Singer/Songwriters, jugglers, stilt-walkers, marching bands, film-makers, and magicians are just some the participants of Black Rock City who fill Center Camp with their pulsing, raucous energies. In addition to the free-form entertainment that abounds, Center Camp hosts special events, and has a stage for scheduled community performances.
The Performance Stage is a fun and high profile way for participants to share their talents at Burning Man. During the day, an eclectic mix of Café-style musical offerings such as instrumental, jazz, and world performances encourage community gathering, relaxation, and social interaction. We also host spoken-word, comedy and small-scale theatrical productions. In fact, the entire Café is a majestic space host to performances as unique as their surroundings; not all performances happen on the stage. We can also host large participatory and performance groups, dancers, orchestras, and jugglers in what we call “the Center of the Center”: the occulus of Center Camp.
Are you one of those black-clad gaffer’s-tape-and-flashlight types? Volunteer as a tech on the Center Camp Sound and Performance Team!
- Your name
- The name of your Act
- Featured instruments and musical style
- Brief sound requirements
- Links to any online samples or information, excerpt from one of your poems, sketches, or plays, or a description of the type of performance you’re planning.
- ****Note to Booking Agents – All artists are required to be radically self reliant, which means purchasing their own ticket to the event as well as providing all necessaries to survive the Black Rock City. We do not work with Booking Agents, have your clients contact us directly.
We have three wonderful volunteers to help get your performance booked. Email them to:
- For your spoken word/comedy stylings:
cafe-spoken@burningman.org - For musical performances:
cafe-music@burningman.org - For other all other types of performances:
cafe-performers@burningman.org
If you have an event that may contribute to the overall Café community experience and require any additional assistance or if you have general questions about performing in, on, or around the Café, contact cafe-performance@burningman.org.
Share your expertise, research, analysis, and experiences with your fellow playa citizens and be a part of the Center Camp Speaker Series!
Every year the Speaker Series has a sub-theme that we ask you consider how your talk might fit into. Our sub-theme for 2018 is:
**Em(Body)ment- The foundation from which we perceive and act**
We want to ask you to explore a way in which you enter the world, specifically through physical embodiment and how that influences the way we perceive ourselves, each other, and interact with the world.
Some things to consider when submitting your topic may include:
— How and what you study
— How and what you prioritize
— The way you speak/the language you use
— The way you interact
Of course, we accept talks that are not specific to our theme, however talks that incorporate this year’s event theme (I, Robot), or Speaker Series sub-theme will be given scheduling priority.
Structure of Our Talks:
- Talks generally range in length from 10-30 minutes.
- There is a moderated Q&A that follows every talk ranging in time from 5-25 minutes depending on the submission, the time slot, and the audience engagement level. This is where the moderator and the audience can question and engage with the presenter on their assumptions and thesis.
- All submissions and topics are welcome, as long as general Burning Man ethos and values are upheld. (i.e. No promotions of products, corporations, political candidates, or rigid partisanship.)
- We are looking for speakers and talks, not workshops.
- We are looking for fully structured talks that reveal and explore the nature of the topic submitted. Research, whether academic or experiential, is welcomed and appreciated.
- We are a family friendly venue until dark, and we have no speaker slots after dark this year, though that doesn’t mean that we will not accept talks on ‘racy’ or more ‘adult’ subjects… it’s just something to consider in the framing of your submission and talk.
For speaker series submissions email:
speakerseries@burningman.org