Burning Man

Burning Man is a nonprofit organization providing the infrastructure of Black Rock City, and works annually to globalize the Burning Man culture, and promote the nonprofit's 10 principles to life. Burning Man created a global network of communities that produce about ninety official Burning Man events and developdevelops a range of initiatives that are based on the 10 Principles.

The Burning Man Project connects an ecosystem of creatives and community leaders through grants, education and, training initiatives, and art and civic engagement programs, such as Burners Without Borders, and the Fly Ranch Project.TheProject. The platform's network of people work works to build Black Rock City, the location of the annual Burning Man gathering.

The hub of this global network is the 501(c)(3) non-profitnonprofit Burning Man Project, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The Mission Statement of the Burning Man Project is to facilitate and extend the culture that has been issued from the Burning Man event into the larger world. Burning Man's vision is to bring experiences to people in ways that lift the human spirit, address social problems, and inspire a sense of culture, community, and civic engagement.

Through six linked program areas, Burning Man provides infrastructural tools and frameworks to support local communities in applying the Ten10 Principles. These interconnected program areas include Artsarts, Civiccivic Involvementinvolvement, Cultureculture, Educationeducation, Philosophicalphilosophical Centercenter, and Socialsocial Enterpriseenterprise.

In 2004, Burning Man's co-foundercofounder, Larry Harvey, wrote the 10 Principles as guidelines for the Regional Network. They were created not to dictate how people should act, but as a reflection of the community’s ethos and culture as it had developed since the event’s inception. The 10 Principles are (as written by Larry Harvey):

2. Gifting: Burning Man is devoted to acts of unconditional gift givinggift-giving which doesdo not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

The Burning Man Project supports local communities with infrastructural tools and frameworks, in applying the Ten Principles via six interconnected program areas. In 2011, these program areas were developed by the six founders of Burning Man and their nonprofit and legal advisors, who were developing the long-term vision for the nonprofit, which became the Burning Man Project. They are not distinct, independently operating programs. They are aspirational, and represent ongoing and future plans, often related to Burning Man’s 100-year plan.

The Civic Engagement Program's Activities include organizing community celebrations, parades, festivals, and other events via a network in urban and rural areas, as well as the virtual world. In creating these events, Burning Man Project encourages broad participation and engagement with city, state, and federal agencies to permit the display of public art and creative self-expression.

Urban Cultural Centers will assist with the development of cultural districts, and will seek to provide vital services and required amenities in low-and moderate-income neighborhoods, contributing to neighborhood economic self-sufficiency. Burning Man Project’s rural activities will contribute to economically blighted areas of Northern Nevada and elsewhere via art and civic engagement projects. The Project will expand the nascent Digital Playa and virtual “Burn” events.

Burning Man Project’s Culture Centers Program will create and operate urban and rural cultural centers and spaces that encourage and showcase collaborative and interactive arts, culture, and community participation. These Cultural Centers may be permanent or temporary, physical or virtual.

Activities include the establishment of an Urban Cultural Center in San Francisco, thatwhich will offer collaborative gathering and gallery spaces, classrooms, workshops, a library, archives, sites for ritual and ceremony, shared office space for multiple community-based nonprofit organizations, and eventually a café and “museum” store.

In the longer-term future, rural retreat centers, artist colonies, and camping sites may offer opportunities to create interactive, collaborative community and culture in natural settings. This program will find, evaluate, purchase, manage, operate, and maintain all Project facilities, sites, networks, and real estate, which will be developed and operated using technologies and renewable energy.

The aim of this program is to teach the philosophy, principles, and practice of Burning Man culture and experience worldwide. Activities in this program include the provision of classes, skills training sessions, workshops, lectures, conferences, seminars, coaching, mentoring and certification programs through different educational modalities,. including inThese personinclude in-person, online, peer-to-peer, and via interactive, experiential and service-learning programs.

Certifications may be offered in subjects like dispute resolution and leadership training. Topics will include the different ways that the Ten10 Principles apply to different fields of endeavor, from the philosophical to the practical. Skills training may include project management and fund rasing,fundraising; the creation of interactive art, flame effects, costumes,; and guidance on how to recruit and retain volunteers, facilitate town meetings, engage with government agencies, write art grants, set up a nonprofit, produce an event, orand install public art.

