The Kiwiburn Organisation
Our structure
So, you know a bit about what Kiwiburn is… you may have even come along to the festival a few times… but do you know how it works? How does so much chaos get facilitated and organised? How does a festival run entirely by volunteers even function? How does it all happen? It has taken some of us a long time to figure it out, because the people who have been very busy organising the event year-round and running the on-site operations have been too busy doing everything at once. So here’s a basic run down.
We’ll start with you…
You buy your ticket. This makes you a part of Kiwiburn, whether you realise it or not. This is all part of the participation. The ticket price includes your automatic annual membership subscription to Kiwiburn Incorporated Society. Members are able to attend the AGM to have their say. The money from tickets goes into financing the festival; all of it. That is why everyone, even year-round organisers, buy tickets. The money is spent on hiring the site, the toilets, the medics, security, funding Art Grants, the Temple and the Effigy, and many other things. If you want to know more about the finances, you can read about them in our Afterburn Report.
Now the structure…
The decision-making structure has been evolving over the years and, in late 2017, Kiwiburn restructured to be better able to manage the growth of the event, tweaking the structure again mid-2019. ExCom has traditionally had three officers – Chair, Secretary and Treasurer – a requirement of being an Incorporated Society, as well as an ever-changing number of committee members, mostly greater than three at any time. Now there are the three officers together with nine Facilitators, who work with the leads of the almost 40 or so teams of volunteers which make Kiwiburn run, ensuring they have the people, information and resources they need to function (see org chart below).
The Facilitators are associated with one of nine groups of departments:
This structure has moved ExCom away from discussing and making decisions at every level, into a central communications hub, effectively reducing the workload of individual volunteers and enabling each ExCom member’s workflows to be smaller and more well defined. If you are interested in knowing more about the strange goings-on of the Kiwiburn ExCom you can check out the Minutes of the Monthly ExCom Meetings.
The Kiwiburn Leadership Team
Chair: Vacant
Secretary: Vaughan (He/Him)
After resisting a multi-year campaign (Hi, Sena!) to get him to Kiwiburn, Vaughan finally gave in in 2021 and joined a Theme Camp of (mostly) Wellingtonians with shared interests. IYKYK. A few months later he became that Theme Camp’s treasurer. In 2024 he volunteered with the Site Office and later that year he joined the Finance team. He was onsite during the 2025 build as purchasing officer, was then seconded to site office, and was a member of the Event Delivery Team. Shortly after he became Secretary 2iC. After being mentored by the outgoing secreterror he applied for and was appointed Secretary.
Treasurer: Vacant
Arts (Acting): Jarred (They/them)
J-cat is a gender fluid pansexual psychedelic space elf that has been in burner hyperspace since 2011. They have been abducted into burnerspheres across the galaxy and more than thirty Burning Man events in this earthly dimension, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Korea, and the USA.
Communications: Owen (He/Him)
Owen joined the comms team/Department Of Propaganda (DOP) in 2022 as an EFP and blog writer as he wanted to give back to the Burn that’s given him so much. He quickly fell in love with the role and the team, as he’s a natural at spinning yarns, and a lover of writing/communicating in all forms. He was in the role for three and a half years before stepping up to become the Comms Facilitator. He took the role to ensure that the DOP continues to runs smoothly (as the team members are all amazing) and of course to be a part of the executive committee ensuring that Kiwiburn continues to be an amazing event every year.
He was stoked to host the first ever ‘Best department in Kiwiburn’ event at RainbowBurn 2026, where the DOP came out on top. Now he’s excited to officially lead the best department in Kiwiburn and help them continue creating amazing comms now and into the future.
Crew: DJ (He/him)
Introducing the real paddock DJ – the only one who doesn’t have a USB drive. Full of smiles and a cheeky spirit, DJ can often be found talking the ear off anyone who will listen.
