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Living the American Dream at Burning Man 2008

Burning Man comes to Black Rock City at the end of this month…  For the uninitiated, this means the start of a week-long party-on-the-playa – a feast of ‘radical self-expression, radical self-reliance, art and participation‘.

And this year’s art theme should make for some rather interesting manifestations of aforementioned ‘radical self-expression’, I should imagine…

“2008 Art Theme: ‘American Dream‘

In 2008, leave narrow and exclusive ideologies at home and carefully consider your immediate experience. What has America achieved that you admire? What has it done or failed to do that fills you with dismay? What is laudable? What is ludicrous? Put blame aside, let humor thrive, and dare to contemplate a larger question: What can America contribute to the world?”

Before you go thinking this is the kind of festival one can simply pop into and leave again if it’s not quite your cup of tea, think again.  Going to Burning Man isn’t for the faint-hearted, and considerable planning is required.

For starters, the entire festival takes place in a makeshift city in the middle of the Nevada desert – Black Rock City – a structure created solely for this purpose (and taken down again immediately afterwards, leaving barely a trace).

Money means nothing at the Burn – everything is bartered for.  So, you need to figure out what to take for your own use, as well as what’s useful for swapping (or just plain fun!)

So, if you’ve never been before, but are getting tempted (all that radical self-expression must surely lead to something interesting, hey?) then get to reading the First-Timer’s Guide, followed by the 2008 Survival Guide (I did say it wasn’t for the faint of heart, after all).

Still keen?  Good, now check out the Playa calendar. In just one day, you can join the ‘“First Monday” Nude Art Ride’, engage in a little ‘Daily Chanting of the Lotus Sutra‘, shoot tequilas (at trespassers) at the Tequila Shack, or even play a game of glowing checkers.

Sounds like most excellent fun to me… a pity I’m several thousand miles away.  But, if you’re luckier than I, tickets are still selling online until 12 midnight PST on Friday the 22nd of August (that’s only just over a week away).

You’ll pay a cool $295 for the pleasure (not counting all the prep costs), but for a week’s worth of entertainments like those… (and the chance to see the ‘American Dream’ in art), it’s a snip, even for the meanest of penny-pinching backpackers (I mean, there are just some things that are truly worth spending money on, right?)

The Burning Man Festival takes place from 25 August to 1 September 2008 at the temporary metropolis of Black Rock City. Keep up to date with the latest festival news by reading the Burning Man blogs.

Posted in Destinations, Festivals