The following is a list of regional Burning Man events ordered alphabetically by geography. Not all of these events are affiliated with the Burning Man organization:
The participating EmoMen endeavour to create a Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) to stimulate friendship between men as an extended family. The event was based on the idea that, while western women have been redefining their role since the suffragettes, and the role of men changed dramatically after the industrial revolution, there has been little movement in redefining the role of men, or relationship between them. The founder also believed that, while the sexual revolution recognized diversity of sexual preference, men had become divided along lines of orientation; fear of intimacy between all men had emerged. Based on the hypothesis that men build relationship through shared activity, the event includes outdoor activities and workshops to encourage intimate, experiential communication. Workshops have included: wrestling, contact improvisation, djembe drumming, relaxation and tantric massage, several forms of yoga, meditation, a variation of the Glass Bead Game, teamwork including low and high ropes courses, martial arts exercises including jujutsu holds, Nonviolent communication, Intimacy Boundary Discovery and Kecak. A key ritual performed on the last evening each year involves the invention of full tribal markings with black light body paint to a background of electronica, drums and chanting.
Ignition celebrates similar principals as the original Burning Man, including radical self-reliance, participative art and culture and fire.[1] The event is held in September and is put on by the Brûleurs de Montréal Burners.
Witch Wells
SF North Bay:
Formerly called Soulstance, Soulfire is the annual regional 3-day campout in mid-June just outside of Los Gatos. * South Bay Burners decom (official site)
Firefly is considered the Massachusetts/New England regional burn and has been organized by a group of Boston Burners (official site) since its inception in 2003. It has moved around over the years, its first year being held in New Hampshire and has since settled in Vermont. It's still looking for a larger site than the ~60 acres used in 2009-2011.[2] 600 tickets were sold for 2011 (capped).[3]
Boston Decompression (or "Boston Decom") is an annual regional event held in the Boston area following Burning Man. Typically organized by a group of Boston Burners (official site), it offers Burning Man participants a chance to decompress: to reconnect and to share artistic performances and installations.[4]
Reno:
Pittsburgh: Frostburn is a winter celebration of art and community in Western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The regional burn promotes the Ten Principles of Burning Man in a harsh environment, highlighting the need for community members to collaborate against severe weather to create and install interactive art and theme camps. A gift economy is encouraged, while commercial activity is generally prohibited. Frostburn participants are expected to actively contribute to the spirit of the event in radically expressive (but socially responsible) ways, leaving no trace of their presence after the event has ended.
Frostburn takes place at Cooper's Lake Campground, which also serves as the site of the annual Pennsic War (the largest annual event of the Society for Creative Anachronism). The venue is near the intersection of Interstate 79 and US 422.
In 2008, Frostburn occurred during Presidents Day weekend in February. In later years, the event is scheduled for the weekend of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. each January.
Artemas: Wicker Man is a new burn located between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, PA at Four Quarters Farm, former location of the Gaian Mind summer festival. Established in 2008, it held its first event on Memorial Day weekend (the same weekend as Playa del Fuego less than three hours away). Wicker Man features designated "villages" for different activities, including Sound Town (for loud music) and Lust Vegas (for adult-themed camps). Set in the mountainous forests of Western Pennsylvania, its premier hosted about 350 participants and featured a spectacular main burn. Although the event hopes to become an official Burning Man regional burn, it is not yet formally recognized by the Burning Man Project.
Manheim Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Rise of the Phoenix - official site: is a Burn that has been in the Hills of Black Rock, Pennsylvania (south-central Pa.) held on Labor Day weekend for several years. It is not an official Burning Man regional burn, yet has become a place for some local burners, fire performers not heading west to still get together. It is also the location of a monthly Fire Performers' Meetup for local Fire Performers to meet and share the Fire Arts.
Myschievia began in 2005, when approximately 200 participants attended a location about 2 hours west of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Since 2006, Myschievia has been held in East Texas near Hughes Springs, Texas. Much like the Burning Man or any regional Burn, a theme may be chosen around which participants can creatively interact, though Myschievians chose not to have a theme in 2006 and 2007. Activities range from water balloon fights, to morning yoga classes, to themed dinners, to the annual Miss Myschievia pageant. The theme for the first year was "Trial By Fire," an old west courtroom-styled theme. The effigy was a 25-foot (7.6 m) tall model of the Scales of Justice. In 2006 the effigy was of the Roman Coliseum and featured several nights of spontaneous wrestling, both staged and real. In 2007 a giant head was constructed with a movable mouth. Its wild "hair," made of individual lengths of 2x6 lumber, was decorated and donated by the participants, who called the effigy "Unruly Man." For 2008, the theme was "Burning Bridges," and the effigy for 2008 was a bridge. In 2009, Pyrosynthesis was the theme, with the effigy being a flowerpot that participants could fill with their own "flowers," individual works of art intended to burn.
Critical Massive (or CM) is an annual alternative arts and performance festival staged in the greater Puget Sound region of Washington. Critical Massive was started in 2002 by Burning Man participants from the Seattle area. The Massive organization became the Massive LLC in 2004 with a board of six members. In 2006, Ignition Northwest assumed producer responsibilities for the event, and is the current producer of the event. Currently lasting seven days during the last week of June, it is smaller than the largest regional burns, with attendance in 2006 limited to 500 participants and attendance in 2007 limited to 475. Critical Massive’s original board of six produced the event at a local clothing-optional resort, Lake Bronson, in Monroe, Washington before moving the event to Lake Recreation Associates Campground (or LARC) in Mount Vernon, Washington in 2006, and the privately held campground of River outside of Maple Valley, Washington in 2007. The event is attended primarily by participants of the Seattle Burning community, and relies heavily on large theme camps and individual participants to build the temporary village. Art grants are distributed through the local Burner-based nonprofit organization, IgnitionNW.org, which also is the current producer of the event. In 2007, approximately $7,500 was distributed to multiple art projects. Many of the core values of Critical Massive are borrowed from Burning Man, and the same short, memorable terms are used for them. Due to the fact that the event is held in the highest population density center of the Pacific Northwest region, including Idaho, Oregon, and portions of British Columbia, the event’s environment is significantly different than the Black Rock Desert. The event has been held on the west side of the Cascade mountain range in the pacific Northwest rain forest. Consequently, the size of the event with the number of participants has been limited significantly simply for the fact that there are few venues capable of holding up to seven hundred individuals for a week-long event in the Northwest. Additionally, unlike Burning Man where the central effigy of a glowing neon man stays essentially unaltered from year to year (with alteration to its base and other design elements), the Critical Massive event may not have a central effigy, or indeed a last-night event. Usually, fire performances and other exhibitions occur on the last night of the event, but are limited in scope and size due to fire restrictions, especially in the forest-fire prone mountains.
Events no-longer happening.
Event was held once in 2009
Event was held once in 2004
Event was held once in 2006
Event was held once in 2008.