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Our regional Burning Man prep, Melanie, is swamped with making all the last minute arrangements so asked me to put together this update post for everyone.
Yes, the first-ever official Burning Man Organization-sanctioned regional event in Alaska is on for this weekend, 27-28JUN!
The general overview and philosophy of the event is posted at holosfestival.com/
Directions to Holos:
Trip takes about 2.5 hours from Anchorage Airport. Go North out of Anchorage, through Wasilla, and to mile 114.5 on the Parks Highway. Turn Right onto Suisitna River Road (to the left is Petersville Road-there are clear signs for that) at 1.7 miles in you will turn right onto Bradley Road and follow the road to the end - it will dead end at Boots Bison Ranch and the Holos event. Some landmarks are: at 4.2 miles in from Parks Highway there is a curve to the right and a big clearing, At mile 5 in from Parks Hwy the is a one lane bridge - after that you go up the hill and curve a little to the right and then to the left we will be straight ahead to the left after the barn and the big field, you can't miss it.
Yes, the event is definitely kid-friendly. (Several families I know of are pondering going and are basically just waiting for someone else with kids to say "Yes, we are going" before they jump in as well). There will be at least three teens there I know of, and if the families with rugrats come then a bunch 'o lil ones too.
Tickets purchased before the event are $20 each for adults and teens, kids 12 and under are half price, and lil teensy squirts 'n babes in arms are free. Tickets purchased out at the event itself are $30 each each for adults and teens, kids 12 and under are half price, and lil teensy squirts 'n babes in arms are still free. So far there are folks from Fairbanks and Anchorage as well as out of state (all the way from the east coast!) who have purchased tickets and are coming. The cost of the tickets is mainly covering the required event insurance, some printing costs & materials, and (if we come out in the black rather than the red) rental of a storage unit into which to place gear for next year's event. All the labor is entirely unpaid volunteer; nobody is making a dime for themself from this nonprofit regional community event. Please see the Holos website for the two remaining places and times to make advance ticket purchases from Melanie; I also have five as-yet unsold tickets remaining in my envelope if you want to contact me for those.
Volunteers took up a donated load of firewood in a pickup truck this weekend, if you can bring some extra firewood along with you as well when you come on the 27th then that would be great; there will definitely be a central campfire in a firepit. Depending on rain and forest conditions there may or may not be fires allowed for individual firepits in the camping areas. Please, no fireworks. A band (Snack Pharm) says they are coming to play on the rustic stage nearby the central firepit; a DJ will be playing some goa and house music as well. The Anchorage Shamanic Drumming Circle tribe is gathering at the event, so please bring a 5 gal plastic bucket, cowbell, or something else to beat on if you want to join in the drumming. Greate Arte is planned. Several theme camps with zany fun galore are planned and folks are bringing nifty gifts and services for giving to others as well. Please remember to bring your food, water, bug repellent, and shelter for the event and a couple plastic trash bags in which to take out _all_ your trash at the conclusion; remember, one of the Ten Principles of Burning Man is "Leave no trace" -all ten are listed at the Holos website. The climax of the event is planned for 2pm on Sunday afternoon with camp clean-ups and general exodus to follow at leisure after that time.
Those who attend this first Burning Man event in Alaska shall not only enjoy a great time in the moment but also will have glorious bragging rights forevermore. As (with apologies to Shakespeare) King Henry V said:
This day is call'd the feast of Holos.
S/he that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him/herself at the name of Holos.
S/he that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his/her neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Holos.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his/her tattoos,
And say 'These I had on that first Holos day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But s/he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats s/he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his/her mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Raul and Funky Duck,
Stevendalf and Dorandalf, Daisy and TomTom-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good parent teach his/her child;
And Holos shall ne'er go by in Alaska,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers 'n sisters 'n freaks in general;
For s/he to-day that parties with me Burning Man style
Shall be my bro, be s/he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his/her condition;
And nobles in England, Anchorage, and Fairbanks now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not there at Holos,
And hold their manhoods, tatas, and other parts cheap whiles any speaks
That reveled with us upon that first Holos day!
