Well, here’s two things you didn’t know. Firstly, Australia has its own localised version of Burning Man. Excited? Well, unfortunately it’s been cancelled.
Burning Seed, a festival which first got a run a few years ago and is inspired by the person-to-person sharing economy of Burning Man – was scheduled to take place in Matong State Forest in NSW on 28th September to the 3rd of October has unfortunately been rained out. Which obviously isn’t a problem in the Nevada desert.
The Forestry Corporation of NSW has deemed the waterlogged park a massive safety liability, and has refused to allow the event to go on.
The Burning Man Org over in the US sent through a message for the loyal Burners here:
It is with sadness that we learned that Burning Seed needed to be cancelled due to the record rainfall and resulting serious safety issues. I wish to share with you Burning Man’s full support of your team and this difficult but unavoidable decision. We send our gratitude, love and support. Burning Seed is a shining light in the constellation of Burner events around the world and we are grateful to the team that valiantly sought to do all they could to overcome the obstacles at hand in the hope that the weather and flooding would subside.When a vision cannot be fully realized it is, of course, normal that there will be sadness and frustration. So much energy goes into creating such an extraordinary community gathering that when it can’t actually happen as planned it is understandably heartbreaking. Be extra kind to one another and to yourselves, be patient and take the long view. This is clearly a case of Nature calling the shots. But is has also been our experience over 30 years that extreme weather tends to engender real community bonds and meaningful relationships in the long run. There may even be opportunities that arise from this cancellation. You may find opportunities to place art that was intended for Seed in public places before Burning Seed next year. You may find opportunities to bring something you love about Seed to your own home and neighborhood. Welcome that as a challenge. Welcome it as an inevitability and challenge yourselves during the time you would have gathered for Burning Seed and throughout the next year, to know you are all still together in the world and to be gloriously yourselves in your public streets and neighborhoods! You have planted a seed together for years. Each of you carry that seed within you and this year’s theme just became “Spill Over and Flood the Default World!” 😉Once again, we fully support your team and community of amazing and inspiring Burners. We share this moment with you as a seminal moment in your history and we are 1000% confident that the next Burning Seed will be all the more meaningful, resilient and amazing as a result! We stand with you in the world—wet or dry!
Now that’s the kind of long, rambling statement we’d expect from the Burners.
Check out some photos from last years Burning Seed:
And here’s a timelapse video from last year’s festy, for an idea of the vibes:
Source: Burning Seed.
Photo: Burning Seed / Andy Flint.
