burner

A term for someone who participates in the burner community, which is largely comprised of people who regularly participate in fire festivals, such as Burning Man, or any of the smaller local/regional events that Burning Man has inspired around the world. The term is not derisive, but is rather a term of endearment and self-identity across the burner community. Burners usually refer to a fire festival as a "burn." Both "burner" and "burn" are derived from the common practice of creating, erecting and displaying a piece of "burnable art," or a "burnable art installation," at a fire festival. Ultimately, these art pieces are set afire and burned to ashes as an artistic experience for everyone present. Indeed, all burns climax with the informal but time-honored "ritual burning" of a large, wooden effigy and/or art edifice on the final (and/or penultimate) nights of the burn.