BONZAAR Podcast

In this episode we take a critical look at the emergent generational transition within Burner culture and explore how a looming "demographic cliff" can shift the landscape as the foundational Baby-Boomer and Gen-X participants age out. The host and guest highlights that the traditional, 30-year-old festival model often fails to resonate with Gen-Z and emerging Gen-Alpha attendees, who hold fundame...

In this episode we get into a spirited discussion with Felipe and Deirdre about their interconnected Bonza Summit presentations regarding the urgent need to foster psychosocial safety and inclusive communication within their community. Felipe highlighted how ingrained behaviors like snark and gatekeeping are fundamentally ego-driven and destructive, disproportionately harming neurodivergent indivi...

This episode features an insightful and inspiring conversation with Dragonburn organisers Sassy Panda and Koi about the unique, often chaotic journey of hosting China's official Burning Man regional event since 2014. They recount the event's evolution from grassroots beginnings to navigating extreme logistical hurdles, sudden venue cancellations due to government regulations or development, and cu...

In this episode we chat with artists Ulf and Róisín about the resilience of the local NSW burner community and their deeply personal creative journeys. The discussion centres on the recent "Pilot Burn," an event that was abruptly canceled due to permitting issues but was successfully salvaged into an epic renegade "pivot burn" through rapid collective effort, highlighting the community's adaptabil...

In this episode we bend an ear with Mandy, Marcus, and Jodie to chat about the evolution and ethos of their enduring Blazing Swan theme camp, "The Poolroom". Born from a spontaneous trip to Burning Man in 2012, the camp operates as an on-street, barrier-free, open-air living room steeped in self-deprecating Australian "larrikin" humour, taking heavy stylistic and cultural inspiration from the 1997...

In this episode we discuss the global and regional impact of Burners Without Borders (BWB) and the Civic Ignition Grants (CIG). The panel highlights BWB's grassroots origins during Hurricane Katrina and its ongoing mission to foster community resilience, environmental regeneration, and collaborative problem-solving through Burning Man principles like gifting, participation, communal effort, and ci...

In this episode we reflect back on the 2026 Bonza Summit weekend with a panel of blazers who made the trek to the annual skill-sharing gathering for regional burner leaders, representatives and artists. The lively panel highlights the immense value of knowledge exchange, noting how sharing resources and documentation prevents communities from "reinventing the wheel" and eases the burden of radical...

In this Artery Talk episode we explore the transformative power of interactive and communal art within the Burner community, emphasising that creativity is an accessible, participatory experience rather than just a spectator sport. Featuring a panel of seasoned artists - Bea, Myke, Simon, and Lumos - the group delves into the practicalities of constructing large-scale and burnable art, stressing t...

In this episode we invite a panel of blazers to talk about building temples and art at blazing swan. We reflect on the profound logistical and emotional journey of constructing the 2026 "Temple Weave". Despite the challenges of pre-fabricating the massive, feminine-inspired structure hours away from the event's Perth-based community, the project succeeded through meticulous team management, design...

In this fair dinkum episode of the podcast we continue our conversations with SBA board members, Leanna and TJ, and chat with them about "Pilot Burn", the inaugural event for their newly formed organisation, Sunburnt Arts. Following a community restructuring and a departure from their previous Matong site, the team is thrilled to host this genuine and intimate 500-capacity-person gathering from Ma...

In this episode we review the 2026 Kiwiburn: A Work of Heart event with a panel of kiwiburners (Hippathy, Kym, & Shelley) to talk about the burn from their own perspectives. The panel reflects on the muddy yet magical Kiwiburn 2026, aptly themed "A Work of Heart". Despite the unpredictable weather and persistent rain, the challenging conditions actually fostered deep community solidarity by fo...

In this episode, PACT (People’s Art Collective of Tasmania) founding members Lara, Kat, and Karl share the origin story and success of Tasmania’s inaugural regional burn, Aurora 2025. Driven by a desire to establish a localised event rooted in Burning Man principles, the group successfully navigated the challenges of forming a democratic non-profit organisation focused on consent, safety, and deco...

