Burning Man Festival - October 3, 2025
JRS: Axis Mundi π³ Burning Man 2026
The Jackrabbit Speaks by Burning Man Project | V30:#2 β β...
| No images? Click here  Volume 30, Issue #3 | October 3, 2025   The 2026 Burning Man theme has arrived! It is officially released into the wild, ready to spark imaginations and run amok in our hearts and conversations, to inspire creative projects and communities everywhere. With its roots in mythos and its branches connecting far-flung locales, Axis Mundi summons the ancient rite of anchoring our togetherness, wherever Burning Man inspires you to gather. Jump below for the 2026 theme announcement! If you were recently dusty, you know what to do. Tell us about yourself in the Black Rock City 2025 Census, and share your experiences and feedback in the BRC 2025 Post-event Survey. Giving your input contributes to an ever-evolving process that makes Burning Man better, brighter, more beautiful year over year. Does building the Black Rock City 2026 Temple put a twinkle in your eye? YOU could be the next Temple artist; applications are open now, until October 31. Scroll for details. Pause in your busy day to read an insightful article by Black Burner Project creator Erin Douglas on the evolution of art by Black artists in BRC. Gazing wistfully at your BRC 2025 camera roll? Burning Man Hive invites YOU to submit your favorite personal playa photo, then join a group call to swap stories. If you're involved in a Bay Area nonprofit, Burners Without Borders is hosting a mixer at Decompression: Oakland Edition on October 18. You don't have to leave Burning Man, ever! Just bring the spark with you. Decompression events are popping off in Amsterdam, Portland, Sydney, and all over the globe. Two big ones β Detroit and Venice Afterburn β are happening this very weekend. It's all here. And there. And everywhere. From little acorns, mighty oaks grow.   Burning Man 2026: Axis Mundi  Stuart Mangrum, Director of the Philosophical Center, writes: In nearly every culture on Earth people have imagined a center point for their existence, a celestial column that connects us with powers greater than ourselves. To the Maya it was the Ceiba tree, to the Norse Ygdrassil, to the Celts the Crann Bethadh. The ancient Greeks called it the cosmic pillar, and the Slavs knew it as the Great Oak. Siddhartaβs Bodhi tree, the sacred cottonwood of the Lakota, and the Iroku of the Yoruba can all be seen as manifestations of the same deeply rooted idea. The Man can be seen as our version of the cosmic tree, a Jacobβs Ladder connecting us to the unseen and unknowable. It functions as the axis mundi of our far-flung world, around which we all spin at 1,000 miles an hour, clinging to each other to keep from flying off into space. Each summer it rises from the ancient lakebed of the Black Rock Desert, and throughout the year its sibling effigies are planted at Regional gatherings around the world. Read "Burning Man 2026: Axis Mundi" Art: "Tree of TΓ©nΓ©rΓ©" by Alexander Green, Zachary Smith, and Patrick Deegan, 2017 (Photo by Jamen Percy)  If You Were in BRC 2025 ~ Please Fill Out these Three Surveys  If you're fresh back from the dust, curious minds want to know: how was it? Here are THREE important surveys that pretty please require your attention. First up, please take 10 to 15 fun-filled minutes to share your experience in the BRC 2025 Post-event Survey. Next, tell us about yourself β who you are, where youβre from, how you travel to BRC, and other important details β by filling out the Black Rock City 2025 Census. Finally, weβd love to hear feedback β the crunchy and the smooth β about your neighborhood and neighbors in Black Rock City. BRC Neighborhood Feedback Form Art: "Patches" by Hope Antrim & Nate Andersen, 2025 (Photo by Amber Reynolds)   Be the Spark for More Burning Man!  