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This past March at FreedomHill, the Sudbury model school where I work in the DC area, some of the kids were asking me about Burning Man. What is it? Where is it? Can kids go? What do you do there? I attempted to answer these questions as best I could with a little help from one of the 9 year old boys who went for his first time in 2009. We told them about the interactive art aspect, how everything there happens because people want it to happen (not because someone is telling them to do it), community building, self-reliance, and burning things to the ground. This idea was really not very foreign to them as it is pretty much how they spend their days at FreedomHill (well, minus burning things to the ground) so they were immediately intrigued. At that point the conversation naturally led to the question, “Wouldn’t that be cool if there was a Burning Man just for kids?”. Wouldn’t it? Why not?

One of the 12 year old boys, Freddy, was really into this idea and we started plotting and scheming how to make it happen: We would need fire performers, large scale art, interactive art, awesome people, and of course, an effigy. Luckily, the DC area is full of all these things, including people who are masters at building large structures for burning. I approached my friends Wineman and Amira (who were responsible for the beautiful pony that burned at fall PDF – our regional burn – in 2009) about helping us with this project, and they got on board right away. And what exactly were they going to build? A pig. A giant noble pig, reminiscent of old Mother Goose drawings as per Freddy’s instructions.

The next few months passed in a flash with lots of planning and organizing. I got calls and emails from many different people in the Burner community and beyond offering art, magic, crafts, a pool, fire sculptures, lasers, face painting, music, food, and everything else that makes a burn, a burn. The kids originally decided they wanted to make it a fundraiser for various local nonprofits, but when the oil disaster in the Gulf happened and they realized how devastating it was to both humans and the environment they changed their focus. We were now accepting hair, fur, nylons, and cash donations to be sent to Matter of Trust to help make oil booms.

The day of the event, adults and kids showed up from all over the DC metro area to partake in, create, and put on Fire and Swine – a 100% kid-centric burn! We had a room full of sound, lasers, decorations, and backlights.  There was hoop making, poi workshops, puppet creation, jam sessions, thumb piano crafting, an interactive balloon art sculpture, moon bounce, torch art demo, Cosmosis (a beautiful fire art sculpture), people grilling up all kinds of food to share, gifts, you name it and someone made it happen. The kids definitely ran the show. Some were a little hesitant at first, but they soon gave in. We had art supplies on hand so that everyone could decorate The Pig in the spirit of the temple at Burning Man; with thoughts, quotes, drawings, and other musings.

The time came for the conclave to begin. Freddy started it out with some palm torches, then others followed with poi, swords, hoops, fans, fire breathing, and everything in between. Most of the kids there had never seen anything like it, and they were all mesmerized! DC has some incredible fire spinners that put on a great show that night.

The band was jamming hard and the kid started to chant, “Burn the Pig! Burn the Pig!”. After about 25 minutes of the conclave, Freddy came out with a specially made pole with a flaming mini replica of The Pig on the end of it, and lit The Pig. It burned beautifully; there were flames shooting out of The Pig’s mouth about 5 feet in the air. As soon as it fell, everyone was on their feet cheering, and some started to run and skip around the perimeter of the flames. The kids joined in screaming with delight as they ran around it with their moms, dads, and friends old and new.

After all the excitement died down, the kids started picking up whatever they saw, helping those around them in true burner fashion. I heard adults say it was by far the best burn they had ever been to, and kids saying it was the best time of their lives. I also heard Freddy, Wineman, and Amira hashing out the details of the next burn. Freddy said, “I’d like to see an ostrich with a jockey on him go up in flames”. All in all, it was a great day and night with lots of dancing, playing, art, respect, fire, laughs, and music. We also raised some money and fur to help the Gulf. After that day, I had no doubt in my mind that the future of our world was in good hands.

By Christa Sperry