VICE: Every year at Burning Man, more than 60,000 people descend on a dusty patch of the Black Rock Desert to erect a small town from scratch, collaboratively shaping it into their version of utopia. COVID-19 has rendered a mass gathering like that unthinkable, and the festival’s organizers called it off—but they didn't actually cancel it. Instead, they announced they’d be moving the event out of Northwest Nevada, and into "the Multiverse." Somehow, they’re going to try to recreate the Burning Man experience—of raging your face off for a week, setting a bunch of shit on fire, and then cleaning everything up and disappearing without a trace—online.
4 comments:
There has always been this hype over burning man that I never fully understood. This is probably due to parents and adults never really wanting to disclose what all goes down at burning man, and after reading this article wow I don’t know if I ever really needed to know that. I find it so interesting how much of a culture this festival has and its long history and I really admire how people are still trying to keep this tradition despite our unique times. I don’t really want to imagine these virtual orgies that are going to inevitably happen, but it is so interesting to see how they are overcoming this adversity. I also found it hilarious the one girl talking about how the drug culture shifts. I also found it funny how she was like “where are these people going to get drugs right now anyway” but I know people who have spent most of their quarantine having a good time if you know what I mean.
Burning Man is such a unique festival, so the idea of taking it fully virtual is wild- but the idea of people doing outlandish things like Zoom sex parties, raging at home, and riding in some crazy ice cream truck around the block to commemorate the experience that they may have at Burning Man is slightly more attainable. I don’t think there is any way that you really can encompass the full essence and idea of burning man, especially because of the rules, footprint, and fire, but I also understand the uniqueness and importance of Burning Man for the people who go there, so I think that anyway people are able to touch this experience and reconnect to it- even if it is at a distance and not what they want. I am all for letting people creatively party and have their own respective fun, as long as my neighbor doesn’t light their house on fire for the sake of it.
This seems like an insane way to recreate an event of this caliber over an online platform, however, I cannot imagine that it will be anywhere near the same experience that you would be having if you were actually in the space experiencing it in person. I cannot imagine that it would be worth anywhere near the amount of money that a traditional ticket costs to be put on a Minecraft server or a zoom call. But hey, people are in need of some hope right now which I can completely understand. There are parts of the festival that are going to be very difficult to replicate, however, this article comments on ways in which people plan to get creative and enjoy themselves by possibly going to a park and having a socially distant dance party or finding ways in which to bring the festival to your home. This is an extremely interesting idea and I would be fascinated to see what happens with the online event. Elena Keogh
What an Interesting title. Like many of the comments above said, I am foreign to The Burning Man world, and don't think I quite understand it all. It seems like something that you have to go to in order to really understand it and get the full experience. There's probably a lot of first-time Burning Man goers who are quite disappointed they will now be able to attend their first Festival this year. It's good that people are taking initiatives to bring this much-loved event to the virtual world in order for it to keep happening and keep high spirits. It is also good the coordinators and participants, for the most part seem like they are understanding of the current global circumstances and need to be safe, and eager to accept the challenge of a virtual Burning Man. It will be interesting to see how this festival goes down this summer !
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