art, center camp and the lamplighters. This year’s event gave me a deeper appreciation for the Org and the infrastructure they provide but also opened my eyes and mind to new ways to create the event and that Burners really do know how to get it done on their own.

I do agree the poop thing was over blown but out in deep playa (beyond the 3 o'clock side) we found a few “man made deposits” left for anyone traveling towards Spanky’s.

It wasn't the Burn but it also was not just “camping in the desert”, it was a mix of burning man meets mad max meets an open air social event where most people brought their A game.

Like I said, it was a mixed bag. I would love to see how we take the best elements from this year and mix them into the main event. See what bubbles up.

[spacetime]

A lot of things that the org has thought are just incredibly important are probably not so important.

I want to push the *I believe* button on this.

However, if a renegade were repeated annually for five years would it continue to go just as well? Or, will things devolve badly? I'm curious if renegade was lucky or is the start of proof that the commons will in fact not be tragedy.

I'm no fan of the org. I think the board acted irresponsibly in overseeing dark patterns to keep ticket money as donations, then playing on emotions while still taking full PPP loans etc. They're funny with the money, and that's not all.

However, say there was already a new stellar board that included community elected individuals. Pretend for a moment that this board audited BRC's many departments and gave every last nepotistic walkie-talkie-wearing, golf cart-driving manager the boot.

There was still no credible way to hold an official burning man in the midst of the pandemic.

The decision was made before delta was hitting and read the news: it was the right one.

If renegade won't be allowed to "last" because it doesn't pay off enough people, I would want some organized group that controls Burning Man™ appear out of nowhere and represent the event to the public in a way that it can happen every year and grow past 80k.

What do they really add to the Burn for the $40 million that they spend?

Anyone who has gone applied for an art grant from the org knows how high their expectations are to get a few grand toward a project. They take themselves very seriously.

Yet, the org did everything to keep ticket money and then ask for more donations while refusing to provide a financial plan for how they would handle the budget if the 2021 national did not go forward.

It was wrong because it meant the org was not willing to hold itself accountable. To me, it signaled that the leadership of the burning man organization can not be trusted to do the hard work that goes along with taking responsibility for these huge sums of money.

That aside, I suspect if we are to pull off a regular, 70k people+ Burning Man™ there will still be a lot of palms to be greased and practical logistics other than ice that our masters in the BLM will not depend on a some random kind stranger to handle.

It would be great to see a 70k person national event with the "same active ingredients" as Burning Man™ done for 1/3rd the money. If there ever was a time to assemble a new organization and hard fork Burning Man away from The Org and the many rules it would be now.

[Skuzzy61]

Well said spacetime.

[Token]

I have my doubts that the BORG curated event will ever return as it was for the pre-pandemic decades.

The two non-event years have opened some doors for realization, and I’m not just talking Burners and the BORG.

Here is the one-page rules BLM published this year.

https://www.blm.gov/press-release/burea ... rock-playa

And by the looks of it, folks more or less obliged. We will find out more soon enough when the constable and BLM report back.

Compare that to the 50-page permits of decades past, the 500-page environmental impact studies, endless processing of applications for commercial services, coordinating 30+ state and federal agencies …

That’s allot of work that wasn’t done two years in a row for marginal budget benefits.

And I haven’t really heard Reno shedding a tear for the “lost millions in revenue” either.

The smell I sense in the air points to simplest solution for the BORG - trim the fat, milk the IP, beg for money, do your thing at Fly Ranch and party on the Playa without doing Jack Shit.

It really makes sense for all parties involved.

[pizzalarry]

That’s super interesting and I am feeling a hot flush of shame for having skipped the non-event. I’ll be eager to read more accounts.

[random_vamp]

- Also at our camp was Rob Smith’s wind chimes, made entirely out of fire extinguishers.

Just an FYI, the wind chimes were mine (Adam Phelps) but failing to remember who was who in Rootpile is fine, I've also lost your name.

I'd originally been planning to set that up in the central empty space, and succeeded at doing so on Monday. Unfortunately I went out during the dust storm on Tuesday to do some wiring to get the lights running and got found by the BLM, who politely told me it needed to be moved back to camp.

