Burning Man, Nowhere and The Monegros

Do you know the Nowhere festival? If you live in The Monegros, it’s sure you have heard of it since it’s been bringing international artists to Ruta Jubierre for 10 years now. But, have you heard of the Burning Man festival, the elder brother of Nowhere?

Burning Man is an art festival based in the United States that over the last 25 years has been bringing together a community of international artists in the Nevada desert. There, Black Rock City is built, a city of 60,000 people which is a project of temporary community based on the active participation of all “citizens”. A city where there’s no money circulation and where the local economy is based on gifting (gift economy), where everybody is invited to express themselves, artistically and personally, in a radically creative form (radical self expression), and where participants have to be ready to face the harsh desert environment, in a location that is more than 150 kms away from the closest real city (radical self reliance). In Black Rock City, everybody has a strong respect for the environment, and it’s a must to leave absolutely no trace after the event. These are only some of the 10 principles upon which Burning Man is funded, a festival that turned into an international community which is very active worldwide.

The participants to the Burning Man community, called “burners”, have created local communities in each countries, so we can find “Spanish burners”, “Italian burners”, “French burners”, “South-African burners”, “Australian burners”… and so on, all around the world. The burners of each country organize several events all year round, called “regionals” as, for example, only to mention the most important in Europe, London Decompression, Burning Night Paris, Barcelona Burning Bash or Italian Burning Weekend.

In Europe, the most important regional event organized by the burners community is Nowhere, the festival that takes places in the Ruta Jubierre since 2003, one of the most interesting areas of The Monegros, both for its history and its spectacular landscapes. In Nowhere not only participate artists from the Europe but also from far away countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand or South-Africa, among others.

Like in Burning Man, Nowhere also involves the building of a city that hosts a community of participants. Everything is built by volunteers, from the central and commual constructions, the theme camps, the art installations and the entire city infrastructure.

For more info about Burning Man and the European burners groups and regional events, we invite you to explore the links we published in this blog.