Burning Man Project may also teach collaborative communication, active listening, emergency management, dispute resolution, collaborative leadership, disaster preparedness and relief, and other topics. The staff, consultants, and volunteer teachers — professionalsteachers—professionals and experts — willexperts—will come from the Burning Man community and beyond to create impromptu sessions and formal classes.

The Philosophical Center will act as a think tank for scholarly research about, and the preparation and publishing of materials explaining the Ten Principles, including how they have been and can be practically implemented in different fields of human endeavor.

Activities in this program will offer scholarly and literary exploration, and content for The Project, Burning Man culture, and the general public, emphasizing cross-disciplinary thinking, interactivity, and collaborative action. The Center will conduct research and promote innovation in art, science, play, gifting, collaboration, and other related economic and policy issues.

It will explore and publish conceptual, academic, and first-person accounts describing how the ethos of the Ten Principles applyapplies to different human endeavors. The publications will be in different forms and media like articles, books, videos, films, case studies, “how to”“how-to” manuals, policies, procedures, streaming media, and other means.

Burning Man Project’s Social Enterprise Program will collaborate with mission-allied organizations and projects by offering certifications, social and connective networks, fiscal sponsorship, shared support services, and mentoring. Activities of this program may include education, coaching, and certifications for organizations and businesses that embody the Ten Principles, and establishing a public interest “Burner Business Bureau” that informs consumers about responsible, ethical, community, and culture-oriented ventures.

Burning Man Project’s Social Enterprise Program will collaborate with mission-allied organizations and projects that wish to collaborate for the public good by providingoffering certifications, social and connective networks, fiscal sponsorship, shared support services, and mentoring. Activities of this program may include education, coaching, and certifications for organizations and businesses that wish to embody the Ten Principles, and establishing a public interest “Burner Business Bureau” that informs consumers about responsible, ethical, community and culture-oriented ventures.

Closely mission-allied fiscally sponsored projects and 501(c)(3) nonprofits couldmay subscribe to receiveget shared support services from Burning Man Project in human resources, volunteer coordination, bookkeeping, financial management, technology support, international operations, good nonprofit governance, risk management, emergency response, legal compliance, orand other areas of Burning Man Project’s subject matter expertise.

This approach fosters collaborative consumption among mission-allied projects, reducing duplication and overhead costs and maximizing the resources that each may devote to its public benefit programs. In the long term future, The Project may establish a Cultural Enterprise Incubator Program to accelerate the successful development of early-stage companies and nonprofits that wish to embody the Ten Principles in their operations.

The Philosophical Center will serveact as a think tank to dofor scholarly research about, and tothe preparepreparation and publishpublishing of materials that explainexplaining the Ten Principles, andincluding how they have been and can be successfully and practically implemented in manydifferent fields of human endeavor. The Philosophical Center will guide the interpretation and application of the Ten Principles in The Project’s operation. It will elucidate the Ten Principles by means of a precedential approach that examines how these principles have been effectively used to solve past problems and answer questions.

Its study shall also include spontaneous cultural practices and initiatives that have arisen within the Burning Man community independently of any institutional mandate. Activities in this program will provide visionaryoffer scholarly and literary exploration, and pragmatic content for The Project, Burning Man culture, and the general public, emphasizing cross-disciplinary thinking, interactivity, and collaborative action. The Philosophical Center will conduct research and promote innovation in art, science, play, gifting, interaction, collaboration, and other related economic and policy issues.

It will explore and publish conceptual, academic, and first-person accounts that describedescribing how the emergent ethos of the Ten Principles apply to a wide range ofdifferent human endeavors. SuchThe publications will be in unlimiteddifferent forms and media: like articles, books, videos, films, case studies, “how to” manuals, policies, procedures, streaming media, and by other means. The policies, procedures, “how to” manuals, and “case” materials that the Philosophical Center designates as “precedential” for The Project shall be considered scholarly authorities concerning how The Project can and must operate in order to remain true to the Ten Principles for generations. The Philosophical Center will encourage dialogue and will create a self-reflective “living” archive and literary exploration of the Burning Man way.

The missionaim of Burning Man Project’sthis Educational Programprogram is to teach the philosophy, principles, and practice of Burning Man culture and experience around the worldworldwide. Activities in this program may include Burning Manthe Projectprovision providingof classes, skills training sessions, workshops, lectures, conferences, seminars, coaching, mentoring and certification programs through different educational modalities, including in person, online, peer-to-peer, and via many educational modalities, such as in person, online, peer-to-peer, and through interactive, experiential and service-learning programs.