As one of those wayward TCOs that ended up with Rootpile I had a great time helping out instead of being "in charge" of stuff.

[random_vamp]

And I haven’t really heard Reno shedding a tear for the “lost millions in revenue” either.

I ended up talking to some Reno locals while staying at the Peppermill on my way home, and can definitely say for certain that there are many locals missing that revenue.

[random_vamp]

It would be great to see a 70k person national event with the "same active ingredients" as Burning Man™ done for 1/3rd the money. If there ever was a time to assemble a new organization and hard fork Burning Man away from The Org and the many rules it would be now.

I think for an event of this scale to happen for 1/3rd the money would require it to take place on private property in a jurisdiction with little regulatory oversight. This non-event non-burn was good but it would not scale to a non-event non-burn with that many attendees on public land.

[LittleLionMane]

Your points are all perfectly outlined. I couldn't agree more. 2 points I want to add are the safety/support and the moop.

1 - Not once did I feel unsafe. As a woman with big tatas who enjoys letting my ladies free on the playa, I was worried about people making me unsafe or forcing themselves on me. This HAS happened at previous burns organized by the Org, so I thought it would be 10 fold for renegade burn. I couldn't be more wrong and boy am I happy to be wrong!! I thought "should I be worried about being in a tent? without a lock" - the answer was no. I did not feel unsafe one time. I felt supported and protected. I didn't get groped or molested as I had in previous years. I didn't get gawked at. I felt completely OK and respected, regardless of my body or what I was wearing (or not wearing). True burners - even newbies!! The energy and essence of the burn was respect and this was felt and practiced no matter how many years you've been or not been.
2 - The lack of Moop was another wonderful aspect. I thought it was going to be trashed. And the amount of moop I cleaned at the end of the week was 1% of the usual amount.

Hands down, this was the REAL BURN. Safe, supported, respectful. I'm glad I made the last minute decision on Wednesday to go. I didn't feel right in my heart not to be there.

And just like that, my faith in humankind has been restored. I weep as I write this. Thank you Renegade Burn.

[oaklandfunk]

I’d say I agree with about 75% of the OP’s quite rosy assessment of the event. I had a great time and am super glad I went. But what was missing that the org (maybe?) provides was obvious - scale. Perhaps this was simply a result of the limited time frame with which to plan and the restrictive guidelines of the BLM requirements but there wasn’t THAT much to do or to look at. It was pretty much exclusively on the shoulders of the art cars who I would agree performed admirably and quite literally made it a party. Theme camps were lacking and it was mostly just people camping during the day with some exceptions. It wasn’t quite burning man but it was pretty darn close considering. The drone burn was so awesome and really emotionally sweet precisely because people needed something extra to make it feel like a burn and wow did it. I missed the temple burn but maybe that was even more so? The large scale art and truly interactive theme camps were missed at least by me. A stripped down version of Bm with a year to plan and less restrictions by BLM could certainly be as fun or more fun than the event but this more felt like a stopgap (to me) The best description I heard of the event was it’s what burning man would have been like in the 90’s if it was was influenced BY modern burning man culture rather than the cacophony society/ culture jamming punks. Lots of dance music - not much weird shit. It was way chiller than 1996 but tbh 1996 was cooler and more innovative and WAY more dangerous. 1996 was my first year and this was my 22nd burn- or my 21.5 as my friend and I joked on the way home - it counts as half a burn. But a fantastic half. Thanks to all the people who made it happen. I’m really glad I went.

[M F Bonz]

I have to concur with Tokens thoughts.
It’s going to be interesting to see just how this all plays out. Doubtful I will ever buy BM tickets again. I would Definitely do another Renegade burn it reminds me of our trips to the desert in the late 70’s ….hardcore survival.
We did this renegade burn in a tent …with no ice or generator.
We Still had lighting ,fresh fruit ,cold/hot food ,cold drinks ,cold champagne and cream for our coffee. We slept Comfortable in the heat of the day. We also had a shower and a toilet with a seat and frame strong enough for someone using a wheelchair. And a full kitchen including the kitchen sink …. With a Large shade structure to shade it all.

