In some ways we’re all experiencing the great FOMO: missing out on all the things we love, to stay in with our loved ones — and flatten that damn curve. In other ways, it’s the best time ever to join all the parties, workshops and events you’ve ever dreamed of, all over the world — without leaving the house.
Want to find out what’s going on Saturday night in Berlin? There’s a virtual nightclub for that. Want to feel welcome in a random self-help group with people you’ve never met before? Come along for the ride! We’re all diving in and out of the shelter-in-place multiverse together, meeting new humans and learning new things.
Here are some of the Burner-run and Burner-adjacent virtual events you can explore in the next six days, including TWO virtual Regional Burns this weekend! Are you hosting a virtual event in the coming weeks? Tell us about it here.
When and How Much? Some Pointers
Most of the events are free, but some ask for a donation towards costs or are raising funds for vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. For those who are timezone-challenged, you can wrap your head around who’s coming to you from the past or future here.
Table of Contents
- Daily Events
- Thursday, April 30
- Friday, May 1
- Saturday, May 2
- Sunday, May 3
- Monday, May 4
- Tuesday, May 5
- Other Virtual Event Calendars
Daily Events
Hug Nation Twice Daily Gatherings
Times: 12pm & 6pm (PT)
Gather for a moment of connection twice daily. At noon, we gather and share gratitude and joyful stories. Then we share a digital group hug. At 6pm, we have different themes, stories, and games… then we share a digital group hug. Let’s transcend physical space and connect in the realm of intention & love. ((HUG))
Creative Cafe Meet up
Time: 2-3pm (BST)
Would you like to connect more to your creative side and come together with others to share in a wonderful, creative expressive therapeutic space? Join the Creative Cafe Meet Up for an hour of creative fun. Bring whatever you enjoy or want to try, be that art, craft or writing projects. No experience in anything needed to join.
After Work Happy Hour (Melbourne)
Time: 5-6pm (AEST)
Feeling lonely after a long day of remote work? Join the virtual after-work happy hour.
Get COVID Fit
Time: 5:30-6pm (AEST)
Get COVID Fit and Werq.It.Out with (almost) daily short Werqouts with a retro vibe to lift your spirits, get you moving and hopefully even make you giggle.
Tickets: Donations welcome
Virtual Happy Hour at the Burner Embassy Campfire Conference
Time: 8-9pm (CEST)
There’s a lot going on online, but we still miss the familiar faces from the community. It is time for a daily Happy Hour (with open end)! Come by, see who is there and enjoy the exchange. German, English, Nerdspeak, as long as we understand each other.
Shouting Fire
Tune into Shouting Fire, an independent, international broadcasting collective, born on the playa and inspired by Burning Man. Many of their volunteers have been bringing you radio in Black Rock City for the last 20 years or so. They are your friends, neighbors and campmates. And they are now creating a lot of extra shows where people can text in and share music.
Thursday April 30
Cello Madness Congress
Time: 6-9pm (PST)
This is the third quarantine edition of the Cello Madness Congress! This edition will feature Peter Thomas from Milwaukee, Artyom Manukyan from L.A. / Armenia and Joey Chang from Oakland, CA.
Virtual NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences
Time: 7-8pm (PT)
Every other Thursday, tune into a new volume of Virtual NightLife, an experimental online event that brings science, art, and music to you. For volume three, get a crash course on sharks, spend some face-time with farm animals, listen to some world-class accordion soul, and learn about bizarre arachnid mating rituals, stop motion animation, and how to start a kitchen quarantine garden.
Weekly LA Burning Man Virtual Shenanigans
Time: 8-11pm (PT)
The Los Angeles Regional Burning Man community gathers weekly for virtual connection and real-life drinks.
Friday May 1
Burnal Equinox Between the Stars
Time: May 1, 6pm – May 3, 10pm (PDT)
Welcome to the Deep Hole playa! BURN2 has been doing its thang as an officially sanctioned Regional Burn in Second Life since 2010 (although its origins date back to 2003). The coronavirus may have crash-tackled Burnal Equinox events to the ground in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Colorado and New York, but you can still build art and let your freak flag fly at BURN2’s Burnal Equinox: Between the Stars. It’s free to download the platform and grab your avatar. Get on it!
Pleasure Awakening
Times: 10-11:30am (NZST)
In times of lockdown and social distancing, don’t be touch deprived! For those of you who missed out on the Pleasure Awakening workshop at KiwiBurn, here is your chance to make up for it!
Naked Yoga Online
Time: 5-6:20pm (BST)
The class will start with grounding and feeling the breath, moving to classic Hatha Yoga asanas, into sun salutations, and down to earth again in Shavasana to find our breath and stay protected during these turbulent times that we are all facing.
Tickets: £12
Camp Quarantine Variety Hour
Time: 7-8pm (EDT)
Grab your neighbors, friends and family (from a safe distance of course) and pitch a tent in the backyard…or construct a pillow fort in the living room as part of a global #CAMPQUARANTINE. Enjoy an hour of family-friendly comedy, musical talent, entertaining virtual performances. giveaways and more as they also raise funds for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund.
Saturday, May 2
HomeBurn: AfrikaBurn’s Virtual Regional
Time: May 2, 10am – May 3, 10pm (SAST)
If there is one thin icing on the cake in these times, it’s that we’re now able to attend Regionals all over the world without wrangling a ticket, getting on an airplane, or adjusting to weird time zones (well… maybe there will be some temporal instability).