Certifications may be offered in subjects such aslike dispute resolution and leadership training. Topics will include the nearly infinite range ofdifferent ways that the Ten Principles apply to variousdifferent fields of endeavor, from the philosophical to practical. Skills training may include project management and fund rasing, the creation of interactive art, flame effects, costumes, how to: create interactive art, create flame effects, make costumes, recruit and retain volunteers, facilitate town meetings, engage effectively with government agencies, manage a project, raise funds, write art grants, set up a nonprofit, produce an event, or install monumental public art.

Burning Man Project may also teach about collaborative communication, active listening, emergency management, dispute resolution, collaborative leadership, disaster preparedness and relief, and myriad other topics. StaffThe staff, consultants, and volunteer teachers — professionals, and experts, and knowledgeable people — will come from the Burning Man community and beyond, to educate the Burning Man community, in everything fromcreate impromptu sessions toand formal classes.

The mission of Burning Man Arts is to change the paradigm of art from a commodified object to an interactive, participatory, shared experience of creative expression. Activities in the art program may include facilitating creative self-expression by encouraging people to integrate art with daily personal and public life in ways that are interactive and collaborative, promoting social architecture, and providing opportunities for people to create and display mobile and wearable art (such as art cars, art bikes, and art clothing). Burning Man Project will accomplish that through art grants, art exhibitions, art festivals, public art placement, directories and catalogues of art and artists who work in this genre, and by other means.

Activities in the burning man art program include the facilitation of creative self-expression, through the encouragment of individuals to integrate art with daily personal and public life in interactive and collaborative ways. It promotes social architecture, and provides opportunities for people to create and display mobile and wearable art like art cars, bikes, and clothing. The project accomplishes this through art grants, exhibitions, festivals, public art placement, directories and catalogues of art and artists who work in this genre, and other means.

Burning Man Project’sThe Civic Engagement Program will foster civic responsibility and volunteerism in pursuit of a civil society and to provide economic development and human services, using interactive and collaborative methods consistent with the Ten Principles.'s Activities may include organizing community celebrations, parades, festivals, and other events throughvia a network in urban and rural areas, andas inwell as the virtual world. In creating these events, Burning Man Project will encourageencourages broad participation and engagement with city, state and federal agencies to permit display of public art and creative self-expression.

Burning ManUrban ProjectCultural eventsCenters will offer the public opportunities to participate in and experience a way of life lived consistentlyassist with the Ten Principles and to collaborate in creating a values-based civic code. Urban Cultural Centers will aid development of cultural districts and bring life back to cities’ long-depressed urban zones, and will seek to provide importantvital services and neededrequired amenities in low- andlow-and moderate-income neighborhoods, contributing to neighborhood economic self-sufficiency. Burning Man Project’s rural activities will contribute to economically blighted areas of Northern Nevada and elsewhere throughvia art and civic engagement projects. Burning ManThe Project will expand the nascent Digital Playa and virtual “Burn” events.

Burning Man Project’s Culture Centers Program will establishcreate and operate urban and rural cultural centers and spaces that incubateencourage and showcase collaborative and interactive arts, culture, and community participation. Burning Man Project‘sThese Cultural Centers may be permanent or temporary, physical or virtual.

Activities that generate and preserve culture will include establishingthe establishment of an Urban Cultural Center in San Francisco that will provideoffer collaborative gathering and gallery spaces, classrooms, workshops, a library, archives, sites for ritual and ceremony, shared office space for multiple community-based nonprofit organizations, and eventually a café and “museum” store.

The San Francisco Urban Cultural Center will serve as a model for future Urban Cultural Centers in other cities. In the longer-term future, rural retreat centers, artist colonies, and camping sites may provideoffer opportunities to generatecreate interactive, collaborative community and culture in natural settings. This program will locatefind, evaluate, acquirepurchase, manage, operate, and maintain all Project facilities, sites, networks and real estate, which will be developed and operated using innovative technologies and renewable energy.