Burn on!
Yes, the first-ever official Burning Man Organization-sanctioned regional event in Alaska is on for this weekend, 27-28JUN!
The general overview and philosophy of the event is posted at holosfestival.com/
Directions to Holos:
Trip takes about 2.5 hours from Anchorage Airport. Go North out of Anchorage, through Wasilla, and to mile 114.5 on the Parks Highway. Turn Right onto Suisitna River Road (to the left is Petersville Road-there are clear signs for that) at 1.7 miles in you will turn right onto Bradley Road and follow the road to the end - it will dead end at Boots Bison Ranch and the Holos event. Some landmarks are: at 4.2 miles in from Parks Highway there is a curve to the right and a big clearing, At mile 5 in from Parks Hwy the is a one lane bridge - after that you go up the hill and curve a little to the right and then to the left we will be straight ahead to the left after the barn and the big field, you can't miss it.
Yes, the event is definitely kid-friendly. (Several families I know of are pondering going and are basically just waiting for someone else with kids to say "Yes, we are going" before they jump in as well). There will be at least three teens there I know of, and if the families with rugrats come then a bunch 'o lil ones too.
Tickets purchased before the event are $20 each for adults and teens, kids 12 and under are half price, and lil teensy squirts 'n babes in arms are free. Tickets purchased out at the event itself are $30 each each for adults and teens, kids 12 and under are half price, and lil teensy squirts 'n babes in arms are still free. So far there are folks from Fairbanks and Anchorage as well as out of state (all the way from the east coast!) who have purchased tickets and are coming. The cost of the tickets is mainly covering the required event insurance, some printing costs & materials, and (if we come out in the black rather than the red) rental of a storage unit into which to place gear for next year's event. All the labor is entirely unpaid volunteer; nobody is making a dime for themself from this nonprofit regional community event. Please see the Holos website for the two remaining places and times to make advance ticket purchases from Melanie; I also have five as-yet unsold tickets remaining in my envelope if you want to contact me for those.
Volunteers took up a donated load of firewood in a pickup truck this weekend, if you can bring some extra firewood along with you as well when you come on the 27th then that would be great; there will definitely be a central campfire in a firepit. Depending on rain and forest conditions there may or may not be fires allowed for individual firepits in the camping areas. Please, no fireworks. A band (Snack Pharm) says they are coming to play on the rustic stage nearby the central firepit; a DJ will be playing some goa and house music as well. The Anchorage Shamanic Drumming Circle tribe is gathering at the event, so please bring a 5 gal plastic bucket, cowbell, or something else to beat on if you want to join in the drumming. Greate Arte is planned. Several theme camps with zany fun galore are planned and folks are bringing nifty gifts and services for giving to others as well. Please remember to bring your food, water, bug repellent, and shelter for the event and a couple plastic trash bags in which to take out _all_ your trash at the conclusion; remember, one of the Ten Principles of Burning Man is "Leave no trace" -all ten are listed at the Holos website. The climax of the event is planned for 2pm on Sunday afternoon with camp clean-ups and general exodus to follow at leisure after that time.
Those who attend this first Burning Man event in Alaska shall not only enjoy a great time in the moment but also will have glorious bragging rights forevermore. As (with apologies to Shakespeare) King Henry V said:
This day is call'd the feast of Holos.
S/he that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him/herself at the name of Holos.
S/he that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his/her neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Holos.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his/her tattoos,
And say 'These I had on that first Holos day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But s/he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats s/he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his/her mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Raul and Funky Duck,
Stevendalf and Dorandalf, Daisy and TomTom-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good parent teach his/her child;
And Holos shall ne'er go by in Alaska,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers 'n sisters 'n freaks in general;
For s/he to-day that parties with me Burning Man style
Shall be my bro, be s/he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his/her condition;
And nobles in England, Anchorage, and Fairbanks now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not there at Holos,
And hold their manhoods, tatas, and other parts cheap whiles any speaks
That reveled with us upon that first Holos day!
