Contribute Your Skills (and Playfulness)
The Center Camp Canopy comes to life each year thanks to the teamwork of many dedicated volunteers who plan, create, and install decor, facilitate the performance schedule, and support Black Rock Citizens in bringing their wild gifts and shenanigans.
Black Rock City’s Center Camp Canopy is a veritable hive of activity, a cacophony of surprises and adventures. All experiences are gifted by and created for the wildly inventive humans who inhabit our dusty city. What happens when the center of the center welcomes everyone to frolic in the playa’s living room? Fun and laughter! It’ll be a “festival within a happening!”
We are looking for volunteers to support this vibrant community space.
As a member of the Center Camp Canopy crew, you’ll be helping to create the social and cultural heart of Black Rock City. To get involved, read about the various ways you can contribute, then fill out the Volunteer Questionnaire!
The Canopy Teams:
SWIFT (Shenanigans Wrangling & Instigation Facilitation Team)
If you enjoy helping Black Rock Citizens bring their weird and wild interactive ideas into the world, SWIFT (aka Shenanigans Wrangling Instigation Facilitation Team) may be your dream team. SWIFT supports pre-planned participant-created activities, walk-up creations, and spontaneous experiences that will pop up in the Canopy throughout Burn Week.
Production
Make sure the show goes on! There are plenty of ways to lend your skills to the Canopy’s Production crew — from stage building, lighting, and amplifying the stages before the gates open, to mixing sound, wrangling gear, and stage managing during Burn Week.
Decor
Calling all decor designers, seamstresses, furniture builders, painters, artists, and multi-talented creators! Work with a skilled team to transform the Center Camp Canopy into a magical shared community space. Bring your on-playa experience and a willingness to work hard and have fun. Most of the work is done during Build Week, before the Gate opens, and after the event, when we pack up the Canopy and leave no trace.
Canopy Guardians
During Build Week and Strike, the Guardians watch over and move through the Canopy to make sure everything stays safe and secure. They keep an eye on tools, materials, and shared spaces. This role is especially important during off-hours, when fewer people are around, and extra awareness goes a long way. If you enjoy staying present, keeping watch, and supporting the team—especially as a steward or night owl—this is a great fit.
Come, meet, play, and be inspired in the playa’s living room.
To get in on this amazing experience of Communal Effort, fill out the Volunteer Questionnaire.
Note: Volunteers join the Canopy teams because they are committed to a shared, collaborative project that ignites the center of Black Rock City. We do not offer free tickets in exchange for volunteering — but if you get involved soon, you may gain access to future tickets or opportunities.
Other Ways to Get Involved at the Canopy
Bring your Idea
Bring your performance, craft, beverage, or other idea to the Canopy.
Bring your Art to the Canopy
Muralists, 2D, sculpture, and gallery art are all welcome at the Canopy.