In this special conversation episode about the regional burning man network around the world we have invited a knowledgeable, long-time burner and community contributor, Jarred Taylor, to talk about their recent think-piece titled “Is it time for Burning Man Regionals to Glow Up?”. We unpack and do a deep dive into this well-received write-up; chat about the key ideas and themes of the article; an...

In this candid and spirited podcast episode, community leaders Marcelo, Tereasa, and TJ (who insists on the title "King Dingaling") reflect on the turbulent but deeply rewarding evolution of Australia's Burning Seed community into its new organisational entity, Sunburnt Arts. Driven by personal artistic awakenings - from Tereasa's community-supported "mystical music box" to TJ's humorous appreciat...

This episode we review the 2025 Underland Pop! event with a panel of burners from varied experiences. The conversation features host Stevan speaking with four guests - Dylan, Jenny, Sacha, and Lydea - who share their experiences from different roles at the event. The discussion covers Dylan's journey as a first-time burner who designed and built the serpent effigy, Jenny's role leading the Artery...

This episode features four board members of The Third Degree - Ruth, Dale, Caer, and Tyne - to explore the NSW Central Coast's family-friendly regional burn. Discover how this intimate 400-person event evolved from a pandemic-era one-off at a scout camp into an intentional experiment in radical inclusion and in accessible burner culture. The conversation covers the event's distinctive features - r...

This podcast episode features a conversation with Lumos, a well-known participant in the Australasian Burning Man community. The discussion covers Lumos's experiences at various regional burns, including Modifyre in Australia and Kiwiburn and Raglan Burn in New Zealand. Lumos shares stories about the unique traditions, such as bug-themed effigies, role-playing, and the "naked hippie fire run". The...

In this episode we chat about the 2025 Underland event with a panel of community volunteers and crew members from Centre Camp, Site Planning And Maintenance, LNT, and the Sandfolks. We discuss some of our highlights; the shenanigans; the effigy and temple burns; offer some improvements for the next event, and provide some behind-the-scenes after reports with heaps of ranger and volunteer talks and...

This episode of the podcast features a discussion with members of the Brisbane and Queensland burner community about the Simplifyre event, a scaled-down, community-driven version of the traditional Modifyre burn. The hosts and guests reflect on the event’s origins, challenges, and successes, highlighting the importance of rebuilding community after pandemic disruptions and burnout, the influx of n...

This episode explores the Independent Burning Advisory Group (IBAG) and the NSW Burns Community Survey. The conversation covers the background, methodology, findings, and implications of the survey, as well as related community insights. Hosts discuss how the survey was created to understand the needs and challenges of the local burner community after the Burning Seed event was cancelled. Key find...

In this episode we take a look at the making and organisation of the 2025 Embers-not-a-burn where we chat with the key organisers and burners who made the event possible. We reflect back at how the renegade event unfolded and the co-created, and the co-lab efforts from the community. We also talk about some of the highlights and interesting moments; discuss the shenanigans and silliness; all the l...

This episode explores the early years and founding of Blazing Swan, a regional Burning Man-inspired event in Western Australia, through the stories of three of the original founders in Cat, Frank, and Hana. The conversation traces their personal journeys into burn culture, the challenges of organizing the first events, and the formation of a vibrant, inclusive community. They recount the process o...

This podcast episode is a lively roundtable reflection on "Embers Not-A-Burn", a community-organised event that arose after the cancellation of Burning Seed. Hosts and guests share stories of how the event came together quickly, the challenges faced (like cold weather and long travel), and the strong sense of community, creativity, and silliness that defined the experience. They discuss the venue,...

In this episode we review the 2025 Kiwiburn: Trash Renaissance Fair event with a panel of experienced kiwiburners and a first-time kiwiburner from Australia. We discuss some of the things that went right and talk about what went wrong. A reflective episode to learn, raise awareness, educate, and archive for future reference. We also discuss the fun and magical moments; the arts, theme camps, event...

In this 3-part series episode we do a deep dive on the volunteering opportunities at Underland 2025. Part 1 will focus on gate, greeters, site planning & management, sanitation, and leave no trace. Part 2 will focus on rangers, sanctuary, fire team, and sandmen. Part 3 will focus on artery, centre camp, effigy and temple build team. Please note that the 2025 underland effigy and temple designs...