Burn on!
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Anchorage
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Re: Alaska Burning Man is on for this weekend!
Thu, July 2, 2009 - 2:00 PM
Holos 2009 went splendidly!
Everyone who came (around 90 people or so) enjoyed a very pleasant experience at the Trapper Creek Holos Festival this weekend. While Anchorage was getting dumped on with rain we were all warm and dry around the campfire (not a drop of rain fell up there) roasting hotdogs, marshmallows, and having a great time.
The participants ranged from a really cool 'ol Senior Citizen Burner couple who made delicious pancakes for everyone in the morning to about ten of us in our 40's and 50's (including veteran Burners from such excellent camp lineages as Black Rock City Post Office, Barbie Death Camp, and Barbershop Roulette -among others) to dozens of young folks in their 20's and 30's who were energetically dancing, spinning fire, rolling around on huge cable spools, swimming in the creek, walking in the woods, and so on. There were even some teens (the youngest I spoke with was 14) -and perhaps some 'lil kids, too, but if so they were running around over in the Family Camp area and I did not see them. There were at least three people from overseas, two from the East Coast, and the rest were Alaskans.
Art and activities included ice-carving (wonderful fun, that!), drawing and coloring (as on the Holos postcards available for mailing out), fabulous costumery and colorful face-painting, dancing under UV to the sound-stage's music and streaming video, and gifting. Gifts there were in abundance, from nifty Holos 2009 patches, stickers, and handmade necklaces to postcards, calenders and all sorts of other great schwag. My favorites, though, were the delicious food and beverages folks so kindly brought around and gifted to others. Probably the best burrito I have ever tasted, piping hot from the pan! Conversation while sharing chow was my favorite part of the event, noshing while getting to know new friends.
As it turned out there was a big Man who folks constructed of a bazillion teensy branches woven together, dramatically ignited Saturday night into a whoosh of brilliant flame by a fire-spinner fellow cracking it with a flaming whip. He and another fire-spinner performed an amazingly graceful ballet of sorts to the music from the sound-stage while fire-spinning. I have seen dozens if not hundreds of fire-spinning performances over the years but never before have I beheld such grace and art in motion as this one fellow. It was really something, "awesome" in the real sense of the overused word; one of those "I will remember this for the rest of my life" moments. He touched true greatness in that particular performance; I wonder if I shall ever see its match again.
The gleaming ice sculpture (of two big twisting flames, appropriately enough) adorned Center Camp all day Saturday, then that night had a second incarnation as illuminated art when moved (atop a stump) into the center of the biggest firepit with logs placed around it. While the drumming circle made music --and then for a couple hours afterwards as people chatted with one another seated around the fire-- the sculpture caught the flames leaping around it, refracting golden liquid light beautifully while it sublimed and melted away. The Holos website holosfestival.com/ has a video up and running which was recorded early on Saturday (before most people arrived, but you can see what the central area looks like in it) and there are photos posted; about 100 photos I shot at Holos will eventually be up for sharing (so please keep checking back to see what new images from me and others have been added).
Thanks to the Temple of Mosquito repellent (a net mesh tent containing an altar upon which were available sacred vials of every mosquito repellent in the world, all free for the use of everyone) the bugs were a non-issue, though I did have fun electrocuting them into a crackle and snap of sound accompanied by a blue spark by using a magical paddle which looks like a badminton racket. Great fun, that, for the mosquito-averse and slightly crazed! The camping was easy and pleasant, art/activities/chow/scenery delightful, and the company even better.
Doran and I are looking forward to returning next year (the last weekend in June is when Holos is held) and to getting together throughout the year between now and then for meals and more conversation with all the new friends we met last weekend!
A big "Thank you!" to our Burning Man regional rep, Daisy, as well as to DJ Jack, Chris, and so many others who made this first Holos so excellent!
