There’s only one photo that needs to be shared on burn day..
It was an extremely windy and dusty evening, this photo pretty much sums up of the quick flash burn nature of last night.
Post burn, many of our campmates returned to Camp Nomadia, and we had a spontaneous dance party to celebrate together.
Some of our friends brought their 12-year-old, who was the youngest firespinner in the Conclave this year. Our friends set clear guidelines for their son, shared “babysitting” duties with other parent campmates, and it worked well for them.
We left our 13-year-old at home. For us, it’s an “adult only” kind of thing. We personally believe that, if you bring kids, you make the event about them.
Most “burner kids” are awesome. The few that are left unattended are not. And many adults who choose to enjoy the clothing-optional or fetish-friendly atmosphere of the event are uncomfortable when a child or teenager wanders into their camp, with or without parent supervision.
Also, underage kids put pressure on many camps to card everyone who visits their bar. Law enforcement also forced this issue.
Another excellent recap of Burning Man! Thank you for allowing us to enjoy it vicariously through you.
Question for you…
Is Burning Man a family friendly function? Do many families attend?
Thank you! =)
All depends on your definition of ‘family friendly’. Yes, people bring their kids out here, and there’s even a huge theme camp of folks bringing kids that team up together. Burning Man allows folks to bring their kids – but there is no censoring to keep it appropriate for mainstream definitions of ‘family friendly’. It ain’t no Disney World.
So really.. it’s all up to you. If you’re ok with your kids seeing folk run around naked, possibly seeing public sex, folks tripping on various substances (none of which are focuses of Burning Man for most folks… but it all happens too, and is not nearly as censored like it would be in the ‘real world’).. then they can tend to greatly benefit from the exposure to creativity, art, amazing people, community, gift economy and being in an environment that encourages self expression & reliance. To us.. burner kids are a future full of hope 🙂
Hi Cherie!
Thank you so much for your response to my question. When I asked if it was “family friendly” I should have made myself more clear. I certainly wasn’t trying to compare Burning Man to “Disney World”. 🙂 Judging by the pictures we’ve seen and the stories we’ve heard about Burning Man we totally understand what it’s about and what it stands for. I was always a bit leery on going because we have children, but only because I wasn’t aware that children were allowed to attend not because I didn’t want them exposed to the event and the people there. We do not shelter our children like most do. We expose them to reality and all walks of life. They are very well rounded young people for their age already and we want to keep it that way. So everything you described above would sit just fine with us.
“Exposure to creativity, art, amazing people, community, gift economy and being in an environment that encourages self expression & reliance.”
That is what it’s all about! And that sounds fantastic. 🙂
“Burner kids are a future full of hope”
Absolutely!!! We are not raising our children by the “norm” for hopes that they will have a chance out here. We want them to experience life to the fullest and arm them with all of the necessary tools to live a very happy and fulfilling life. Not a life that someone dictates for you.
Thank you once again! Now that we have this information we can mark our calendars for next years Burning Man!! 🙂
Have a great day and continue to enjoy your Burning Man experience!
Have you been told that your pix from flickr are not showing on your blog? Your last few days of posts have been mostly of pix with empty boxes saying “This photo is currently unavailable”
Curious that they call the sand ‘playa’ which is Spanish for beach. Doubt there is any water nearby to create a beach.
Hope you’re having a great time.
–Pleinguy
Thanks so much for letting us know.. grrr. Flickr.
And the Black Rock Desert is a dried up lake bed.. thus.. playa.