How Community is Central to Boogaloo Festival's Vision of Art Car Madness

Article by: Ross Gardiner and Jemayel Khawaja|@rossgardinerman

Mon February 27, 2017 | 14:22 PM


Boogaloo Art Car and Music Festival began as a Burning Man fundraiser for the Dirty Beetles, a ragtag group of playa outcasts known for causing a ruckus in their massive, motorized rhino-beetle tank. For years, their unhinged shenanigans—even by Burning Man standards— caused many a wayward glare while attracting many of the more “problematic” Black Rock residents into their whirlwind of good-natured chaos.

From the beginning, Boogaloo has always been about community. Theirs is a collection of crews, art cars, squads, posses, and networks of people who are drawn to the “no pretense, all nonsense” vibe of the Boogaloo crew. The inner circle camp membership at this point has swollen in size. With names like Bass Tribe, Camp Charlie, Noise Revolt, Grateful Generation, Tasty Noodles, TBTN, The Cruz Coalition, Dub Gypsy Kitchen return every year, it's makes us think of a kind of United Nations of countercultural party squads tearing it up in dusty, spluttering art cars.

Boogaloo Art Car Festival 2016 Tony Edwards 2

Photo by: Tony Edwards

With Boogaloo’s third (legitimate) edition approaching, April 28-30, 2017, at the Oak Canyon Park in Southern California, the festival's organizers decided to put their money where their hearts were with one of the most generous Friends and Family pre-sales in memory.

“The Dirty Beetles have always been a family that takes care of each other. This is the Beetle way,” says Boogaloo founder Brian Crain. After conferring with an inner circle of longtime Beetle loyalists, Crain and partner Ian Stone decided to drop the Friends and Family price to $99 for the weekend with a secret code from a Boogaloo camping squad. Every ticket bought with that code returned $20 back to the camp, money that could be spent upgrading an art car or contributing to the production of a camp. For a small festival, it was a bold move on many accounts, and one that required trust in the extended community.

Boogaloo Art Car Festival 2016 Locz Ilens

Photo by: LOCZIlens

The plan worked. Pre-sales dwarfed those of prior years and the gesture jump-started involvement from camps. “We increased festival tickets sales by almost 300% over last year’s early bird sale,” says Crain. “And at the same time gave over $10,000 to support art cars, camps, performance groups and other community groups.” And this is before the lineup has even been released!

As festivals grow from the underground and renegade scenes into full-on enterprises, the biggest struggle for many is maintaining the familial atmosphere and vibe of a small community gathering in the name of radical excess. Boogaloo’s move to include the crews who define the party in the festival's profits is the kind of thing that keeps that vibe alive.

Boogaloo Art Car Festival 2016 Courtesy Of

“The camps we partnered with for Boogaloo are a true testament to what community is, meaning they were excited to work with us and get this message to their fan base,” says Boogaloo founder Ian Stone. “My advice to anyone trying implement a ticket sale like this would be to honor and include the camps, tribes, groups and collectives that make up the fabric of your community. Together, greater things [are] always possible."