Shangri La Village
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Shangri La Village (often abbreviated to SLV) is a group of theme camps that choose to camp together each year at Burning Man. At the 2004 burn it had around a dozen theme camps and a population ranging towards 200-300, and filled an entire city block of Black Rock City. As most of the inhabitants of SLV are from San Diego, it occasionally makes an appearance at some of the regional burner events in Southern California such as Xara Dulzura. The big exception to this rule is PolyParadise, which hails (mostly) from Arizona and may be the single largest camp in the village.
Shangri La Village has one or more mayors. The mayor(s) typically change each year based on who is willing to take on the job. Additionally, each camp in SLV has a point of contact known as the "camp daddy" or "camp mommy." This person is the theme camp's contact with the mayor and is expected to have some responsibility over their camp. Each camp is expected to ensure that it leaves no trace before it departs.
SLV provides some rudimentary common infrastructure: a village gate, a performance stage, also a community chill space. In some years there has been a kiosk with a map of the village. For the most part, theme camps within SLV are fairly independent and really camp together because they enjoy it.
[edit] Theme camps
These are some of the theme camps that have found a home in Shangri La Village at one time or another:
- Spoon Return Center
- PolyParadise
- Free Beer Tomorrow
- Massage Confessional & Diyafa
- Purple Turtle Catnip Lounge
- BRC Zendo
- Sex-O-Phonic Fire Tribe
- Liberace's Closet
- Elfenland
Additionally, space within SLV has been reserved for non-themed camps. In 2003, this space was known as "Shangri-NA" (for Non-Affiliated), and in 2004 it was known as "Shangri-Burbs" or sometimes just "the 'Burbs." In 2005 the space is known as "Shangri-Slums" ("the 'Bums"). The inclusion of this space has been controversial, as there have been some problems with litter control and camp placement. The general feeling has been that 'Burbs of 2004 went much better than Shangri-NA had in 2003.
[edit] History
SLV goes back at least to the 2002 burn, but probably began earlier still. In 2003, Viagra was the mayor. In 2004 there were three mayors: Smokeblower, Business Buddha and Indy. SLV plans to re-appear on the playa in 2005 with Viagra serving as mayor.
