Below is a glossary of burner & Playa del Fuego terms. Alphabetized for your reading pleasure!
# • A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L • M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z
10 Principles – Burning Man’s version of the 10 Commandments, wherein you are
permitted to covet your neighbor’s wife but not to litter or participate in cash activities like
vending. And so very much more.
11th Principle – currently, the community zeitgeist is that 11th Principle is defined as Consent, however at various times in the long history of Burning Man, it has also been “Don’t Be an Asshole” “Safety Third” and “Gratitude”
Actual – the board member on call
Blue Light Camps – sometimes a theme camp will choose to be a BLC and will display a blue light at night as a signal that the camp is actively a safe space for anyone who is having / has had a negative experience, particularly surrounding consent violations. BLCs are community driven, and not part of the provided infrastructure of the event. If you have experienced a consent, conduct, or boundary violation, please find a Ranger to document the situation and file a Conduct Committee report
Board of Directors – aka the BOD. A group of unpaid volunteers in search of a hot tub in which to sit and think. They handle all the legal parts of the event like contracts, taxes, insurance, liability, and future vision. PdF and Constellation are managed by the board of FirePony Creative Society
BPE – Burning Pony Express, the PdF newsletter
BRC – Black Rock City, the name of the temporary city created at Burning Man in Nevada
Burn - slang for a Burning Man-inspired, participant-driven event celebrating self expression and collaborative community building that leaves no trace. A burn becomes a “Regional Burn” when it is sanctioned by the Burning Man Organization. “Have a nice burn.” “Happy Burn!”
Burner Time – typically 10 minutes to never after the appointed time, often caused by Look! Shiny!
Burning Man – the event that started it all! Burning Man is a large temporary city in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert called Black Rock City, which consists of a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance and strives to leave no trace. Referred to variously as TTITD (That Thing in the Desert) “the Big Burn” or “the Gerlach Regional”
Burning Man Organization – aka BMOrg. Burning Man’s board and bureaucratic overseers
Burn Pad – placed under burning art to minimize the impact the burning of the art leaves on the ground
Butn – once upon a time, someone rage-quit the Transformus Facebook group in a post that misspelled burn as butn. The post was concerned that the group had too much rave, and not enough butn – and now the rave to butn ratio of all things has been a community obsession ever since. Stay well, guys! <3
CACE – Community Arts and Civic Engagement. A FirePony Creative Society program, which provides art grants for community driven, interactive projects outside the burn events
Coal Creek Ranch – the property in Tamaqua, PA where PdF is currently held. GPS 40.777480°, -76.022822°
Comp Tickets - there are no comp tickets at PdF. Not for volunteers, artists, DJs, the Planning Committee, the Pony builder, or the Board of Directors.
Conclave – aka the Fire Conclave. The fire arts performance by community members prior to the effigy being burnt, often with drumming (known as the drum conclave)
Conduct Committee – comprised of board and community members that review and investigate submitted conduct and consent reports
Consent – an affirmative, unambiguous, and conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed-upon activity. PdF strives to be a place where obtaining enthusiastic consent is the norm. See the 11th Principle section, above
Constellation – PdF’s sister-burn produced under FirePony Creative Society. Constellation is held every October on Indigenous Peoples Day weekend in West Virginia
Coordinator - A super-volunteer who doesn’t just work a shift, they run an entire department like DPW, Parking, City Planning, Gate, or Burn Perimeter
Darkwad – a participant who doesn’t light themselves up at night and can’t be seen, particularly by Mutant Vehicles
Decomp – short for Decompression. The “event drop” or temporary depression some burners experience upon returning to “reality camp” or the “default world” after a Burn event. Also refers to the name of a post-Burning Man party in San Francisco
DPW – Department of Public Works. DPW handles the infrastructure and logistic needs of the event.
Effigy – the central burning art piece, set ablaze in wonder on Saturday night at 0dark30. Burning Man burns an effigy of “the Man” while PdF burns an effigy of a pony (see Pony, below).
