A couple of weeks ago, we set out to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to experience the engaging cultural commemoration of Burning Man. We decided to attend this long, strange trip to one of the unfriendliest deserts to spend time with the friendliest people back in March, so our anticipation levels were high. We’re still searching for a way to put our experience into words because it’s impossible to capture its depth entirely, but it’s worth a try.
We got to Reno on Friday, August 26th to help with build. After doing some shopping, and waiting 4 hours at the gate, we headed to the Black Rock Desert to help build a temporary city dedicated to community, art, culture, self-awareness, self-expression, collaboration, and self-reliance. Burning Man is about discovery, transformation, community, and impermanence. Many art installations at Burning Man are temporary. The Temple and Man burn down to ashes, and the slate is blank for a new year and, more than likely, a new you. It is an unpredictable tornado of highs and lows. As soon as we hit Gate Road, we quickly learned that visibility was virtually nonexistent. In some ways, we envisioned it to be precisely that, but there’s no way to predict who you will affect, what will make an impact on you, and the wild mash-up of events that take place on this mysterious land. It was extremely dusty, and daytime highs were hitting triple-digits all week.
The temporary city is comprised of thousands of intriguing theme camps with occupants who hold events and give out free food, massages, spa treatments, body buffers, sound healing, drinks, advice, and other offerings of their choice. We were lucky to be amongst many friends and family at Camp Alborz at 9:30 and Hypnagogia. Alborz, officially became a theme camp in 2018. The camp offers a unique playa energy unrivaled across the desert, crisp sound, a shade structure, and the utmost hospitality for its guests.
This was our third Burn and the most challenging one yet. What keeps us returning are the meaningful conversations and connections with others cultivated through a harsh, dusty environment that is loving, free, and welcoming.
2022 also marked the first year that Camp Alborz unveiled its newest creation, a mobile metallic mountain mutant vehicle dubbed “The Big D”.
Here are some of our highlights from the week:
- Running into Halcyon, giving him a giant hug at Pink Heart, and getting ice cream and cold water from his camp
- Ladies of Alborz spa day, where we got body buffers, and goddess massages from the Body Shop camp
- A visit to Spanky’s wine bar. What happens here stays here, so we have no further comments
- Seeing Ace On play tunes and dancing our Monday afternoon away at Pink Mammoth
- Venturing out to Mayan Warrior to watch Patrice Baumel play and dancing to his tunes all night long
- Spontaneously finding many of our DC friends (some of them didn’t know where we were camping) on the dance floor at Alborz at the exact same time on Tuesday evening
- Mira and Chris Schwarzwalder playing in our backyard on Wednesday morning at sunrise
- Riding on the Alborz Art Car (which has sheet metal on top for the mountain structure) through a white-out dust storm on Wednesday night en route to get a permit and the lightning that struck that night. Safety third!
- Catching Audiofly at Kazbah on Thursday night and especially seeing Luca Saporito in his element followed by the coolest drone show we have ever seen at sunrise before Carlita came on
- Caleesi and Sarah Kreiss playing at Alborz on Friday morning until the late afternoon. It was a perfect day.
- Watching our friend Ali Fy play a 5 hour set during an insane white-out dust storm on Saturday before the man burned
- Chasing down El Pulpo Mecanico, a 25 ft. tall Octopus that shoots 30 ft. flames from the animated tentacles
- Riding our bike around at sunrise and skipping Robot Heart, Mayan Warrior sunrise events, but watching them from afar and worshipping the sun instead of the DJs
- Dancing to Patrik Khach followed by Patrice Bäumel at Playa Alchemist on Friday night in the open air
- Alborz Tea Party on Saturday with Catamine Therapy as the headliner. He played all night long and went b2b with Dastan, Enamour, and Ali Fy, proceeded by a surprise visit from Unders to close the party out at sunrise
On Saturday during the Man burn, we stayed back at camp to dance and watch Ace On play another round for us and this time he played darker and different than his set at Pink Mammoth. We could feel the atomic particles dancing away with pure excitement all over the air, and soon after the Man burned these particles started swimming towards 9:30 and H from all directions. It could’ve been within the blink of an eye, but before we knew it the fresh energy of the post-burn playa, bedouin-souled dance floor was packed until the sun came up.
Overall, keeping a cohesive family of 150+ people together proved to be an incredible joy but also a great challenge and responsibility. We experienced more white outs and dust storms than we did in 2019, more power outages, more people who were dehydrated, and completely spent, and some droplets of rain mid-week, but we got out much stronger than ever. We are infinitely grateful for the sense of community Alborz has created that truly shows what we are all about. Being a part of Alborz provided an opportunity for deep connections, endless hours of dancing, and working together across the frontline to deliver for anyone who stopped in.
A special thanks to the beautiful bright souls that put their blood, sweat, and tears to help set up, maintain, and tear down the camp. We would travel through galaxies and reach the farthest places and depths to give you our honor and love. Until next year!
Cover photo taken by Lila @notaprodigy
Ciao
T&P
Techno & Pizza 