He joined the KB org in 2024 as volunteer lead, helping keep the paperwork in order. Getting to know the crew department, and seeing how it all worked, he took the opportunity to step up into ExCom, hoping it would be the start of something beautiful. The crew department is quite often called the glue of the organisation. DJ’s still not quite sure if that’s quite right. They definitely help other teams keep things chugging along, while making sure that all volunteers feel safe and supported in their roles.
Infrastructure: Bob (He/Him)
Bob had heard of Kiwiburn. Started the summer event circuit, in 2016, volunteering and kept being asked if he was a Burner. A chance encounter with a certain excom member (who shall remain nameless) while at an event, that rhymes with flignition, drinking Gin, Bob casually asked “How does one gets tickets for Kiwiburn?”. “You could join Excom”. And so it started. Bob Applied for the Infrascructire Facilitatiior 2IC role and was told that as a Burgin he should come along for “Special Projects” and see if he fitted in. Four days into the event a whispered discussion between Floyd and William resulted in Bob being offered the 2IC role. The following year Bob supported the Surveying and Town Planning teams. Then Floyd decided that Town Planning is what he would like to contribute to next and Bob agreed to take on the Infrastructure Facilitator role. And so the story starts…
Community: Kat (They/them)
Kat’s first burn was 2021, helping to run a fire spinning theme camp. They got involved in conversations about accessibility, and later that year the Community Department was born, including the Accessibility team which they joined. They’ve been involved in Community Department leadership since 2023, aside from a gap while travelling in 2024. Currently based in the UK, they’re working on improvements from afar. In their spare time they get involved with fire performance, and in their spare spare time they manage Effigy and Temple burns at other events. Somehow they fit in a day job and get involved with other communities on the side. There are even rumours that they eat and sleep on occasion.
Wellbeing: Lilian (She/her)
Lillian once mentioned in passing to a friend that she was interested in attending a burn. In figuratively minutes she had tickets to Kiwiburn and a place in the most welcoming theme camp she could wish for. This was literally life changing.
Two years later she’s attended burns around the world including Burning Nest in the UK and Nowhere in Spain. She’s never attended a burn without doing a welfare shift or consent work. Never attended a burn without learning how other places do things differently. And of course never attended a burn without a silly hat or an axolotl costume.
Theme Camps: Bex (She/her)
Bex lost her burn-ginity in 2017 when a last minute decision brought her to Hunterville for the first time. The obsession with and adoration for this extraordinary, erratic temporary experimental community was instant! She then co-led her own Theme Camp, before moving into the Theme Camp Coordinator role for a couple of years – neither turned out to be chaotic enough, so she’s putting on the new Theme Camp Facilitator pants for KB24. The TC Facilitator role supports the Theme Camps, Sound, Event Registration & Centre Camp teams to bring you, dear reader, marvelous delights that you can visit, listen to, participate in and marvel at.
Services: Josh (They/them)
Raccoon Daddy’s first burn was 2024, jumping straight into Co-Lead for Parking Team, despite having practically zero festival experience, no knowledge of the site at all, and little idea of what a Burn even is. They were adopted by the best Theme Camp on the Paddock and within moments of first arriving on site (and further over the course of that event) made some of the most meaningful personal connections of their life. It truly was love at first sight, and they were immediately hungry to get their paws in deeper. They co-led Parking again in 2025, then stepped up into Services Facilitator 2IC for 2026 (as well as contributing the Work of Heart theme). They care deeply for the Services Department, the Org and the Burn, and look forward to helping transition you all from the Default World to the Paddock in 2027 and beyond. Love your burn!
Site Safety: Keri
Bio coming soon 😉
Back to you…
You’re looking for the best way to participate, right? What are you into? Perhaps you want to be responsible and busy during the event, or, if Kiwiburn is your holiday, perhaps you would like to put in a few hours doing a bit of admin during the year or writing a blog post here and there. Check out the volunteer opportunities here. And for more information check out our volunteer teams.
