The Anti-Weekender

[5280MeV]

Heard lots of interesting reports of "anti-weekending". Lots of people leaving Thursday/Friday making exodus a breeze.

Curious about this.

Please discuss and share experiences.

[maladroit]

Something happened, that's for sure.

I think we should start telling stories of 7 hour waits this year, so it's easy next year

[BBadger]

Some people did leave early in our camp. I was kind of surprised by it, especially since it usually wasn't because of bad weather or foretold problems that they left--rather they just got their fill and needed to go. To me, it felt like Wednesday was the big "Friday"-like party night for some reason, and that the major burns ended up more as "okay let's see it; okay let's go" rather than a big build-up to crown off an epic week. Maybe the amount of lingering dust in the night air Friday contributed to that feeling, or the delayed Friday burn. Or maybe it's just how I remembered it.

Definitely was an odd year. Hopefully any would-be fair-weather burners left with a sour taste in their mouth.

[trilobyte]

I think of them as partial week burners. Same deal as the weekenders, they're coming for just the bits they want to (as opposed to participating in the entire event/experience). I think the easier exodus in 2012 had to do with a number of factors (changes GP&E made to the process, earlier burn on Sunday night, more people staying late, etc), and wasn't simply because more people legged it early.

[moonrise]

Weekenders have always been a part of the population. Many Tahoe-ites remember Burning Man as being ONLY a weekend event, some still do, as well as some Reno area people.

[RedHeaven]

Since the gate opened sunday eve, that made Monday is the new Tuesday, as well.

Hilarious, I was actually bummed there was no exodus on Monday. I love leaving the city slow in a pulse, absorbing everything before the drive home. Instead we were stuck in the Gerlach area for some mild traffic, and got caught up in the horrendous Truckee construction where a half hour drive took 4 hours, stop and go, no fun. I would gladly trade this year for last years 9 hour pulse. I have great memories from exodus last year. I was all prepped and everything for it! Boooo

Every year is so different, Friday night dust storm freaked a few people out. Luckily that night was our official camp party so we didnt have to go anywhere nor want to, we just raged through it. Random peeps came through our camp really really tired of the storm and wanting to get outta dodge. In the daytime, the dust storms at least block the sun, at night i think they make people more panicky.

[5280MeV]

I'm anti-weekending the Alchemy regional. Not totally by choice, loosely related to the circumstances that caused me to both weekend and anti-weekend, i.e. zero-day-trip, BM2012

Didn't mean to insinuate any judgement of weekenders or anti-weekenders, although I don't think it was taken that way. Just very curious, as always.

I was kind of looking forward to exodus pulse parties as well. I didn't realize that more people were staying past the weekend.

[justfred]

I was one of those.

I arrived for the CORE build on Wednesday before the event, and worked for three days to get it assembled. Rangered and partied five days till the CORE burn, but then I was done; went home Friday. Nine/ten days was plenty, and I don't really like the energy of the city on Saturday burn night, having seen it about eight times in the thirteen years I've been.

[RedHeaven]

Sunday is the new Monday, Wednesday is the new Friday.

[wh..sh]

My initial plan was to leave on Monday but I was SO DONE by Sunday.

[Chowski]

I went by myself for the first time, and my plan was to leave whenever I was "done". That day came early for me. My personal exodus was a breeze, I spent the rest of the weekend clean, swimming and talking incessantly about my burn. I'm struggling to imagine going with a large camp again, but I know next year, my crew will rally (they sat out this year) and I'll be dragged through to the end. Truly, a wonderful burn, minus the last few days of crowding, increasing dust and dehydration.

[moonrise]

Just heard this new flash (shhhsh, it came from the top!) and it's radical. Brace yourselves (especially the extra sparkly types) for this bit o news folks!

Early weekers must show up 5 days to 5 weeks early to build the city and man burn watchers/weekenders have to stay 5 days to 5 weeks late to unbuild/clean up the city/playa. Burning Man just got a lil tougher...no other way to screen out the weaklings...now git to work!

[Dr Helix]

We had some folks bail early this year. One was planned (wedding in New York) but the other was totally out of the blue. They had said they were staying through Sunday and breakdown, but announced Thursday they were leaving. Wasn't easy as they were all the way in back of the camp with a large RV. But conversely, we had a guy come in on Saturday and stay with us through Tueday and he had a wonderful time. We stayed till Tuesday as we had a large art project to take down. We have done it this way for the past two years. Last year the playa was a ghost town by Tuesday. This year there were TONS of people who were still there come Tuesday. Many of the camps looked like they hadn't even started to break down yet. So there was definitely a different vibe this year.

[wh..sh]

Early weekers must show up 5 days to 5 weeks early to build the city and man burn watchers/weekenders have to stay 5 days to 5 weeks late to unbuild/clean up the city/playa. Burning Man just got a lil tougher...no other way to screen out the weaklings...now git to work!