We left no trace.

All of it fit in a 4 door Jeep Wrangler.
It can be definitely done without support No problem.

Bring it Desert let’s play.

As for the other people we saw out there ….All I saw were experienced season burners. Without exception. Time will tell what kind of mark we all left behind.

I would do it again. Yes definitely.

Mozy Fucking Bonz

[Captain Goddammit]

I think it makes sense that this drew out mostly the old burners, this is more like what we remember.
I hadn’t gone in years, but I showed up last year.
I’ve been saying for many years, the easier they keep making it for people to go, the more they screw it up.

[motskyroonmatick]

There's been a lot of talk about the BLM restrictions and I get that. I was a little disappointed when that email came out but... We got to drive our freaking golf cart on the playa wherever we wanted and any time we wanted. It was great! Our camp mates used it for missions and fun too! There was way more freedom than an ORG burn and it was great to experience that. I finally got to park the trailer exactly how I wanted to and even had time to mess around with a few projects. It made me miss the day of doing an ethical land grab for my non registered theme camp and long for the days pre sell out when we could just get tickets and go do our thing without jumping through a bunch of hoops to do good things.

[BMG]

Just some experiences from a sixteen timer. . . .
I encountered lots of moop, seeminly more than at an Org event.
Unleashed free running dogs were not a good thing.
It was astonishing how many internationals were there.
This non event seemed to bring out the burniest of veterans and the most virginal of virgins.
The virgins I met were generally more clueless than usual, maybe those packets of info included with the ticket purchases are read more than I had realized.
Orientation turned out to be easier for this veteran than feared. Despite getting lost once, I did not have to resort to my pinned GPS location ever.
As much as part of me is uncomfortable with the "Disney in the Dust" trends, I must admit to missing its spectacle.
I encountered angst and anger expressed towards the Org.
I assisted an 80 year old burner whose last event was 2003, after which he stopped attending due to how the event was changing. Interstingly, that was my first year.
I did not like the personal vehicles mingling in the crowd at the Drone Burn. Someone was driving a motor home in the middle of the crowd. Really ?!?!?!
After all these years, what keeps me coming back is that there are always fascinating and amazing things and people out there, even at this rather limited and emasculated event.

[Sham]

Dogs did seem to be a bit of a problem. For open camping on the playa, dogs are allowed, but it did seem very irresponsible to actually bring them during this time.

[gaminwench]

All of this sounds like JuPlaya, which happens every year.

[lucky420]

Dogs did seem to be a bit of a problem. For open camping on the playa, dogs are allowed, but it did seem very irresponsible to actually bring them during this time.

No seem about it. It was fucking A stupid and irresponsible for the most part.

[Sham]

Dogs did seem to be a bit of a problem. For open camping on the playa, dogs are allowed, but it did seem very irresponsible to actually bring them during this time.

No seem about it. It was fucking A stupid and irresponsible for the most part.

I was trying to choose diplomatic words, but I like yours better.

[ygmir]

Dogs did seem to be a bit of a problem. For open camping on the playa, dogs are allowed, but it did seem very irresponsible to actually bring them during this time.

No seem about it. It was fucking A stupid and irresponsible for the most part.

I was trying to choose diplomatic words, but I like yours better.

one should always refer to Lucky, when it comes to pets and their welfare.

[unjonharley]

Nothing like , a free range dog lifting it's leg on your tent

[lucky420]

No seem about it. It was fucking A stupid and irresponsible for the most part.

I was trying to choose diplomatic words, but I like yours better.

one should always refer to Lucky, when it comes to pets and their welfare.

Word

[lucky420]

Dogs did seem to be a bit of a problem. For open camping on the playa, dogs are allowed, but it did seem very irresponsible to actually bring them during this time.

No seem about it. It was fucking A stupid and irresponsible for the most part.

I was trying to choose diplomatic words, but I like yours better.

Sometimes it’s ok to throw diplomacy out the window

[ygmir]

No seem about it. It was fucking A stupid and irresponsible for the most part.

I was trying to choose diplomatic words, but I like yours better.

Sometimes it’s ok to throw diplomacy out the window

sometimes....