It’s mid-afternoon on the playa, and you’re searching for the perfect oasis.
Up ahead, through a giant circular door, you spot S-H-I-R-E spelled out in glimmering life-sized wooden letters, splattered with artful musings that burners have been layering on the sign all week.
You bike closer and turn to the 30-foot-tall Isengard tower. Obviously you must climb it and soak in the birds-eye view of the most beautiful city in the world. On the way down, you are beckoned by new friends into the tower’s pillowy hammocks...Burning Man quicksand.
Before long, the mellow tunes wafting through the air are replaced by “Let’s Get It On."
You extract yourself from the tower to join hundreds of burners for the infamous Tension-Building Pre-Kissing Workshop.
Fake ivy and green fabrics billow generously from the high ceiling above you as if you are in a lush foreign land.
You team up with strangers of all ages & genders, laughing together as you are guided through the sensual, electric, and goofy moments leading up to a kiss! Afterwards, buzzing with arousal...
you race to the thrilling 360-degree rotating seesaw and take turns pushing off the ground, gliding through the air as if on a flight simulator.
When you are through, all you can do is melt into one of the cozy daybeds of Bag End. You listen to the hobbits playing guitar around the fire-pit and sip on the home-brewed kombucha that someone from the Prancing Pony Bar just stuck in your hand. You don’t rise until a gaggle of hobbits drags you back onto Isengard for a daily Shire tradition: an all-camp belted chorus of Elton John’s “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” while the sun melts behind the mountains. Finally, you head home to change into your evening wear.
As you bike under the Moon Gate, you look back tenderly at the camp that has just stolen your entire afternoon.
The whole thing is now glittering with over-the-top LEDs, curtains of white string lights pouring from the ceiling, the Shire sign blinking warmly, kaleidoscopes dancing on the stretched fabric above, rope lights outlining the tower, and an impossible-to-miss flaming orange eye floating above Isengard. You make a note of the landmark so you can always find your way back.
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The Shire brings so much heart to the playa. We drench our neighbors in love, suck passersby into a shady haven of whimsical playfulness, and offer burners a space for meaningful connection. Our camp preparation could not be more devoted. (Honestly, our default world careers are in flames.)
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When the magic unfolds in the dust, we hope you’ll be there to share it with us!