The effigy is smaller than the one in Nevada: scrap timber in last month's cow pasture. From the fire perimeter you can see the whole city, a few hundred tents and an art car shaped like a snail that tops out at walking pace.
The greeter who rang the bell for you on Thursday stands at your shoulder. So does the woman who swapped you a grilled cheese for a sticker. That's the quiet magic of a regional burn: by Saturday night, you know half the faces in the circle.
Then the wood catches. The heat hits your face while the back of your neck stays cold, because spring nights in an open field run cooler than anyone's packing list. The veterans are already wrapped in hoods and faux fur, lit up like lanterns.
We're Magus and Lylyth Fawn, two Los Angeles visionary artists whose calendar bends around nights like this. Here's what a regional burn is, nine burns worth knowing and what to wear to each.
Regional burns, defined
A regional burn is an official Burning Man Regional Event: a locally organized, volunteer-run gathering that follows Burning Man's Ten Principles, from single-day parties to week-long campouts. Most build an effigy and burn it, fill the site with theme camps and art, and sell nothing, so everything you need arrives with you.
Burning Man Project's Regional Network page says the network spans "106 locations in 36 U.S. states and 34 countries," and that its community leaders "currently organize over 80 unique official Regional Events annually." In 2024, more than 100,000 people took part, more than Black Rock City holds in any given year.
According to the Burning Man Journal, the regional program was piloted after Black Rock City 1997. The first Regional Event was Burning Flipside, organized in Austin, Texas, in 1998, and the first outside North America was Kiwiburn. Today there are tiny "microburns" and backyard burns, too.
The glue is the Ten Principles. For your suitcase, two matter most: decommodification means nothing is for sale on site, and radical self-reliance means the forgotten hoodie stays forgotten.
How is a regional burn different from Burning Man?
A regional burn is smaller, closer to home and on its own calendar. Burning Man builds Black Rock City in Nevada for nine days ending on Labor Day; regional burns run year-round on farms, beaches, forests and deserts in 34 countries, with the same Ten Principles, the same effigy and a crowd where faces repeat by Sunday.
| Burning Man | A regional burn | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Nine days ending on Labor Day | Every month of the year, somewhere |
| Size | A temporary city | Backyard microburns up to AfrikaBurn's roughly 11,000–13,000 |
| Nights | 45–55°F, sometimes the 40s | 35°F in the Karoo to the 60s°F in Spain |
Think of Black Rock City as the cathedral and the regionals as neighborhood chapels, all part of the wider family of transformational festivals. For the big one, see how cold Burning Man gets at night.
The regional burn list: nine burns, month by month
Eight official regionals and one independent, by month. Status is as of October 2026; any 2027 date not announced on an official site is TBA.
| Burn | Where | Month | Setting | Nights | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiwiburn | Hunterville, New Zealand | Late January | River-valley farmland | 50s°F (10–13°C) | 2027: Jan 27–Feb 1 |
| Love Burn (independent) | Virginia Key, Miami | February | Beach | 60–68°F | 2027: Feb 11–14 |
| Burning Flipside | Central Texas | Late April | Fields and woods | 55–65°F, storms | 2027: Apr 29–May 3 |
| AfrikaBurn | Tankwa Karoo, South Africa | Late April–early May | Desert | 35–45°F (2–7°C) | 2027: Apr 26–May 2 |
| Apogaea | Valdez, Colorado | June | Mountain forest and meadow | 50–55°F | 2027 TBA |
| Element 11 | Utah | Late June | Desert | 55–65°F | 2026 ran June 24–28; 2027 TBA |
| Firefly Arts Collective | Vermont | July 4 weekend | Forest and meadow | 55–62°F | 2027 TBA |
| Nowhere | Monegros, Spain | July | Desert | 60s°F (16–20°C) | 2027 TBA |
| Burning Seed | New South Wales, Australia | Late Sept–Oct | Forest and bush | 45–50°F (7–10°C) | 2025 cancelled; 2027 TBA |
Kiwiburn: a New Zealand summer by the river
Burning Man's New Zealand page calls Kiwiburn its longest-running international Regional Event, held almost every year since 2004. The 2027 edition takes the theme "Moss & Microchips." Days belong to the river.
