About BitF

Burn in the Forest (BitF) is the Greater Vancouver Interactive Arts Society’s (GVIAS) Official Burning Man Regional annual summer event.

History
10 Principles
Post-Event Reports

Updates for 2023 are being made as information becomes available. Past content is available for reference.

History of Burn in the Forest

Burn in the Forest began in 2002 when a group of loosely organized Burners from Vancouver decided that it was time to create an outdoor camping event, in accordance with the 10 principles of Burning Man. Many people in the community feel this was a magical event, in a magical space, where the community came together with minimal central organization, with everyone participating and helping to create an event like no other

Located on the Squamish River, the old site was a very popular one for outdoor events, and because it was on Crown Land we were able to keep the event free/by donation. Unfortunately, due to overuse and the increasing pressures of human encroachment into natural habitats, in 2006 a young grizzly started to visit the site, and ultimately that is what caused the site to be completely closed to the public.

In the beginning of 2009 the new site was found at Squamish Valley Campground, and at the GVIAS Annual General Meeting a nearly unanimous vote decided that, once again, the name Burn in the Forest would be used for our summer camping event.

In 2015, only 6 weeks before our scheduled event, we lost the use of the Squamish Valley Campground over some Crown Land use issues. As the Production Team had already been scoping out land to accommodate future years’ growth, we were able to secure our new home, at the Cheam Fishing Village, located on Cheam First Nation traditional lands near Agassiz, BC.

In 2019 circumstances led to us moving our event location to the Snug Lake Amphitheatre.

After several years without the opportunity to come together to celebrate, BitF 2022 took place in Sept in Merritt, BC. We are returning to Merritt again this year and look forward to evolving with the site.

We’re sure to continue to make it every bit as memorable as the BitFs of years past.

Contact the BitF Production team via the Contact Us form.
Join this year’s BitF Facebook Group to connect with other participants.

10 Principles

New to Burn in the Forest (BitF) or the Burning Man community? These 10 Principles are the foundational roots of this community and participation forward. You’re encouraged to get to know these perspectives. Tune it on how they currently pepper your days. Witness how they can influence your life before, during and after BitF.

Radical Inclusion

Anyone may be a part of Burn in the Forest. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

Gifting

Burn in the Forest is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

Decommodification

In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorship, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

Radical Self-Reliance

Burn in the Forest encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

Radical Self-Expression

Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

Communal Effort

Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

Civic Responsibility

We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavour to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

Leaving No Trace

Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

Participation

Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

Immediacy

Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

Consent

Considered as the “11th Principle” by some, consent respects the autonomy of the individual, who has the right to make their own choice about their own body, property, personal space and privacy. Read more about The 11th principle Consent.