Burning Man is an annual counterculture festival held in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, United States. Its extreme popularity has encouraged other groups and organizations across the world to hold similar events. Many of these events are officially affiliated with the Burning Man organization. For example, Fuego Austral is organized by a community of Argentine burners who want to bring Burning Man principles, culture, ethos and practices to Latin America.
Like other Burning Man events, Fuego Austral is the result of a joint creative effort of its participants who come together to build a temporary city dedicated to community, art, radical self-expression and radical self-reliance.
Fuego Australi is guided by ten principles of Burning Men. They are radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leave no trace, participation, and immediacy. These principles weren’t created to dictate how burners should act. They rather are a reflection of the culture and habits of participants and the cultural ethos that has emerged from Burning Man.
Fuego Austral is based on theme camps created by its participants. Basically, theme camps are camps organized by one or more people which offer other participants a unique experience. Any kind of theme camp is fine as long as it complies with ten principles. There are art installations, experience sharing activities, workshops, performances and jam sessions, and more. Some camps provide food and drinks or a comfortable place to rest and recharge. Naturally, Fuego Austral also features wooden sculptures and installations which are burnt at the end of the festival.
As we’ve already mentioned above, Fuego Austral is organized by the participants for the participants. Organizers choose the yearly theme, take care of security and other important organization issues, and coordinate volunteers. But the atmosphere of the festival depends solely on the communal effort of all attendees. Fuego Austral is a non-profit event, all proceedings from ticket sales go to cover the organizational costs.
Photo: fuegoaustral.org
