This July we hosted Sunburn, New Mexico's officially sanctioned regional Burning Man event on our land here in Socorro County. The organizers and volunteers did such a terrific job and the event went off without a hitch.
From its conception, the Happy Castle Art Camp has been enormously inspired by Burning Man, its culture, and its community. Although we differ in meaningful ways, in many others we share the same values of radical inclusion, radical self-expression, radical-participation, communal effort, and as an off-grid high-desert eco-commune, of course radical self-reliance.
While Burning Man reminds us of the immediacy and temporality of an experience, creating a temporary city from nothing and leaving no trace behind when the event is over, Happy Castle intends to encapsulate the same energy and dynamism within a permanent site that successively grows with every event as art-installations, infrastructure, and even artists themselves become permanent fixtures inside the campground and commune. It’s our aim to create a self-sufficient commune and co-op which serves not only as a campground and festival-venue, providing livelihoods for our members, but as an oasis of creative expression and exploration to inspire the world to dream bigger.
We are so grateful to have hosted such a wonderful community and to have met so many competent and talented collaborators. Hopefully there are many more wonderful things to come and we someday see you again at our own Happy Castle Art Festivals. The website and Kickstarter are underway!
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