Exodus – the process of participants leaving the event by Monday at noon
FirePony Creative Society.- FPCS aka “the board”. The trade name for Playa del Fuego Inc., a Maryland not-for-profit corporation recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 which is the fiscal and legal oversite body for the sanctioned Burning Man Regional events Playa del Fuego and Constellation and other burnerific community-driven projects outside the burns in the mid-Atlantic area. Read about the current board members here https://firepony.org/about/board-of-directors/
FLAME – Find Out, Listen, Analyze, Mediate, Explain. This is a conflict resolution method used by Rangers to de-escalate conflict situations occurring during the event
Flipside – Flipside and PdF are the oldest Regionals, both inaugurated 1998. Flipside, held in Texas, is older, as it was held on Memorial Day weekend (still is!) and the first PdF was held on Labor Day weekend. Flipside once made a fun and popular video about the 10 Principles, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11lv6i79sQo&t=11s
Fuck Your Burn – an ironic, positive phrase. Depending on the tone, Fuck Your Burn can be a salutation wishing someone an amazing burn (as in really great sex!), a cheer to Burn as hard as you can and give your burn all you’ve got, or it can be a dismissive phrase when someone tries to tell you “you’re doing it wrong” or being Burnier Than Thou
Gate - The Gate is the portal through which you enter the event. The gate turns valid IDs into official wristbands during specific hours posted elsewhere.
Gerlach – the tiny town just outside Burning Man’s Black Rock City
Gifting Economy – resulting from the Burning Man Principle of Decommodification, it means no onsite sales, with the exception of ice and re-entry passes.
Greeters – happy people who welcome you home and orient you to the event
Immediacy – the 10th principle. Being present at the Burn. Appreciating the beauty and ephemeral nature of this temporary gift we call life. Or something like that. It means different things to different people and is a great conversation to have with other participants. “Immediacy NOW!”
Khaki – the Ranger shift lead on duty.
Larry Harvey – the late co-founder of Burning Man “Praise Larry!”
LNT – Leave No Trace. One of the 10 Principles that ask us to leave it better than we found it
Look! Shiny! – the phenomenon of always being distracted by the next amazing thing! Often leads to Burner Time
MALC – Mid-Atlantic Leadership Conference, a FirePony Creative Society community-program that endeavors to bring together leaders in our community to inspire, share knowledge and best-practices, learn from each other, and more
Mayor – PdF is a temporary city, and our city has a Mayor! The Mayor is a Board member that has agreed to make themselves available for questions and discussions all burn long. The mayor wears a Mayor hat or a sash, or maybe a parachute
MOOP - Matter Out Of Place, anything that is not indigenous the natural environment you are in, for example: litter, cigarette butts, glitter. A participant should conduct MOOP Sweeps in their camp and throughout the event to ensure that they leave no trace.
Mutant Vehicle – aka Art Car. A vehicle that has been altered to be unrecognizable for the sake of art.
No Spectators – Everyone is a participant, Everyone contributes, there are No Spectators. Also name of the Smithsonian exhibit at the Renwick Gallery called “No Spectators the Art of Burning Man”
Open Camping – where everyone who isn’t part of a “placed” theme camp camps
Participant – one who attends a Burn. All are expected to contribute to the burn in a meaningful way; there are No Spectators
Participation Station – aka “the PS” aka “Volunteer Central” aka “HQ” aka “Center Camp”. Sign up for volunteer shifts, grab your volunteer laminate, and get registered for the Volunteer Reserve Ticket Program. It has the First Aid Box, volunteer schedules and sign-ups, volunteer swag, the MOOP and found, copies of the WWW Guide, and a few shady seats. Good place to go with a question.
PC, the – The Planning Committee produces the event. The Planning Committee is made up of department coordinators, at least one board member, key volunteers, and community members who attend PC conference calls. They make the event happen.