Lucky for me, I am a quitter.

[RedHeaven]

It kinda sorta seems like the inner spirit of BRC (all of us collectively) is morphing and/or mutating into what it wants to actually be.....2 weeks long Its like what Coachella did with their 2 weekend dealio, but BRC's is just a happy accident with subliminal intention of stretching it all out to accomodate the growing population.
Mind=Blown whoaaaaah!!

[clocksnmirrors]

Last year the playa was a ghost town by Tuesday. This year there were TONS of people who were still there come Tuesday. Many of the camps looked like they hadn't even started to break down yet. So there was definitely a different vibe this year.

this was my first year. on sunday, when the camps around me started evaporating it just got too sad, so i packed up and booked it out of there. i think next year i'll try to be part of the cleanup crew and just see it through to the end of ends

[Ugly Dougly]

Leave before that statue thing burns and avoid the rush. There's a separate crowd that's dealing with that.

[RedHeaven]

Kinda bums me out that people leave before the man burns and consider it to be Newbish and yahoo, even tho of course I can understand. That is a gripe I have about Bman in general....sometimes it feels like people are trying to be rebellious. I can see why, it is a pretty famous event and shit happens.

I view the man burn as the pinnacle of the week, the unification of the whole city coming together, no matter what kind of burner you are. All of the burns are like that but the Man is really the climax. I love that feeling of everyone focusing on one thing. It is powerful. I know, sounds hippy of me, but thats just what I dig.

It still feels like that no matter what, people will do what they do and to each their own burn.....I'm just expressing my opinion on the matter. I didnt feel the crowd change much this year, and instead of fleeing the scene I would rather do other things for the weekend that are more mellow as to balance out the influx of weekenders, like go to more mellow parties, spend time with a special someone, tour the outer ring, watch the man burn from a tower in the burbs.....

[wh..sh]

Kinda bums me out that people leave before the man burns and consider it to be Newbish and yahoo, even tho of course I can understand. That is a gripe I have about Bman in general....sometimes it feels like people are trying to be rebellious. I can see why, it is a pretty famous event and shit happens.

wait, wait, wait... I thought we were being rebellious by going to burning man.
Now we have rebels within Burning Man and they come back to defaultia sooner? *scratches head*

What are burning man rebels called? bebels?

[theCryptofishist]

I've been calling them idiots...

[BBadger]

Rebellion is the new mainstream!

[Eric]

Kinda bums me out that people leave before the man burns and consider it to be Newbish and yahoo, even tho of course I can understand. That is a gripe I have about Bman in general....sometimes it feels like people are trying to be rebellious. I can see why, it is a pretty famous event and shit happens.

We've left early, and it's not because we consider the burn "newbish" and it's not because of work commitments. Generally we plan to head out early when we get early entry (generally leave Sat before the man burns) because the Big Fire isn't why we're there. For us that's like the Electric Light Parade at the end of a weekend at Disneyland (yeah, suck on that analogy) - a nice end to the week, but we're there for the people, the socializing, the community and the fun.

I personally haven't gone closer than the Esplanade on Burn Night since 2005, we've left before the Burn twice (2007 & this year). It's all good.

[Trishntek]

It kinda sorta seems like the inner spirit of BRC (all of us collectively) is morphing and/or mutating into what it wants to actually be.....2 weeks long Its like what Coachella did with their 2 weekend dealio, but BRC's is just a happy accident with subliminal intention of stretching it all out to accomodate the growing population.
Mind=Blown whoaaaaah!!

WAAAAAIT a minute,,,,,

You mean,,,

Burning Man is,,,

NOT a 2-week event???

[pink]

Yah, TnT, seemed that way to me too!

Face it, we just loves our dust!

[Turtleburp]

Last year the playa was a ghost town by Tuesday. This year there were TONS of people who were still there come Tuesday. Many of the camps looked like they hadn't even started to break down yet. So there was definitely a different vibe this year.

this was my first year. on sunday, when the camps around me started evaporating it just got too sad, so i packed up and booked it out of there. i think next year i'll try to be part of the cleanup crew and just see it through to the end of ends

We arrived on Tuesday morning and possibly as a result of this wanted more time!
I wigged out on Saturday (in a completely manly way of course I did not cry and tantrum much and if I did it was very manly)
The Bumbler did the same on Sunday and only Foxfur could pull her from that fugue - got to love him!

Next yr it's arrive early if poss or at least on time but I'm not sure that even that will fix the post BRC partum so we feel you there.

I did miss a wicked Monday night though (to ensure safe driving) locals and clean up crew/those staying cut loose!

[Bob]

I do what I want.

[RedHeaven]

BEBEL!!

