start Preparations SF to Reno Camp Vermeer Weather Rangers Center Camp Around the Center Esplanade Lamplighters Nighttime Esplanade The Man Nudity & Drugs
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Burning Man 2000 Center Camp
Center Camp is always a high point of Burning Man for me. A huge tent with hundreds of wire supports, dozens of poles, and a never-ending stream of humanity. In years past the main tent was the home of Nub Chai, who sadly wasn't to be seen this year. We did have an espresso bar, required for those running Ranger patrols on all three shifts, and several venues for planned and improvised performances. I heard great music, good poetry, and had very pleasant conversations inside Center Camp.
Burning Man is certainly about each individual's experience of surviving in a hostile environment, but I think it's even more a matter of community. (This year I met someone on the playa whose entire experience (and I kid you not) was waking up, unzipping the tent, dragging bags of empty beer bottles to the car, putting full cases of beer back into the tent, stepping into and zipping up the tent, and only occasionally visiting the latrines.)
Where was I? Oh yes, community. It's just amazing to me to see what the community of participants spent the last year planning. Costumes, performances, attitudes. Here are some of our community, as seen in the main tent.
The reclaimed furniture, probably snatched from the sidewalks of San Francisco, were a great hit with the crowd.
This year we opted for "business casual" instead of our usual formal standard :-)
Costume Camp was in full swing, for those tattoed or not. Everyone picked something unusual to wear.
And, as usual, lots of dancing in the center of Center Camp. The woman in red is a longtime regular, who cavorts here annually.
Not to say that everyone dressed down. This kimono was one of my favorites this year.
Some opt for the more utilitarian look: pajamas and ski masks. Remember, please, that this is early morning, before the rising sun heats the playa. It's still uncomfortably cold at this hour.
An homage to the indigenous desert-dwellers of the world, in neon.
Hello there, Kimono Girl. Glad you made it inside. Nice smile. Nice outfit. Not really a kimono, as I can now see.
This is why I'm not allowed to dance in public :-)
People watching the dancers. (I guess this makes me a watcher of the watchers, and of the watched as well.)
The beat changed from the languid Israeli folk we'd been hearing to some more up-tempo techno dance.
He's probably the parking attendant, telling a customer where she can find her car in the lot :-)
I'd thought this was a Ranger, but I think it was a roadie for the band.
The drum and music circle.
Before we leave the big tent let's stop by the center café for a hot chocolate or a spiced chai.
This really is the heart and soul of Burning Man, at least in the morning hours. Thank you so very much, Center Camp Café staff.
Ohhhh, I'm next. It's a long line, but a friendly one.
Now that we have our chosen fortifying beverage in hand, and head out to survey the other destinations in the Center Camp.
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