The Burning Man Project providessupports local communities with infrastructural tools and frameworks to support local communities, in applying the Ten Principles throughvia six interconnected program areas. TheseIn 2011, these program areas were developed in 2011 by the six founders of Burning Man and their nonprofit and legal advisors, who were craftingdeveloping the long-term vision for the new nonprofit which became the Burning Man Project. TheseThey are not distinct, independently operating programs. They are aspirational, and represent what we have been doingongoing and what we intend to do. Each yearfuture we focus on certain areas more than othersplans, but this paints the big picture. We want you to know we’re thinking big about Burning Man’s potential influence on the world (we often talkrelated aboutto Burning Man’s 100-year plan), and we invite you to think big, too.

In 2004, Burning Man's co-founder Larry Harvey, wrote the 10 Principles in 2004 as guidelines for the newly-formed Regional Network. They were craftedcreated not as ato dictate of how people should be and act, but as a reflection of the community’s ethos and culture as it had organically developed since the event’s inception.

1. Radical Inclusion: Anyone maycan be a partincluded ofin Burning Man. WeThe stranger is welcomed welcomeand respected, and respectno prerequisites exist for participation in the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
2. Gifting: Burning Man is devoted to acts of unconditional gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Giftingwhich does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
3. Decommodification: In order toTo preserve the spirit of gifting, ourthe community seeks to createdevelop social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect ourThe culture is protected from such exploitation., Weand resistresists the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
4. Radical Self-reliance: BurningThe Manencouragement encouragesof the individual to discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources.
5. Radical Self-expression: Radical self-expression arisescomes from the unique gifts of the individual. uniqueness and can Noonly onebe otherdetermined thanby the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, and the giver shouldis expected to respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
6. Communal Effort: OurThe community values creative cooperation and collaboration., Weand strivestrives to producecreate, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support suchthese interactioninteractions.
7. Civic Responsibility: WeBurning valueMan values civil society. Community members whoevent organizeorganizers eventsare shouldrequired to assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance withaccording to local, state and federal laws.
8. Leaving No Trace: OurThe community respects the environment. We areis committed to leaving no physical trace of ourtheir activities wherever wethey gather. WeThey clean up after ourselvesthemselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places venues in a better state than when wethey foundlocated them.
9. Participation: OurThe community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. through Wethe believebelief that individual or societal transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur onlyoccurs throughvia the medium of deeply personal participation. WeBurning achieveMan achieves being through doing, and makes the world real via actions that open the heart. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited toand play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
10. Immediacy: Immediate experience is, in manyregarded ways,as the most importantcrucial touchstone of value in ourthe Burning Man culture. WeThey seekstrive to overcome barriers that stand between us andto athe recognition of ourthe inner selves of individuals, the reality of thosepeople around usthem, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceedingbeyond human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

TheBurning Man is a nonprofit Burning Man Project providesproviding the essential infrastructure of Black Rock City, and works year round annually to bringglobalize the Burning Man culture to the world, and promote the nonprofit's 10 Principlesprinciples to life. But it does not do this alone. Burning Man has given rise to created a global network of communities that produce more thanabout 90ninety official Burning Man events and createdevelop a range of initiatives that are based on the 10 Principles. Burning Man Project connects and empowers this creative ecosystem of builders, makers, doers, and community leaders through grants, education and training initiatives, and art and civic engagement programs like Burners Without Borders and the Fly Ranch Project.

Burning Man is a network of people inspired by the values reflected in the Ten Principles and united in the pursuit of a more creative and connected existence in the world. Throughout the year we work to build Black Rock City, home of the largest annual Burning Man gathering, and nurture the distinctive culture emerging from that experience. The hub of this global network is the 501(c)(3) non-profit Burning Man Project, headquartered in San Francisco, California.

The Burning Man Project connects an ecosystem of creatives and community leaders through grants, education and training initiatives, and art and civic engagement programs such as Burners Without Borders, and the Fly Ranch Project.The platform's network of people work to build Black Rock City, location of the annual Burning Man gathering.

The hub of this global network is the 501(c)(3) non-profit Burning Man Project, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The Mission Statement, The mission of the Burning Man Project is to facilitate and extend the culture that has issued from the Burning Man event into the larger world. Vision, Burning Man's vision Projectis willto bring experiences to people in grand, awe-inspiring and joyful ways that lift the human spirit, address social problems, and inspire a sense of culture, community, and civic engagement. Program Areas, Burning Man provides infrastructural tools and frameworks to support local communities in applying the Ten Principles through six interconnected program areas, including Arts, Civic Involvement, Culture, Education, Philosophical Center, and Social Enterprise.

