Afrika Burn: What Burning Man Used To Be
As a previous attendee of the desert gathering in Nevada, i admit it is difficult if not impossible to expect something like Burning man while preparing for Africa Burn. Pack in pack out, bring enough water, could be very dry heat or freezing cold, be prepared for dust storms! this may all sound familiar to veteran burners. Yet Africa Burn has something very special to offer, and that is an absence of everything that drags Burning Man down.
First and foremost, there is less people! There is less of a population in South Africa with the burner mentality of radical self expression and self reliance than is prevalent in California and with that means a smaller more intimate gathering with quality participants. Simply referred to as “the burn” this gathering of 13,000 in a barn desert is at the heart of what Burning Man used to be all about. the Afrikan desert landscape at and around Tankwa Town even resmebles that of Black Rock City in Nevada.
This smaller gathering means you can take pictures of the art! You won’t find hundreds of people or even tens of people surrounding an art project because there is just less people! This means less time in line for the bar or bathroom, there is enough space for everyone interested in a yoga class. Still the same sarcastic antics; still the same spirit to live alternatively. Still the same great deep desert gatherings, same great sunrise sets with a greater diversity of musical genre.
Different art cars! Different artists! New experiences! Even the layout of the festival hold true to the clock formation
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In fact some people might say Afrika burn is what Burning Man was like 10 years ago. True devotee participants were the blood and soul of the burn; nowadays at Burning Man, you’ll be in a sea of people who spent hundreds of dollars on their outfit, too inebriated to form coherent sentences, and those who didn’t even know there were art projects out there. At Africa burn it is possible to see all the art! and still possible to meet new weird and interesting people.
Of coarse there are less art projects with means less burns, yet they still burn their effigy of “The Clan”. A no-headed, multi-headed symbol suggests that we do not fight “The Man” but rather a beast that has been beheaded and then grew 5 more. this symbol is not a prevalent on the Afrikan playa as it is on the Nevadan playa where The Man embossed on gifts, painted on vehicles, stickers, cups and anything else that might identify you as a "burner”. The burning of The Clan is a more intimate than its Nevada cousin yet with the same high primordial energy that you get being in a huge group witnessing something spectacular!
If you have been one of those “burning man sucks” kind of people I highly suggest you step outside your bubble and make a plan for Afrika Burn; its way more affordable too!
