Here's what they got:
Hello everyone in the BM organization!
This year was my 3rd year and my boyfriend's 3rd year at Burning Man. It was also our least favorite. Oddly, however, the fact that this Burn was bad has made us reconsider our previous position that we would not be back in 2008. Let me explain:
We come with a theme camp so we don't use the public johns too much although the one time I did on Wednesday night I was mortified. My boyfriend had pretty nasty experiences the few times he used the public loos too because they were always filthy. Yuck. But we understand there were SO many people and the cleaning guys are punctual and efficient but the toilets were probably overwhelmed a bit. So overall, the infrastructure of the city as a whole we find to be good.
These are the things we found to be unsettling this year:
1) The whole vibe of the event felt very different - negative, unsocial, unfriendly, a lack of community, chronic over-abundance of spectators and "frat boys"
2) Litter and piss ALL over the Playa!!! I spent half of Friday night picking up other people's mud-caked beer cans. Especially offensive for a person who doesn't drink alcohol...
3) The Esplanade didn't seem to end this year. The previous years we've been (mine were 2004 and 2006, his were 2005 and 2006) there was a sort of horseshoe shape to the Esplanade when you were out at the Man or the Temple. This year, it seemed like the Esplanade, camps and structures went in a complete circle. It obliterated the night skies and made finding your way virtually impossible because the ends of the Esplanade weren't obvious. If it was that way for sober people I have no idea how anyone else found their way anywhere.
4) Overall, the event just felt too full of people. As much as I never thought I'd say this, it feels too big. I know you guys hear this every year but the vibe was so different and so damaged this year that it feels like it's time to put a cap on the number of entrants.
Many of these points I've made have been echoed by the 180 or so people in our theme camp and also many of the 400 + or - in our local Burn community. There is a large group so offended by the poor feel of the event this year that they've planned to do something else as a group next year, like heading to Costa Rica. Personally, I think that's a mistake. So here's where I explain why my partner and I would come back in '08 instead of going to Europe as planned. We feel responsible for the community we're a part of. The reason we became part of our regional community and continued to go back to Burning Man was because of the social and spiritual renewal we experienced there. It's sort of like our annual pilgrimage to reset ourselves. This year, we left feeling empty, drawn and generally miserable. Fortunately, we ran into some other burners in Reno on the way home where the warm-fuzzies were somewhat restored. Because of our feelings for the community, we believe it's our responsibility to recover what was lost in 2007. We feel that to risk it being lost forever is unacceptable and as a result we are considering hosting a theme camp in 2008 that makes a point of engaging passers by and welcoming people in. Maybe sharing the sense of togetherness and welcome will help bring back what was missing this year.
We also feel that the Burning Man foundation should try to recover what was so special about this event. We aren't naive and we get that this is a for-profit business which is fine. But limiting the number of participants to something like 42,000 wouldn't exactly be killing your budget. Also going back to the design of the camps which allows that gorgeous expanse of open blackness to the Playa between 9:00 and 2:00 with just the Man and the Temple to break it. Not seeing the stars at Burning Man because there was light in every direction was horribly disappointing. Some of the over-bright mess could also have been the ridiculous number of art cars flying around. Since they all have to be registered anyway, it might not be a bad idea to limit the number of those (in various size categories?). If the numbers are limited the cars that make it to the Playa will be the ones that have hopefully been carefully thought about and built.
I don't have any suggestions for better educating the newbies other than the involvement of veteran burners to guide them. I don't know what happened between 2006 and 2007 that we had so many onlookers this year who disrespected the city, the inhabitants, the environment... I tried on 3 occasions to engage people out by the Temple and help them be a part of things instead of just looking and dropping their beer cans. I failed on all 3 occasions and all I got was the boneheads making inappropriate sexual advances. I should mention that I was fully clothed and physically touching my boyfriend when these guys started acting like the same old jerks from night clubs. I'm no longer used to that sort of behavior having immersed myself in burner culture for 3 years.
We, my boyfriend and I and many members of the San Diego & LA communities, feel that a combined effort from the Burning Man foundation and the community of veteran burners as a whole can bring this back around. Unfortunately, if 2008 goes the way of 2007, it seems like this will turn into just another "downtown party night" for the "shiny shirts" and all the diverse, rich, artistic, radically self-reliant, expressive, inviting and revitalizing aspects of this incredible event will be lost.
So as much as we were dissatisfied with the 2007 experience it may well be the thing that brings us back in 2008. Maybe we'll go to NoWhere in Spain in July to see what that sparks. We hope that somehow all the newbies this year either realized the way to be a part of things and will come back next year prepared and ready to be involved, or they hated this year so much they'll tell all their friends it was hell and we wont see any of them again. We don't have any major inspiration on how to get the love back but maybe if enough people express similar sentiments from this year the tide can by changed by publications from Burning Man and through those of us in regional communities who care...
Thanks for the opportunity to give our feedback.
Bronwen & Matt
San Diego, CA
I strongly encourage any of you who read this to contribute your thoughts to Burning Man as well. Whether your experience was good or bad, your input can help shape future events. See more about their Feedback Loop here.
I strongly encourage any of you who read this to contribute your thoughts to Burning Man as well. Whether your experience was good or bad, your input can help shape future events. See more about their Feedback Loop here.