Through six linked program areas, Burning Man provides infrastructural tools and frameworks to support local communities in applying the Ten Principles. These interconnected program areas include Arts, Civic Involvement, Culture, Education, Philosophical Center, and Social Enterprise.

The Burning Man Project provides infrastructural tools and frameworks to support local communities in applying the Ten Principles through six interconnected program areas. These program areas were developed in 2011 by the six founders of Burning Man and their nonprofit and legal advisors, who were crafting the long-term vision for the new nonprofit which became the Burning Man Project. These are not distinct, independently operating programs. They are aspirational, and represent what we have been doing and what we intend to do. Each year we focus on certain areas more than others, but this paints the big picture. We want you to know we’re thinking big about Burning Man’s potential influence on the world (we often talk about Burning Man’s 100-year plan), and we invite you to think big, too.

The mission of Burning Man Arts is to change the paradigm of art from a commodified object to an interactive, participatory, shared experience of creative expression. Activities in the art program may include facilitating creative self-expression by encouraging people to integrate art with daily personal and public life in ways that are interactive and collaborative, promoting social architecture, and providing opportunities for people to create and display mobile and wearable art (such as art cars, art bikes, and art clothing). Burning Man Project will accomplish that through art grants, art exhibitions, art festivals, public art placement, directories and catalogues of art and artists who work in this genre, and by other means.

Burning Man Project’s Civic Engagement Program will foster civic responsibility and volunteerism in pursuit of a civil society and to provide economic development and human services, using interactive and collaborative methods consistent with the Ten Principles. Activities may include organizing community celebrations, parades, festivals, and other events through a network in urban and rural areas, and in the virtual world. In creating these events, Burning Man Project will encourage broad participation and engagement with city, state and federal agencies to permit display of public art and creative self-expression.

Burning Man Project events will offer the public opportunities to participate in and experience a way of life lived consistently with the Ten Principles and to collaborate in creating a values-based civic code. Urban Cultural Centers will aid development of cultural districts and bring life back to cities’ long-depressed urban zones, and will seek to provide important services and needed amenities in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, contributing to neighborhood economic self-sufficiency. Burning Man Project’s rural activities will contribute to economically blighted areas of Northern Nevada and elsewhere through art and civic engagement projects. Burning Man Project will expand the nascent Digital Playa and virtual “Burn” events.

Burning Man Project’s Culture Centers Program will establish and operate urban and rural cultural centers and spaces that incubate and showcase collaborative and interactive arts, culture, and community participation. Burning Man Project‘s Cultural Centers may be permanent or temporary, physical or virtual.

Activities that generate and preserve culture will include establishing an Urban Cultural Center in San Francisco that will provide collaborative gathering and gallery spaces, classrooms, workshops, a library, archives, sites for ritual and ceremony, shared office space for multiple community-based nonprofit organizations, and eventually a café and “museum” store.

The San Francisco Urban Cultural Center will serve as a model for future Urban Cultural Centers in other cities. In the longer-term future, rural retreat centers, artist colonies, and camping sites may provide opportunities to generate interactive, collaborative community and culture in natural settings. This program will locate, evaluate, acquire, manage, operate, and maintain all Project facilities, sites, networks and real estate, which will be developed and operated using innovative technologies and renewable energy.

The mission of Burning Man Project’s Educational Program is to teach the philosophy, principles, and practice of Burning Man culture and experience around the world. Activities in this program may include Burning Man Project providing classes, skills training sessions, workshops, lectures, conferences, seminars, coaching, mentoring and certification programs via many educational modalities, such as in person, online, peer-to-peer, and through interactive, experiential and service-learning programs.

Certifications may be offered in subjects such as dispute resolution and leadership training. Topics will include the nearly infinite range of ways the Ten Principles apply to various fields of endeavor, from the philosophical to practical. Skills training may include how to: create interactive art, create flame effects, make costumes, recruit and retain volunteers, facilitate town meetings, engage effectively with government agencies, manage a project, raise funds, write art grants, set up a nonprofit, produce an event, or install monumental public art.

Burning Man Project may teach about collaborative communication, active listening, emergency management, dispute resolution, collaborative leadership, disaster preparedness and relief, and myriad other topics. Staff, consultants, and volunteer teachers — professionals, experts, and knowledgeable people — will come from the Burning Man community and beyond, to educate the Burning Man community, in everything from impromptu sessions to formal classes.

