2011 is turning out to be a very big year for those closely tied with the Burning Man festival, from a first ever advance ticket sell-out to a new nonprofit organization named The Burning Man Project which launched on August 5, 2011 in San Francisco’s UN Plaza. This new venture will bring the values and mission of the formerly once-a-year event to a year-round audience worldwide. By incorporating the tried and true methodology of the event (for years run by a private LLC), moving it over to nonprofit status will allow them to forge positive alliances locally and make changes in communities globally through six core programs. Burning Man’s values will span well beyond an event in the Black Rock Desert in a way that will allow “new opportunities for partnerships, affiliate relationships and fundraising activities”.
The primary purpose of The Burning Man Project is to uphold and manifest the values described in the Ten Principles of Burning Man, specifically: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation, and Immediacy. “Burning Man” is understood not as an event, but as referring to a way of life lived consistently with these Ten Principles. The Burning Man Project provides infrastructural tools and frameworks that will allow people to apply the Ten Principles in many communities and spheres of endeavor.
The Project will apply their Ten Principles of Burning Man by revitalizing their own community within San Francisco’s Central Market area, first and foremost, with plenty of help from volunteers, local businesses and City officials including Mayor Ed Lee. One of the principles, participation, is key to the Project’s success and support is sought worldwide.
image via The Burning Man Project