PdF – Playa del Fuego, a sanctioned Burning Man Regional
Perimeter – the line across which a participant shall not cross when art is burning, guarded by BLiP volunteers (Burn Line Perimeter). Once the effigy or temple has safely collapsed someone in charge (typically in full firefighter gear) will give the signal for the line to break and participants are able to run around the burn pile
Placed / Placement – the process of having your art or theme camp officially “placed” on the city map, released shortly before the event (opposed to setting up in open camping). Art and Theme Camp Placement applications are found on the website
Playa – Spanish for “beach”, in burner slang it refers to the space on which a burn is held. “Don’t leave your MOOP on the playa!” It’s pronounced ply-uh, not play-ah
Pony, the – 1. The Pony is the effigy that is burned on Saturday night. PdF burns an effigy of a pony or horse to honor our humble beginnings on Assateague Island in 1998. 2. The Pony also stands for PONY: Planning and Organization Needs You, the ancient and obsolete online planning and discussion forum for PdF, used in the early days
Radical – 1. relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough. 2. 80’s slang for when something breaks from the ordinary and approaches awesome
Rangers - helpful people who rove about in khaki with radios. They are neither cops, your mom, nor required to wear utilikilts. They specialize in de-escalating conflict using the FLAME method and help document conduct and consent violations
Regional(s) – a local Burning Man event sanctioned by the Burning Man organization for meeting their standards for transparency, inclusivity, and other metrics. PdF is a sanctioned Burning Man Regional. Currently, there are Regionals all over the world; some popular nearby Regionals include Constellation, Ignite, SummerIsle, Transformus, PortalBurn, and Frostburn
Reserve Tickets – These are used for key volunteers and art grant recipients to ensure the smooth operation of the event. As there are no comp tickets at PdF, everyone approved for a reserve ticket must still pay for it. Stop by the Participation Station to learn how you can earn a reserve ticket to next year’s event by volunteering.
Rotating Turtles – once upon a time, a coordinator abandoned their department and the event, citing that they needed to go home and “rotate their turtles”. PdF has been Rotating Turtles ever since – Proper rotation, form, and technique are essential!
Safety Third – everyone has a different One and Two
Sanctuary – a quiet space created by volunteers to help overstimulated or stressed participants
Shirt Cocking – wearing a shirt and no pants
Sound Camp – a Theme Camp specializing in music / amplified sound. All Sound Camps must apply to be a sound camp and adhere to the Sound Policy
Sparklepony – a derogatory term for someone who is overly reliant on others for their basic needs. Don’t be a sparklepony!
TAZ, the – Temporary Autonomous Zone, an anarchy manifesto by writer Hakim Bey. BMOrg clearly states that Burning Man and Regionals are NOT one.
TCO – Theme Camp Organizer. Someone who takes on the job of facilitating a theme camp
Temple – The Temple is a structure built as an art piece that is usually meant to be a contemplative space; however the artist sets the tone of their Temple. A Temple is typically burned on Sunday night, while the effigy is burnt on Saturday
Theme Camp – a group of people who come together as a camp with a name, typically to provide a service, entertainment, or event for other participants. A Theme Camp can be “placed” on the official city map or set up in open camping
Virgin – a Burn first-timer, sometimes called a Burgin
Volunteer Reserve Ticket Program (VTRP) – an radically self-reliant program that provides a way for a participant to earn a reserved ticket to the next PDF by volunteering a minimum of 6 hours while at the event. To earn a reserved ticket a participant MUST:
⦁ Get a Volunteer Laminate at the Participation Station for your Shifts
⦁ Get your volunteer hours validated by getting Coordinator sign off directly on the Laminate
⦁ Bring Laminate with minimum 6 Validated Hours to the Participation Station to get registered for the VTRP and earn a reserve ticket (not free, just reserved) to the next PDF!
⦁ NOTE! Coordinators and Departments do not track your hours. Participants must bring their validated laminate to the Participation Station during PS hours to sign up!
VVMC – Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club. Former landlords at FBL often referred to as “the Vets”
Welcome Home! – standard greeting for burners upon arrival at the event
WWW – the What Where When. A guidebook of events and happenings at the event, as submitted by participants.