Burning Man is NOT a Festival

[Rice]

I have to point out that Burning Man is not a Festival. One can find any matter of music festival all over the world. Nothing can be compared.

It is very probable that anyone who talks about Burning Man as being a festival has at most attended once, and has failed to realize that it is so much more.

Whew, that has been begging to get off my chest for months.

[wh..sh]

It is very probable that anyone who talks about Burning Man as being a festival has at most attended once, and has failed to realize that it is so much more.

What the point refuting your opinion? You have already decided that those who do has failed to realize that it is so much more.

[CornMan]

I say it is also so much less, and that's what makes it so much more for those who want a participatory experience or to those who want to spectate participatory behavior in other people. I hope its key concepts survive a while longer.

[trilobyte]

I've been going for many years and it's an integral part of my life all year long. I see it as an arts and cultural festival.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Words mean what people decide they mean.
If people call Burning Man a "festival," the word has a broader meaning for them than it does for people who insist it's not one. Arguing about whether BM is a festival is like arguing about whether gasoline is wet (yes if by wet you mean "liquid," no if you mean "watery").

[BBadger]

Is Everest not a mere mountain because there is no other mountain can compare in height (above sea level)?

I really can't think of any other event-genre besides "festival" to place Burning Man; so I use that term without feeling that I'm degrading the event. It's better than calling it a "big party" though I do like calling it "summer camp for adults."

[Rice]

I really should not post my thoughts when tired and grumpy.

True, enough - we all get different things from BM.

[catinthefunnyhat]

I really should not post my thoughts when tired and grumpy.

(((Rice)))

[Lonesomebri]

It's more of a FESTIVAL !!!!
http://youtu.be/341qhhEziWg

[Savannah]

Is Everest not a mere mountain because there is no other mountain can compare in height (above sea level)?

I really can't think of any other event-genre besides "festival" to place Burning Man; so I use that term without feeling that I'm degrading the event. It's better than calling it a "big party" though I do like calling it "summer camp for adults."

I have often described it as summer camp for adults, too, after starting off with "It's an art festival in the desert" and mentioning having to bring your own water. (The water business is brisk shorthand.)

"Summer camp for adults" is a weird and underwhelming phrase if not long-considered, but I like it because most folks who went to summer camp know that not only that it was giddy and fun, but that there was an emotional component to it--that one often makes strange, fast friendships in a short amount of time, and the memories endure.

[Simon of the Playa]

it's a PROJECT, not a Festival.

[Ugly Dougly]

I have to point out that Burning Man is not a Festival. One can find any matter of music festival all over the world. Nothing can be compared.

It is very probable that anyone who talks about Burning Man as being a festival has at most attended once, and has failed to realize that it is so much more.

Whew, that has been begging to get off my chest for months.

Yay! Can I give you a manly hug?

It's not the freaking Garlic Festival!
It's not a drive-by art & wine festival that any tourist can pencil in to their itinerary!
It's a way of life, and you're either in or you're out. Either you get it or you don't.

[wh..sh]

It's a way of life, and you're either in or you're out. Either you get it or you don't.

Psst... so is Dubstep

[junglesmacks]

It's a way of life, and you're either in or you're out. Either you get it or you don't.

Psst... so is Dubstep

[theCryptofishist]

Floor wax

[Savannah]

Dessert topping!

[stinkyfoot]

Actually a festival is exactly what Burning Man is if you care about things like definitions and English literacy.

[theCryptofishist]

Ffft! English Literacy! Who needs it? I'm a descriptive grammarian!

Besides, if all labels are tidy, we never have to push the language, English, Latin or Esperanto.

[lemur]

festivals suck

[wh..sh]

Lemur - here's some sunshine, blue sky, and colors for you.

[junglesmacks]

Lemur - here's some sunshine, blue sky, and colors for you.

Noooooooooo! Trolls hate sun!

[ygmir]

Lemur - here's some sunshine, blue sky, and colors for you.

*looks for Dorothy, Tin Man, et al napping....*

[Ugly Dougly]

Actually a festival is exactly what Burning Man is if you care about things like definitions and English literacy.

If you've been reading closely, you'll discover that this thread is about connotations, not denotations.

[junglesmacks]

I thought it was about strippers and blow?

[oscillator]

BM is a giant bacon-eating contest in the desert. That is all.

[FIGJAM]

It's not a festival, it's a facial!!!

[jadewombat]

It's not a guide towards something that the world should follow to make a better place either. "Welcome home," I fucking hate when people say that shit. My home has a hot tub and is safe for my youngest to run around and not get dosed by some stupid granola shooting everyone with a water gun because he thinks everyone needs to be at his level. Burning Man is a dream, one week of a lot of fun. Just accept it and don't think it applies to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't plan food for only a week, everything to run on generators, and a fiery endpoint. Cheese and rice...

[wh..sh]

It's not a guide towards something that the world should follow to make a better place either. "Welcome home," I fucking hate when people say that shit. My home has a hot tub and is safe for my youngest to run around and not get dosed by some stupid granola shooting everyone with a water gun because he thinks everyone needs to be at his level. Burning Man is a dream, one week of a lot of fun. Just accept it and don't think it applies to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't plan food for only a week, everything to run on generators, and a fiery endpoint. Cheese and rice...

Thank you!
Seriously, I couldn't agree more.

[Savannah]

It's not a guide towards something that the world should follow to make a better place either. "Welcome home," I fucking hate when people say that shit. My home has a hot tub and is safe for my youngest to run around and not get dosed by some stupid granola shooting everyone with a water gun because he thinks everyone needs to be at his level. Burning Man is a dream, one week of a lot of fun. Just accept it and don't think it applies to the rest of the world.

The rest of the world doesn't plan food for only a week, everything to run on generators, and a fiery endpoint. Cheese and rice...

Thank you!
Seriously, I couldn't agree more.

This is why I always spend my Greeter shifts welcoming people to beautiful downtown Las Vegas.

[knowmad]

Not to concerend what it might be.
So happy to see what others make of it.
I promised myself to probe all posibilitys and not to draw a conclusion. Basicly because I want to see it forever new.
Then I ran out of mol.