The AZ Burners Newsletter – Year’s End 2024
So much news today! This final issue of the year includes info on:
- Saguaro Man 2025 – Tickets on Sale and more!
- Meet the Saguaro Man Council
- AZ Burners Board Update
- IGNiGHT 2025
- azBurners Without Borders – Starve a Vampire in February
Saguaro Man 2025 – Parallel Universe
Step into a parallel universe! Saguaro Man is back April 23-27, 2025 on our land in Willcox, Cochise County. Keep reading for info on art grants and forms, tickets and vehicle passes, volunteering, and more.
More info on everything in this post available at: http://azburners.org/saguaro-man/
)'( Art Grants and Forms )'(
Art grant applications will be accepted through January 12. Other forms (mutant vehicles, theme camps, flame effects, drones, etc.) go live on January 1.
)'( Ticket Update )'(
- General tickets are sold out! Final countdown tickets will go on sale in February.
- Tickets for returning volunteers, artists, etc., must be purchased by January 31. If you did not receive an email with your ticket access code, email tickets@azburners.org
- A limited number of reduced price tickets are available through the Ticket Aid Program. Apply now.
- New! To minimize impact on our land, vehicle passes are required in 2025.
)'( Volunteer: Your Community Needs You )'(
Your community needs YOU to volunteer. Gate and greeters. Leave no trace. Temple guardians. We need your help to make Saguaro Man a success. Sign up now.
Speaking of which, we’re looking for dedicated volunteers to serve as co-leads for the following departments before and during Saguaro Man.
- Burn perimeter
- Census
- Center camp
- Emergency services
- Volunteers
Apply for a position -> arp@azburners.org
)'( Forms Opening January 1st )'(
- Theme Camp Registration form opens January 1st and closes March 15th
- Mutant Vehicle Registration opens January 1st and closes March 31st
- Flame Effects Registration opens January 1st and closes March 31st
- Drone Registration opens January 1st and closes March 31st
)'( Join the Community )'(
Saguaro Man is more fun with friends! Make sure your playa pals know that tickets are on sale and then RSVP on Facebook.
Saguaro Man Council
It takes a community to put on an event like Saguaro Man. Many teams and a significant amount of communication, coordination, and collaboration. If you attended or watched one of the 2024 AZ Burners Town Halls, you know that the way of organizing and supporting our teams’ volunteers for our official events has taken an evolutionary step. We want our structure to be more burner-like and less default-world-like.
Instead of a single “event lead”, each of our major official events (Saguaro Man, Decompression, and IGNiGHT) will now have an Event Council of 6 people to support groups of teams and facilitate inter-team communication and collaboration. The Council is not “appointed”, rather they come from the groups of teams they support.
The graphic below illustrates all the various teams that are needed to make Saguaro Man happen. (Read more about what the teams do in the 2024 Saguaro Man Afterburn Report.) It also shows you the faces of our community members that have agreed to be on the Saguaro Man Council.
A big shout-out of gratitude to:
- Art: Heathen John
- Radical Participation: Pixie
- Communication: Coords
- Venue: Iceman
- Fine Print: Vixen
- Emergency Services & Safety: Bruno
- And to all of the teams working so hard to make Saguaro Man 2025 amazing!
Each Event Council selects one of its members to have a seat on the AZ Burners Board. Like all Board Members, they will serve a 3-year term. The Saguaro Man Event Council has selected Vixen (Mica Harkins) to serve on the board, and the board enthusiastically welcomes Vixen!
AZ Burners Board Update
As we mentioned above, the Saguaro Man Event Council has selected Vixen (Mica Harkins) to represent Saguaro Man on the AZ Burners Board. Mica has been to at least one regional burn every year since 2014, and participated in her first “big burn” at Black Rock City in 2024. Mica has volunteered and led various AZ Burners event departments, and is a lead in the Fine Print area of Saguaro Man this year. As we write this issue of Burn After Reading, Mica is ultra focused on getting our permit applications submitted and approved by Cochise County. Welcome to the board and congratulations, Mica!
When the Decompression and IGNiGHT councils are formed and operational, they will each select one of their council members to sit on the board, too.
Ruvi Wijesuriya (Ruvi) and Lisa Scheinkopf (Sassy Cat) are both stepping down from the board as of December 31, 2024, having completed their terms of service. Neither are going far, though. Off the board doesn’t mean out of the community for either of them. Ruvi is still on the Web Team, the Ticketing Team for our major events, the Code of Conduct Committee and the Land Development team. Lisa is still one of our Burning Man Regional Contacts and will continue to participate on the Code of Conduct Committee, produce the Burn After Reading, be on the board’s Communication Committee, and be a member of the IGNiGHT production team. At the December board meeting, Ruvi and Lisa were presented with Arcosanti bells as a token of appreciation for their service.
Even with the addition of 3 Event Council members (1 from Saguaro Man, 1 from Decompression, 1 from IGNiGHT), the board has a few openings. Look for announcements soon as they begin the process, which will look a lot like the process used in 2023 when we added 5 board members.
IGNiGHT 2025!
Coming back by popular demand! Thanks to Rene Johnson for taking on the investigation and cat herding as we look toward making IGNiGHT happen again in 2025 and beyond!
We’re close to finalizing location and date (late March or early April), so stay tuned! Interested in helping us organize? In volunteering before, during or after the event? In showcasing your art? Your art car? Don’t wait for formal announcements, let us know by sending an email to ignight@azburners.org
Stay tuned!
azBurners Without Borders
The Santarchy toy drive was a success! Four large boxes of toys were collected and delivered to The Foster Alliance. This inspiring organization is in “because all kids deserve to win”. We encourage you to visit their site and support them throughout the year.
Photo credit: Gayle Reyes
Save the Dates
January 19, 2025: In October, azBWB adopted the Grand Canal, between Indian School and 20th Street in Phoenix. That means regularly organizing crews of Burners to get together and practice the Leave No Trace principle. The next LNT party will be January 19th. Watch the azBWB Facebook, Instagram and Website for more information in the coming days.
February 6, 2025: Mark your calendars!
Join azBWB at Walter Studios. Give some blood, save a life!
Make your appointment at this link.
