The World's Best Regional Burns

Fri January 08, 2016 | 00:00 AM

Burning Man is one of the festival world’s true Goliaths, built on doctrines of radical self-expression, community and a gifting culture that means the world’s ego-centric economic system has no effect beyond Black Rock City’s sandy gates.

Its influence now spreads far and wide, with Burning Man acolytes (Burners) residing in every continent on the planet and setting up their own events built around the very same ideals. If the thought of another beer-sponsored bro-fest makes you down your glass in sober protest, get yourself to one of these regional Burns and don’t forget your tutu.

AfrikaBurn (South Africa) - 25th April - 1st May, 2016

If you want some radical isolation to go with your radical self-expression, AfrikaBurn takes some beating. To get to the site - memorably called Stonehenge Farm - you have to take the long, lonely R355 road, which is 300km north of Cape Town, deep into the sun-parched semi-desert. Now one of the most established Burning Man offshoot events on the calendar, it’s a true mecca for dedicated Burners and its 2016 theme is that of X; commemorating the fact it will be celebrating its 10th year.

Afrika Burn

Photo by: Francine Nagata Photography

Burn In The Forest (Canada) - 14th - 17th July, 2016

This event can be found just 90 minutes outside of Vancouver and set within bucolic forest surroundings, this is an event that services British Columbia’s Burners (and any others who want to venture to the North American location). Now heading into its 12th year, it’s certainly worth a pilgrimage, wherever you are in the world.

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Photo by: Frank Roberts

Nowhere (Spain) - 4th - 10th July, 2016

The main outpost for European Burners had around 1,500 people visit in 2015, and it has seen numbers rise steadily in recent years as Europeans realize that a) they like getting down with the Burning Man vibe but b) California is a really long way away. Somewhere in the Spanish badlands between Barcelona and Zaragoza, it takes place in the shadow of a mountain that more and more people climb as the day approaches sunrise. Listen out for the wolf calls and cackles when it appears across the ridge.

Nowhere 2014 018

Burning Seed (Australia) - 28th September - 3rd October, 2016

Australia now has a number of festivals that are spiritually indebted to Burn culture, not least Rainbow Serpent and Strawberry Fields. This event - in the New South Wales bush roughly equidistant between Sydney and Melbourne - takes place on the harsh land of the Wiradjuri people. Their spirit inflects the event which reaches its climax on the Sunday night with a burning of the Temple, which over the week becomes covered in Burners’ photos, poems, shrines, letters and mementos, each of them destined to flutter off in cascades of smoke up into the cosmos.

If you’re on the other side of Oz, check out our Blazing Swan entry, below...

Burning Seed 2015 49

Photo by: Jorgenn

Blazing Swan (Australia) - March 23rd - 29th

Sister to Burning Seed, which takes place on Australia’s east coast, Blazing Swan is organised by a group of Burners who have spent time at the US original, as well as contributing to AfrikaBurn and the aforementioned Burning Seed. Through Blazing Swan they are building an even stronger Burner community in Australia, where 90% of the land is uninhabitable – i.e. desert. Perfect for replicating Black Rock City.

Midburn (Israel) - 8th - 12th June, 2016

One of the newest events on the list, Midburn is the spiritual home for Israel’s slowly flourishing Burner community. 2016 will see 3,000 intrepid adventurers descend on this temporary city for five days, to dive head and heart first into the theme of ‘Abracadabra’, of which the organisers say: "We will explore and delve into this fantastic world of wonder, we’ll raise our wands and dance a spell of old and new". Cute.

Rs519 Midburn 2014 Dotan Barak (10)

Photo by: Dotan Barak

Kiwiburn (New Zealand) - Late Jan 2017

Kiwiburn has grown under the stewardship of Mark ‘Yonderman’ Stirling, who, legend says discovered Burning Man by accident in 1994, when he lived in Reno. Its first event was in 2004 on South Island, though it's since moved to the North and the township of Hunterville (population 439). As with all Burn events, the locality plays a big part in shaping its atmosphere, and Kiwiburn is a hit with the locals themselves, with the website thanking the firemen, the farmers and the local council representatives for their role in making it what it is.

Kiwi Burn

Photo by: Peter Jennings

Frostburn (Pittsburg) - February 2017

Severe weather conditions are a pillar of many Burn events. The searing heat in Black Rock City or Stonehenge Farm is a leveling force for all attendees, and helps engender the Communal Effort principle so intrinsic to everything the event represents. Frostburn turns this on its head, taking place on President Day weekend in mid-February. Down in Masontown, deep in Western Virginia, Burners camp within snow-littered fields, build elaborate snow sculptures and relish in the heat derived from the Effigy burning. FYI, just because you bring your salopettes with you doesn't mean you can’t make an effort with your outfit.

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Photo by: Shawn Ferry

Fuego Austral (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - March 23rd - 27th

South America can now lay claim to its own regional Burn, thanks to Fuego Austral – which is due to debut in the province of Buenos Aires in Argentina. It will be south America’s very first official regional Burn and is sure to be something special. The theme is ‘INFINISIS’ - which means 'a state or condition of infinity'. A perfectly indeterminate theme which will allow participants to go wild with their interpretations. Head over to their website for more information. Que bueno!

Burning Bär (Beesenstedt, Germany) - February 26th - 28th

How about taking the core principles of Burning Man, exporting them to a festival in Germany and setting in a castle? That’s what the organisers of Burning Bär have done and they’ve made it a very intimate affair, with only 400 tickets sold. In doing this, the people behind the event have made sure that they have a very exclusive, yet inclusive, policy – bringing together open-minded folk in an environment that allows to fully explore their inner unicorn.

And if you still want to try out the big one…

Burning Man (Black Rock City, Nevada) - 28th August - 5th September, 2016

With 68,000 heart-swollen believers in the powers of hugs, fire, art, sex and doing the things you just can’t back home, the original does remain the baddest Burn on the block. Of course, some have complained that its size has led to an erosion of the original ethos, but seriously... just go and immerse yourself in it. There is so much to see and do and get involved in and experience... the pay-off is the evenings you’ll spend on the world famous Playa and the lifelong memories of being somewhere like no place on Earth. The Saturday night finale - where the wooden Man that’s loomed over the site all week gets burned to the ground - remains one of the greatest spectacles in modern times.

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