Get ready to bunker yourself in the house all weekend — the folks from AfrikaBurn are hosting their virtual burn for a whopping 36 hours May 2 and 3. HomeBurn will be a central hub that pulls live streams into one platform, sharing and showcasing the talents and activities of their community. It’s an experiment — and you’re invited to make it happen.
Burnal Equinox Between the Stars
Time: May 1, 6pm – May 3, 10pm (PDT)
Welcome to day two on the Deep Hole playa. Build art and let your digital freak flag fly at BURN2’s Burnal Equinox. It’s free to download the platform view and grab your avatar. Get on it!
Mayday! Mayday! Save the Circus Benefit!
Time: 7-late pm (PST)
Bay Area circus troupe extraordinaire Vau de Vire is hosting a live virtual fundraiser to help make up for lost income from cancelled shows. Get ready for an epic multi-room, interactive, virtual event involving their favorite collaborators from across the globe.
Cooped Up Cabaret: Live Stream Variety Show
Time: 8-10pm (AEST)
Support your fellow creatives, and tune in to fortnightly live stream cabaret. Each show will feature a tasty selection of performers from all over Australia (and international, if ya lucky!) Magic in the kitchen? Comedy in the bathroom? Aerials in the hallway? You’ll never know what you’re gonna get! Performers are contributing their talents in return for a split of all profits from paid views.
Tickets: $15
Catharsis on the Mall: A Temporal Haven
Time: 1pm–1am
Catharsis on the Mall is a vigil that features lectures, discussions, workshops, community art, music, and unstructured spaces intended to facilitate seeing and healing for wounds in ourselves, each other, and in our society.The Catharsis Trunk is organizing a 12-hour virtual event to still hold some space and time to create digitally accessible spaces for healing in lieu of our event on the National Mall. So even though we won’t be together in space, they invite you to gather with them in time.
Play, Power & Purpose Workshop
Time: 1:30-5pm (GMT)
UK nonprofit The Psychedelic Society will create a safe online space for you to release blocked energy and access joy and laughter by diving deep into the moment to uncover more presence and purpose in life.
Om & Bass Online Yoga Rave Night: Live DJs
Time: 7-11pm (GMT)
Join SHE Gathering for a yoga rave night featuring bad-ass tunes and DJs. The party will kick off with a chakra yoga rave and then shift into some yogini booty-shaking. Wear something fancy, if that’s your groove.
♡ Quarantine Queens — A Distancing Dance Party ♡
Time: 8:30pm–1:30am (GMT)
Find your inner quarantine QUEEN by tuning into the best mixes from your fave femme, womxn, and nb artists on ZOOM every week till the end of lockdown.
Global GET DOWN Party
Time: 8-11pm (EST)
Another live streamed edition of Brooklyn’s infamous Get Down party shakes its thang Saturday night with guest DJs Fiveboi and Matty Glitterati.
Sunday May 3
HomeBurn: AfrikaBurn’s Virtual Regional
Time: May 2, 10am – May 3, 10pm (SAST)
Day two of HomeBurn, where a central hub will pull live streams into one platform, sharing and showcasing the talents and activities of their community. It’s an experiment — and you’re invited to make it happen.
Burnal Equinox Between the Stars
Time: May 1, 6pm – May 3, 10pm (PDT)
Welcome to last day on the Deep Hole playa. Don’t miss the chance to get down in the digital dust with Burners from around the globe as they build art, explore theme camps, go on adventures, and let their freak flag fly. Plus, where else could you customize your playa look to be anything your heart and imagination desires? It’s free to download the platform view and grab your avatar. Get on it!
Monday May 4
Pop Up Virtual Art Hive
Time: 1pm and 8 pm (EST)
Make art with strangers (and new friends) at this twice daily, Monday to Friday virtual art jam.
Burning Mondays Weekly Meetup
Time: 6-8pm (PT)
Get together with Las Vegas Burners as they meet up every Monday.
Tuesday May 5
Pleasure Awakening
Times: 10-11:30am (NZST)
In times of lockdown and social distancing, don’t be touch deprived! For those of you who missed out on the Pleasure Awakening workshop at KiwiBurn, here is your chance to make up for it!
Late Night Storytelling for Adults
Time: 9-10pm (AEST)
The world can be a whirling, swirling place of anxiety and uncertainty at the moment, and sometimes, just before sleep, the thoughts can clamour loudly. Be soothed and held in those twilight hours with stories that will help you wind you down.
Other Virtual Event Calendars
Burning Wiki’s Burn Broadcasts, Podcasts & Virtual Events
An ever-changing list of virtual burns, broadcasts, non-stop streaming events and other wonderful things for self-isolated Burners.
I’m stuck at home but still want to have fun
A light-hearted Facebook group that began as a British Burner initiative and now has 17,000 members from all walks of life. It lists hundreds of ways to virtually gather and celebrate, wherever you are.
Kiwiburn Lockdown Event Guide
Keep track of Kiwi-land events with their handy dandy guide.
Shut-in Shenanigans
Barcelona Burners have recently put their lip syncing skills to the test. You can stay tuned for the next battle and other events on their community event page.
Organize Burners Online — Dance Parties & Happy Hours & Fun Times
Another group dedicated to rounding up Burner fun times online.
Burner Events
Their mission is to keep the group updated with relevant events that benefit the Burning Man Community.
Top photo courtesy of California Academy of Sciences