Outfit note: swimwear by day, long pants and a hoodie by dark. The Cosmic Flower of Life Blue one-piece swimsuit ($65; $68 in 2XL, $69 in 3XL) swirls cobalt and sky blue like river water catching sun: 225 g/m², four-way stretch, XS–3XL. (Story: Wait for the Wind.)
Love Burn: Miami's beach burn, now independent
Love Burn has gathered on the Virginia Key beaches since 2014. Its site says it is "no longer affiliated in any way with Burning Man as of 2024," yet it still honors the Ten Principles and adds consent.
Outfit note: bright costume for the sand, one hooded layer for the sea breeze. Our Love Burn outfits guide has the full look.
Burning Flipside: Texas, where the regionals began
Burning Man's Central Texas page says the first Regional Event took place in Austin in June 1998 and was renamed Burning Flipside in 1999. The 2027 theme is "Flipside: The Musical," and spring storms roll through.
Outfit note: costume by day, a rain plan for both. The Celestial Temple crushed velvet tank top ($60) stacks indigo sacred geometry like the floor plan of a star temple, and the 240 g/m² velvet throws art-car light right back (S–5XL). Velvet is made for dancing, not downpours, so pack a shell (our rain guide). (Story: The Fourth Feather.)
AfrikaBurn: autumn in the Tankwa Karoo
AfrikaBurn gathers roughly 11,000–13,000 people in the Karoo scrub, with strict decommodification, and its 2027 edition runs from April 26 to May 2. Days hit 75–85°F, and nights fall to 35–45°F (2–7°C), the coldest on this list.
Outfit note: this is cloak country. The Cosmic Cross Yellow women's festival cloak ($250) weaves gold filigree over emerald green, as if a cathedral window learned to travel. Micro-mink outer, fluffy faux-fur fleece lining in black or white, double front zipper and four pockets (two deep side, two interior, one zippered). Unisex fit, XS–5XL; size up, "sometimes even 2 sizes up," for layers. Kevin, reviewing a Lunar Eclipse cloak in March 2025: "Super soft and warm." (Story: The Long Road to the Temple.)
Apogaea: Colorado's mountain burn
Apogaea, registered as Colorado's official Regional Event, meets in the forest and meadows near Valdez each June and awards "tens of thousands of dollars in Art Grants" every year. The elevation brings cool mountain nights around 50–55°F.
Outfit note: a base layer you can dance in. The Amethyst Unicorn men's festival leggings ($65) look like a geode cracked open, 90/10 poly-spandex in XS–3XL. Wear them alone in the sun, then under fleece joggers after dark. (Story: Under One Hood.)
Element 11: a summer effigy in the Utah desert
Burning Man's Utah page says Element 11 began as one of the very first official Regional Events.
Outfit note: sun cover first. The Purple Fractal snapback ($40) curls violet fractals across the crown like smoke frozen mid-spiral: 150 g/m² polyester, one size, adjustable snap.
Firefly Arts Collective: the New England regional
Firefly is the New England regional burn, held in Vermont's forests and meadows around the July 4 weekend.
Outfit note: breathable cotton under the trees, a hoodie for the damp night. The Crystal Shroom Kingdom cotton t-shirt ($60) raises a fairy-tale kingdom of glowing crystal mushrooms, arched like a forest canopy: 100% cotton, 190 g/m², XS–5XL.
Nowhere: Europe's desert city in Spain
Nowhere is, in Burning Man's words, "the official Burning Man Regional Event in Spain," running since 2004 in the Monegros desert, organized into burner "barrios." Days pass 95°F.
Outfit note: dress for heat and dust, then add a light layer at dusk. The Mystical Egypt unisex cotton shorts ($65) run a pharaoh and rainbow chakra orbs down the front, desert royalty for a desert city: 245 g/m² cotton, elastic waist, three pockets, S–5XL. (Story: Sacred Grounds.)
