Now me, being a quiet, conservative, ageing sort of person (you’ve seen the photo! the grey hair is not a fashion statement), thought I’d have nothing in common with the Burning Man festival. I was wrong.

It was Steampunk that got me curious about Burning Man. Steampunk Octopi, anyone?

So then I looked at the principles of Burning Man, and I really, really agree with many of them. Decommodification, community (I’m summarising on this one), self-reliance.

The value Steampunk places on creativity — sharing and celebrating it — is a huge part of its aesthetic appeal. It values history, but not as a dead thing, rather as a source of creating who we are (including what we enjoy) here and now. This is my link to Burning Man.