Despite having a few burns under my tutu, I’ve got to admit that, I’ve never once made it to an official decompression event, before now. Oh, I’ve been to parties with friends for the purpose of decompressing; we burned stuff, talked shit, and drank lots of beer. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when going to to an “official” Burning Man event.
So to pop my decom cherry I signed up to volunteer as a greeter. I arrived on time (hey hey, this is not the playa!!) and started hugging people like there was no tomorrow. Having taken a relatively early shift, many of the people coming in were volunteers that had been there all day working, but because I didn’t know them they got hugged too … and since I have a horrible memory often more than once!
The evening progressed with a very HOT fashion show, fantastic Playa-worthy fire performances, the burning of a large pile of oak branches entwined into a sinuous pyre, and great music: Nick Nyquil and Paul Baltic had me dancing my costumed ass off until 2 am. Sadly the night was over at 2 am, reportedly because they weren’t sure if there were enough volunteers to pull off an all-night event – a very reasonable concern given that Sacramento isn’t the hugest community.
This is BTR’s second year, and with an estimated 800+ people in attendance, I would call it a rousing success. If it’s volunteers they need to make it an all-night event next year, they can count me in! Thanks to the BTR team for creating a beautiful night! If this is what decompression is all about, I look forward to attending more in the future!
It was a great party. Good to see all of our fellow burners out there and the contributions made by the community were absolutely wonderful! Thanks for the wonderful writeup, and next year I too hope it goes a little longer than 2 AM