[RedHeaven]

Kinda bums me out that people leave before the man burns and consider it to be Newbish and yahoo, even tho of course I can understand. That is a gripe I have about Bman in general....sometimes it feels like people are trying to be rebellious. I can see why, it is a pretty famous event and shit happens.

We've left early, and it's not because we consider the burn "newbish" and it's not because of work commitments. Generally we plan to head out early when we get early entry (generally leave Sat before the man burns) because the Big Fire isn't why we're there. For us that's like the Electric Light Parade at the end of a weekend at Disneyland (yeah, suck on that analogy) - a nice end to the week, but we're there for the people, the socializing, the community and the fun.

I personally haven't gone closer than the Esplanade on Burn Night since 2005, we've left before the Burn twice (2007 & this year). It's all good.

Kinda like what I was saying, that the man burn is viewed by the Cool Kids as Disneyland
Not that thats YOUR fault, and not that thats a problem, like i said thats just the Nature of the event and what it has become. It is so big that the classes of elite and cool to disney and flashy are expressed.
Not everyone that stays for the man burn Just wants to be wowed by a big fire. Sure it envokes feelings, thats great. I just like feeling that unity between people.....I enjoy something in the center making people focus.
But then again, thats what is GREAT about BMan is that we can all do it OUR OWN WAY

I remember at the theme camp I was a part of on the esplanade, some of them were sooooooooooo bebellious against the man, a few of them squokked at the man stickers I made, they almost thought of them as corporate logos themselves. "We are here for THIS (points to their awesome club stage) Not THAT!" (points to the man) Oh brother.....talk about being so fucking serious and independent They probably have good reason to hate the man, but then again, its like, what the fuck are you doing here then? Make your club somewhere else if you hate the man so much, get outta town!! hahahaaa But its all for FUN hopefully, Bebellious is different than Rebellious in some ways like that!!!!

[wh..sh]

I do what I want.

Please add me to the official Bob fan club member list.

[Bob]

The Man is up and lit all week, on a four-storey pedestal. What's not to like?

Formerly it would be raised only a couple of days before the burn, by ordinary people yanking on ropes. They had to get on a megaphone to ask for help. No laminates, no official department t-shirts, no 300-foot perimeter. You got a chance to hang out a few feet away while people you knew first or second hand clipped on the neon and attached wads of burlap that had been soaked in paraffin in hot pots a few feet away. Then the pyro. Then hope the arms raise and nothing breaks.

Now, it is what it is. They raised it on a tall engineered base to make it visible from the greater Esplanade distance, increased the fuel, and added interactive bullshit in the pavilion beneath. I've worked as a carpenter on it a few times. I helped design the sand pad underneath and get it approved by the BLM. Little known factoid -- their main objection was "foreign material" being introduced to the playa, in the form of the sand. In the mean time, someone else had introduced fire-resistant cloth made of woven tempered silica (same material is used for welding blankets and high-temp insulation) as a possible alternative. Nope, I tried building a fire directly on the cloth and it burned through in about a half hour, but it worked fine with a couple inches of sand on top. So we ended up buying rolls and rolls of this stuff at about $5/square foot, and its only function was to physically segregate the sand from the playa. After a few years of this, and substituting cheap woven fiberglass for the tempered silica, they and the BLM got smart and simply used a sand pad with no barrier cloth underneath, and relied on the cleanup crew to make things right in the aftermath.

I relate this simply to say I have something invested in both recent iterations of the Man. There were three, really -- it was originally rooted to the same ground you stood upon, and not on a ten-foot platform surrounded by straw bales, but I never experienced that. Like Eric, I've always gone there to 1) socialize and carp 2) play with weird shit 3) carp and socialize some more and maybe watch stuff burn. However, I don't like huge crowds or large vehicles piloted by drunks, so after the first couple of years of prancing like a beer-basted peasant around the Man burn I watched from the Esplanade. I also worked with DPW for many years, working periodically out there at odd times between May and August, so the event itself became something of an anticlimax, except for hanging out with fellow builders, art types and volunteers in camp.

The Man logo on the stickers and company stationary *is* corporate by definition and trademark. In any case, it has little to do with encapsulating my experience, because most of my projects, and 99% of what DPW does, don't involve it. The year a DPWer brought his tattoo equipment out there, the then-head of DPW simply had a large lit wooden match put on his arm. I drew up a complicated little thing with a hornytoad in the center that's now fading on my left shoulder, that would be instantly recognizable to anyone who's been there, despite that it doesn't include the stick figure. Larry's teenage son, on the other hand, had something done that you might describe as Oedipal.

So yeah, I've left before the burn, and I had my reasons, but I still like the idea of the burn and fully expect people to fix upon it as the physical and figurative centerpiece of their bunringman vacation. Just don't stereotype people for not reflecting your expectations.