Report Back: BWB-BRC 2025
October 1, 2025
In 2025, Burners Without Borders (BWB) celebrated its 20th year since the program formed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Our camp in Black Rock City, BWB-BRC, is a living manifestation of our global community and values. Located at Esplanade & 6:45, BWB-BRC is dedicated to practicing and celebrating thriving community models.
BWB-BRC aims to be a connection hub in Black Rock City, bringing together Burners from chapters and projects, Indigenous leaders, nonprofits, government allies, and volunteers working on civic and sustainability efforts. In 2025, the camp featured a variety of offerings, including the Mobile Resource Unit (MRU) for tool sharing, a three-day speaker series, a dinner for over 150 community leaders, a lively screen-printing station, and the Thursday night 20th anniversary celebration, the “Give a Damn A Jam.”
The camp also served as a hub for participant sustainability initiatives: BLAST (Burner Leadership Achieving Sustainable Theme camps), RAT (Renewable Artists Team), a new solar donation station with the BRC Solar Team, and ongoing support for the Black Rock Compost Program and the Green Corridor. Together, these efforts reflect our commitment to prototyping what a truly regenerative, model green theme camp can be.
Still curious? Read more below.
Experiments in Regenerative Food Systems
In 2025, we deepened our experiments in building regenerative and sustainable food systems for Black Rock City. Earlier in the year at our Spring Summit at Fly Ranch, we used compost from the BRC Compost Program, mixed with biochar produced during the previous year’s effigy burn, to continue building upon the garden. By the time we arrived in Black Rock City, the garden was in bloom. The harvest—onions, garlic, squash, and more—was brought to the event, where it fed DPW through the staff commissary, included in camp meals, and became a highlight of our 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner.
The dream of practicing a closed-loop food system between Fly Ranch and Black Rock City felt closer than ever..
We also piloted a new partnership with a food vendor that produces sous-vide meals for restaurants. These vendors often have overages destined for the waste stream. Through this collaboration, we rescued over 700 pounds of beef, redistributing it through the Green Corridor and Black Burners, while also serving tacos to the public on Sunday evening.
Finally, as a symbolic gesture of continuity, we brought the sheepskin from our 2024 food experiments—tanned at the Summit—as both a relic and centerpiece for our camp’s stage. It reminded us that regenerative practices are not only systems that sustain us, but also traditions we carry forward together.
Give a Damn a Jam & Community Leaders Dinner
To mark BWB’s 20th anniversary, we hosted our annual Community Leaders Dinner, gathering over 150 collaborators, partners, and founders of Burners Without Borders. Guests shared a meal of four dishes, each representing the power of food as a cultural symbol of resilience and memory. Dishes from Haiti, Mexico, and an Onion Soup with Fly Ranch onions were served. The dinner opened with the premiere of our 20th Anniversary video (soon to be shared publicly), setting the tone for an evening of reflection and celebration.
After dinner, we gathered around our fire pit—originally salvaged from Hurricane Katrina—for a small effigy burn. From there, the evening expanded into Give a Damn a Jam, our anniversary celebration. The spirit behind the event is simple: BWB is cause-agnostic—we just want people to give a damn about something and gather their community to create bold, collaborative solutions.
The party brought together collaborators from across the playa, including Abraxas the Dragon, the Front Porch, the Serpent Queen, and the Eden art car, who provided the night’s music. Friends contributed food, performances, and art, creating a vibrant convergence of the many communities BWB has supported over the years—and giving them the chance to connect with one another.
BWB Programming at Black Rock City: Speaker Series and More
We hosted three full days of talks and workshops under the banner Skill-Building for the Resistance. From Tuesday through Thursday, our stage featured conversations on social and ecological transition—ranging from reclaiming the commons to hands-on explorations of solidarity and resilience.
A highlight of this year was partnering with the Burning Man Art Department to host the Art Speaks series. These sessions brought new voices and artists into the BWB orbit, expanding both the dialogue and the continued dialogue we’ve been hosting on the concept of Impact Art.
Alongside the speaker series, the Mobile Resource Unit (MRU) provided tools and repair space for artists and collectives, especially needed after the storms and high winds swept the playa. Going forward, we are reimagining how the MRU may become a residency space year-round for artists and makers.
We also relaunched our screen-printing project after a break last year. With a new design by Amanda Sage, the project once again became a participant favorite: blending art-making, gifting, and serving as a platform to do BWB storytelling.
Supporting Participant and Organizational Sustainability Programs
BWB-BRC continues to serve as a hub for participant sustainability and the Green Theme Camp Community at Black Rock City—hosting and supporting several key initiatives:
- BLAST (Burner Leadership Achieving Sustainable Theme Camps): A Green camp rating system that empowers theme camp leaders with a baseline score and resources to adopt greener practices in the subject areas: waste, water, energy, food, shelter and transportation.This year there were over 106 BLAST camps.
- RAT (Renewable Artists Team): Providing technical support to help artists integrate solar energy systems into their installations, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
RAT 2025 Afterburn Report - Solar Donation Station: In partnership with the BRC Solar Team, we launched a pilot “solar donation” initiative, allowing camps and participants to receive solar panels for free on playa—making renewable energy more accessible across the city.
- The Green Corridor: A sector of BRC dedicated to sustainability-focused camps and projects, showcasing zero-waste strategies, renewable energy, and regenerative practices. This year the corridor featured two neighborhoods for the first time at 4 & 7, and had 36 camps.
- Black Rock Compost Program: Diverting organic waste from participants and helping transform it into nutrient-rich compost for Fly Ranch and beyond. In 2025, we featured 3 compost collection camps in two sectors of the city: GYST, Ideate, and Ocean Beach.
Black Rock Compost Program 2025 Afterburn Report
Looking Forward into the Future
As we marked 20 years, we know this milestone is both a celebration and a turning point. BWB–BRC has been built, year after year, by the many hands and hearts who have camped with us, designed and struck our spaces, cooked meals, shared knowledge, and collaborated in countless ways. To all of you—we are deeply grateful. One chapter of this story is closing, and the next is beginning. While we don’t yet know exactly what the future will look like, we know it will carry forward the same spirit that brought us here: creativity, care, and collaboration. The invitation remains open—let’s keep building what comes next, together. BWB will be BRB.
Pre-Event Information:
April 17th, 2025
We’re gearing up to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Burners Without Borders in Black Rock City.
BWB Camp will host a special gathering alongside usual programming during Burning Man 2025.
Interested in offering programming to BWB Camp?
Fill out this form today! https://forms.gle/H39K1L2tuiWafzxZ6
Speaker Series:
Tuesday: Noon – 5pm | Creative Catalysts
Exploring how disruption sparks innovation, resilience, and new futures
Wednesday: Noon – 5pm | Cultures That Carry Us
How culture, care, and creativity root resilience in our communities
Thursday: Noon- 4 | Regenerative Futures
Imagining bold, joyful, and regenerative futures we can build together
Community Screen Print Studio | Tu-Thursday 12-3
Bring your own fabric & receive a screen-printed design as a gift from us to you!
Give-a-damn-a-Jam
Thursday, Time; 8pm to 12:15 am
Description: 20 Years of BWB! Join the anniversary celebration with fun, friends, and fire.
Curious? Enjoy this report back on last year’s BWB @ BRC Camp and playa-wide programming.
Curiouser? You’ll have to come visit us at 6:45 and Esplanade in Black Rock City and find out!
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