The Philosophical Center will serve as a think tank to do scholarly research about, and to prepare and publish materials that explain the Ten Principles, and how they have been and can be successfully and practically implemented in many fields of human endeavor. The Philosophical Center will guide the interpretation and application of the Ten Principles in The Project’s operation. It will elucidate the Ten Principles by means of a precedential approach that examines how these principles have been effectively used to solve past problems and answer questions.

Its study shall also include spontaneous cultural practices and initiatives that have arisen within the Burning Man community independently of any institutional mandate. Activities in this program will provide visionary scholarly and literary exploration, and pragmatic content for The Project, Burning Man culture, and the general public emphasizing cross-disciplinary thinking, interactivity, and collaborative action. The Philosophical Center will conduct research and promote innovation in art, science, play, gifting, interaction, collaboration, and related economic and policy issues.

It will explore and publish conceptual, academic, and first-person accounts that describe how the emergent ethos of the Ten Principles apply to a wide range of human endeavors. Such publications will be in unlimited forms and media: articles, books, videos, films, case studies, “how to” manuals, policies, procedures, streaming media, and by other means. The policies, procedures, “how to” manuals, and “case” materials that the Philosophical Center designates as “precedential” for The Project shall be considered scholarly authorities concerning how The Project can and must operate in order to remain true to the Ten Principles for generations. The Philosophical Center will encourage dialogue and will create a self-reflective “living” archive and literary exploration of the Burning Man way.

Burning Man Project’s Social Enterprise Program will collaborate with mission-allied organizations and projects that wish to collaborate for the public good by providing certifications, social and connective networks, fiscal sponsorship, shared support services, and mentoring. Activities of this program may include education, coaching, and certifications for organizations and businesses that wish to embody the Ten Principles, and establishing a public interest “Burner Business Bureau” that informs consumers about responsible, ethical, community and culture-oriented ventures.

Closely mission-allied fiscally sponsored projects and 501(c)(3) nonprofits could subscribe to receive shared support services from Burning Man Project in human resources, volunteer coordination, bookkeeping, financial management, technology support, international operations, good nonprofit governance, risk management, emergency response, legal compliance, or other areas of Burning Man Project’s subject matter expertise.

This approach fosters collaborative consumption among mission-allied projects, reducing duplication and overhead costs and maximizing the resources that each may devote to its public benefit programs. In the long term future, The Project may establish a Cultural Enterprise Incubator Program to accelerate the successful development of early-stage companies and nonprofits that wish to embody the Ten Principles in their operations.

Burning Man is a network of people inspired by the values reflected in the Ten Principles and united in the pursuit of a more creative and connected existence in the world. Throughout the year we work to build Black Rock City, home of the largest annual Burning Man gathering, and nurture the distinctive culture emerging from that experience. The hub of this global network is the 501(c)(3) non-profit Burning Man Project, headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Mission Statement, The mission of Burning Man Project is to facilitate and extend the culture that has issued from the Burning Man event into the larger world. Vision, Burning Man Project will bring experiences to people in grand, awe-inspiring and joyful ways that lift the human spirit, address social problems, and inspire a sense of culture, community, and civic engagement. Program Areas, Burning Man provides infrastructural tools and frameworks to support local communities in applying the Ten Principles through six interconnected program areas, including Arts, Civic Involvement, Culture, Education, Philosophical Center, and Social Enterprise.

Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey wrote the 10 Principles in 2004 as guidelines for the newly-formed Regional Network. They were crafted not as a dictate of how people should be and act, but as a reflection of the community’s ethos and culture as it had organically developed since the event’s inception.

1. Radical Inclusion: Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
2. Gifting: Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
3. Decommodification: In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
4. Radical Self-reliance: Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources.
5. Radical Self-expression: Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
6. Communal Effort: Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.
7. Civic Responsibility: We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.
8. Leaving No Trace: Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
9. Participation: Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
10. Immediacy: Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

The nonprofit Burning Man Project provides the essential infrastructure of Black Rock City, and works year round to bring Burning Man culture to the world and the 10 Principles to life. But it does not do this alone. Burning Man has given rise to a global network of communities that produce more than 90 official Burning Man events and create a range of initiatives based on the 10 Principles. Burning Man Project connects and empowers this creative ecosystem of builders, makers, doers, and community leaders through grants, education and training initiatives, and art and civic engagement programs like Burners Without Borders and the Fly Ranch Project.