Here is the wonderful Lumos’ Modifyre 2018 review, from the soon to be published 2018 Afterburn Report...
So over 11 years I have been an active part of Kiwiburn, Burning Man, Burning Seed and Blazing Swan, so now what about this thing called Modifyre… ? Well, up in Queensland it seems they think outside the box and it starts with the name; they don’t want to just Burn, instead it seems they want to help "Modify" me….
Even asking me, as an outsider, to write this shows this team does not feel constrained by the standard box mentality…
As always, I found myself getting to the site early to help make stuff happen, as some of my Kiwi burner friends were going to let me build a Temple with them (if you are suitably blessed, Temple building can be a wondrous sacred journey). I also found myself part of a very friendly team erecting “The Bug”. This year it was an beautiful dragonfly. My solution to feeling lost and alone is to jump in with both feet and volunteer for a tasty selection of jobs, and speaking of tasty, I have to say that as well as being part of a very friendly DPI crew, we were also a well fed and well lead team, the best I have ever worked with.
My very first burn had a total of 182 participants and I had forgotten how good that friendly ‘small town burn’ vibe was. It seems to be a function of population size, and at some point in their growth most gatherings move from a friendly ‘small town’ to a not so friendly ‘big city’. Try to keep that vibe for as long as you can, it’s another thing that makes Modifyre so special.
Instead of the standard ‘Centre Camp’, these guys have created ‘The Heart’ as both a geographical and cultural/emotional centre for the gathering, and what a lovely special place it is. I admit to sleeping on one of those comfortable couches after a graveyard Rangers shift because water had got into my tent and made it a swamp.
Along with many of the participants, I found myself swept up into one of the gatherings more unusual attributes, "Performance Art". There was a story being told from the opening ceremony through the following days and into the effigy burn about the local “bug people”, while parts of the story were planned other parts evolved organically by enthusiastic participants.
The beautiful energy started by DPI and other early entry creators was enhanced by the rest of the participants who created lovely Theme camps, art projects and warm burn barrels to gather around on a cold night, so it was no surprise that the Burning of the Bug Effigy and Temple were truly magical events enhanced by the gods and the participants.
I wish to thank all the participants for helping to create the magic that was Modifyre 2018…
Lumos
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