Seven days from their slated start, Israel MidBurn has just been ordered to cease construction in the Negev desert. Even as they're obviously well underway in building, festival organizers are dealing with this logistical nightmare in positive spirits.

Despite the abrupt blow, organizers "believe that it is possible to close these gaps through proper communication, and this is why we are seeking out the most direct communication channels with the chief district officer of the Negev who has been declining to meet with us from the beginning of the process... We all hope that the situation will be solved within the next couple of days."

The crew is hoping for a fast resolution and asking for anyone who thinks they are able to help to email them directly at:  gomidburn@gmail.com.

Dear Friends, As a community we are passing through some muddy waters, waters that have an effect on the event and on our future. In the same vein as our previous post, we would like to be as transparent about the issues at hand as we possibly can be. Throughout this journey, we have been aware that Midburn is a massive undertaking which thousands of people spend tons of time working on. An entire community with drive to come together, to express, and to create art in the heart of the desert. 6000 people. 400 participants from abroad. 68 Art installations that community members are have been working on for months. 87 Theme Camps. In June of 2014 the first official Midburn event was held in which 3,000 people took part. The event was a spectacular success both in terms of the number of people who arrived as well as the level of safety and security at the event. The event ended with 0 reported police incidents, and what's more, during the event the police expressed of their own accord how impressed they were with the awareness, respectfulness and generosity of the participants. We began the process of obtaining an event license from the Israeli Police 4 months ago. Over a month ago we filed a document expressing our concerns regarding the licensing conditions set out by the police. Discussions were held in various forums with the police and the more we insisted on clear explanations of said requirements the more we were faced with new, stricter requirements and no explanation what so ever. From then on, all of our requests for further meetings were met with a negative reply. We couldn't have imagined that we would ever find ourselves in such a situation, but on Wednesday the police announced officially that they will not be approving our event license. That same day we turned to a lawyer specializing in these types of situations, and enlisted his service. Already the next morning we received a court order to cease all of our construction work and immediately announced it to all participants. At that very moment, hundreds of volunteers working to build and to create everything from Art, to Theme Camps, to an infirmary, Center Camp and city infrastructure - stopped everything. In parallel, we filed a request to lift the courts' cease and desist order, but the request was denied. In addition, we are filing several request with the district court and the regional court to lift the cease and desist work order. This evening (Saturday) we will be filing an additional "rush" request with the courts in order to ensure that our requests will make it to the desks of the courts tomorrow morning. As a community in which "Civic Responsibility" is one of our strongest values, we will respect the law, and hope that the situation will change after the court hearing. However, at the moment, we have closed the city. Theme Camps, artists, community members, we are requesting that you do not arrive. We need your cooperation. We believe that it is possible to close these gaps through proper communication and this is why we are seeking out the most direct communication channels with the chief district officer of the Negev who has been declining to meet with us from the beginning of the process. We all hope that the situation will be solved within the next couple of days. If you think that you might be able to help, if you have any way you might be able to contribute, please send us an email>> gomidburn@gmail.com Midburn has already begun. The way home isn't simple or easy, but if we all come together and go forward together,We'll make it. To close, here are a few words from the CEO and the head of this entire operation to participants and workers in the Negev desert:

The official announcement asking for help.