Burning Man and Black Rock City are a Communal Effort, made possible thanks to the dedicated support of people like YOU. When you donate to Burning Man Project, the nonprofit in service to the global Burning Man cultural movement, you support our global, year-round work producing Black Rock City and nurturing a more connected, creative world. Thank you. Art: "Rose Wonders" by Thomas Dambo, 2025 (Photo by Duncan Rawlinson)   Burning Manβs Black Vanguard  Erin Douglas writes in Hyperallergic: This year, I realized something: My mission may be complete, but the work is far from over. The Black Burner Project was never about me; it was about us. About planting seeds, building bridges, and opening doors so that others could walk through and create their own magic. Be their own magic. And now, standing in the dust and witnessing this flourishing of Black art and presence, I see that we are in a new phase. Read "Burning Manβs Black Vanguard" Art: βBlack! AsΓ©β by Erin Douglas, 2022 (Photo courtesy of Erin Douglas)   Take a Playa Safari with Red Pilotβs 2025 Playa Art Tour  Burning Man Documentation team photographer Gurps Chawla, aka Red Pilot, has published his yearly (and absolutely gorgeous) art tour. He writes: After some interesting weather to start the week, this was another great year for cruising the playa and checking out the installations and art cars. Here are some of the memorable pieces that caught my eye. Art: "Event Horizon" by Ben Bartlett, 2025 (Photo by Gurps Chawla)   Proposals for the 2026 Black Rock City Temple Are Now Open  Burning Man Arts is now accepting proposals for the 2026 Temple Grant Program, with an easier submission process. While the community continues to reflect on the powerful experience of "Temple of the Deep" from Tomorrow Today, it's already time to look ahead to next year so artists have as much time as possible to create a spiritual home in Black Rock City. Temple proposals are due by October 31, 2025. Art: "Temple of the Deep" by Miguel Arraiz, 2025 (Photo by Mark Fromson)  Share Your Photos in the 2025 Playa Storybook Space on Hive  Got a favorite memory from the Burn? The Burning Man Hive community invites you to share a personal photo and a short story for the new Black Rock City Storybook space on Burning Man Hive! Scroll through your camera roll, pick a moment, and submit your photo at the link below. Then, tune in for a LIVE event on Hive Saturday, October 18 at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 8pm CET to celebrate some of the photos and stories participants shared. To join, download the Burning Man Hive App on iOS or Android, or visit Hive online. Use your Burner Profile login to create a Hive account. Art: "The World Fair of Unity" by Mark Rivera, 2025 (Photo by Jamen Percy)   Venice Afterburn β October 4 and 5 β Venice Beach, California  Where: Venice Beach, California Venice Afterburn is THIS weekend. Gather your friends, your kids, and other favorite humans and bring your sparkle to Windward Plaza for a playground of community, art, music, and Radical Self-expression by the sea.  Detroit Decompression β October 4 β Detroit  Where: Lincoln Street Art Park, Detroit Rising Sparks is hosting a Detroit/Michigan/Great Lakes re-entry event at Dreamtroit Complex in Detroit β a massive community collaboration! Art Night Detroit, Syncytium, and Detroit Michigan Burners are bringing their vision to life with support from Rising Sparks: a space for post-Black Rock City community connection and integration that brings together LOCAL art collectives and the Regional burn community. BWB Bay Area Nonprofit Mixer β October 18 β Oakland, California  Where: The Loom, Oakland, California Are you a Burner who runs or is involved with a Bay Area nonprofit? Burners Without Borders (BWB) is hosting a 5pm Mixer for local nonprofits at Decompression: Oakland Edition. BWB is gathering people doing good work to discover whatβs possible when we do it together. If you're there, dive into the activation space to participate in some favorite activities from BWB Camp in Black Rock City. Got a nonprofit, or know someone who would be a great fit? Send this invite their way! Questions: [email protected]. (Photo courtesy of BWB)  Decompression: Oakland Edition β October 18 β Oakland, California  Where: The Loom, Oakland, California Donβt miss the debut of this spectacular, co-created event β Decompression: Oakland Edition. Bring the spirit of Black Rock City and the creativity of Oakland together at a day-to-night celebration of Radical Self-expression, community, and post-playa magic. See you there!  We were listening to... Mita Gami & Meir Briskman Orchestra Set in BRC 2024 | Listen on Soundcloud   Burning Man Project on Facebook   Post Request: Credits: More Information: Previous Editions of the Jackrabbit Speaks: Subscribe & Unsubscribe:    You are receiving this because of your interest in and support of Burning Man Project. Burning Man Project β’ 660 Alabama St. San Francisco, CA 94110 β’ 415-865-3800 |
