Jun 17, 2026 | Beginner Burners, Kiwiburn
A post–burn reflectionI went to my first Burn thinking I was fairly well prepared.I was wrong in the same way someone is “basically fluent” after three Duolingo lessons. There are things you can only learn by arriving in a field full of people who seem to have...
May 6, 2026 | Art, Beginner Burners, Kiwiburn, Theme Camps
(aka: how to start an in-paddock event at Kiwiburn) There are two types of people at Kiwiburn:those who go looking for something to happen,and those who accidentally invent a tradition because they got bored near a beanbag. This is a guide for the second kind. Or for...
Apr 15, 2026 | Beginner Burners, Kiwiburn
There are, unfortunately, very reliable ways to have a bad time at Kiwiburn. Not catastrophic, “you won’t believe this” bad. Just quietly, persistently underwhelming. The kind where you get home, tip a small ecosystem of out of your bag, and say,“Yeah, it was good.”...
Feb 28, 2026 | Beginner Burners, Kiwiburn
I didn’t go to Kiwiburn to become Princess.I went because something in my life had caught fire and I didn’t know how to put it out. We arrived late.As we always do. Even with our best intentions.Driving toward a temporary city makes time feel negotiable. You are...
Jan 18, 2026 | Beginner Burners, Kiwiburn, Volunteer, Volunteers
The World Is Held Together By People Who Didn’t Mean To Be In Charge There is no sensible reason why, once a year, a group of ordinary people would travel for hours, take time off work, and arrive somewhere actively hostile to phone reception, only to build a city...
Nov 16, 2025 | Beginner Burners, Kiwiburn, The 10 Principles
If the first rule of Kiwiburn is that you can’t buy anything, the second is: stop trying to.When I first heard about “gifting culture” at Kiwiburn, I pictured myself turning up in the middle of a field, surrounded by beautiful, half-naked people, clutching a box of...