Burning Seed: Australia's oldest regional
Burning Man's Australia page calls Burning Seed "Australia's oldest Regional Event," founded in 2010 in the Riverina region of New South Wales. The 2025 edition was cancelled because of costs, and 2027 plans are TBA.
Outfit note: pack it like AfrikaBurn: fleece joggers, a hoodie and a faux-fur-lined cloak.
Are regional burns colder than Burning Man?
Many are. Black Rock City nights run 45–55°F, but regional burns often land in spring, fall or a Southern Hemisphere autumn. AfrikaBurn drops to 35–45°F and Burning Seed sits at 45–50°F, while Apogaea's elevation brings cool mountain nights around 50–55°F. Beach and midsummer burns like Love Burn and Nowhere stay in the 60s.
At Magus Fawn, our cold-burn formula has three layers: leggings as a base, a hoodie and brushed-fleece joggers in the middle, and a hooded outer layer with deep pockets on top. Nothing is for sale on site, so pack the layer you'll want at 3 a.m.
One night in deep playa, Lylyth and I was caught in a dust storm. The air was so thick from tiny grains of playa dust that we took shelter in the closest art installation we found - an interactive, glowing neon, forest of metal mushrooms and trees. Huddled together under a massive steel mushroom all we could think about was how grateful we were in having prepared for the unexpected - and for having each other. The dust didn’t let up, so with goggles on - drawstring pulled our hoods of our cloaks as tight as can be, we followed the music and let our ears lead the way. What seemed like an endless trek through white dancing dust we found ourselves in the midst of a hundred dancing strangers. So we did what we do best- and we danced.
Every Magus Fawn piece is made to order: 7–11 business days of production, then 6–14 business days of delivery. For Burning Flipside on April 29, 2027, our worst-case math says order by Monday, March 22. US shipping is free on orders of $70 or more.
How do you find a regional burn near you?
Start with Burning Man Project's Find a Burning Man Event page, which lists upcoming official events across the network by category and region. Then look up your local Regional Contact through the Regional Network. These volunteers host meetups, art builds and campouts, and they're the people to ask about burns nearby.
Decompression parties and local mailing lists fill in the rest, since microburns travel by word of mouth.
Explore more festival layers: women's cloaks · men's cloaks · joggers · crushed velvet · cotton hoodies · leggings · snapbacks
Every month, somewhere, a small effigy waits for its match. Find yours, and bring a spare hoodie to gift.
Frequently asked questions
How many regional burns are there?
Burning Man Project's Regional Network page says community leaders organize over 80 unique official Regional Events every year, from single-day gatherings to multi-day campouts. The network spans 106 locations in 36 U.S. states and 34 countries, and the Burning Man Journal notes many more unofficial events, including small microburns and backyard burns.
What was the first regional burn?
Burning Flipside was first, organized in Austin, Texas, in 1998, according to the Burning Man Journal. Burning Man piloted its regional program after Black Rock City 1997, and Kiwiburn in New Zealand became the first regional event outside North America. Flipside still runs every spring in central Texas, and its 2027 edition is set for April 29 to May 3.
Do you have to go to Burning Man before a regional burn?
No. Regional burns welcome first-timers, and plenty of people start there. The Burning Man Journal notes that many self-described Burners have never been to Black Rock City and don't plan to go. A regional burn is a gentle first step: smaller, closer to home, with the same Ten Principles and the same welcome at the gate.
Is Firefly Arts Collective the same as Firefly Music Festival?
No. Firefly Arts Collective is the New England regional burn, held in Vermont's forests and meadows around the July 4 weekend, with nights of about 55–62°F. Firefly Music Festival is a separate, commercial festival in Dover, Delaware, last held in 2022 and on hiatus since. Pack a hoodie for the Vermont one.
Written by Magus & Lylyth Fawn, the Los Angeles artists behind Magus Fawn. Magus makes VR and digital visionary art and produces Psy EDM. Lylyth makes fractal digital art and runs design and customer care. We've been selling wearable art since 2020 on Etsy (4.7★ from 144 reviews as of October 2026) and here at magusfawn.com. Come say hi on Instagram @magusfawn.
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