Everything You Need to Know About Phoenix Burn, China's Take on Burning Man

As we reported last month, there will be a huge festival happening in Inner Mongolia’s Ulan Buh Desert from August 21-27. Under the guidance of Heishicheng Sports & Culture Management Co. and the dART team, we can expect Phoenix Burn to be one of the highlights of the summer if you can manage the somewhat long trip out to the secret desert location it’s all being held at. Taking cues from Burning Man in the States, this incredibly ambitious music and culture festival will last seven days and will feature a variety of artists, musicians, and creators who will transform the site into a fiery spectacle to behold.

At their press conference held on Monday, they made a couple of reveals regarding what to expect at the inaugural Phoenix Burn. First of all, the design layout covers an area stretching over two square kilometers, in the shape of a bagua, those ancient Chinese daoist trigrams that represent principals of reality. Sounds pretty esoteric, which is cool with us. Design firm BAM will be in charge of converting this patch of desolate space into musical stages, various camps, traveling art cars, and a 30-meter-tall sculpture in the shape of a phoenix for a fantastic visual feast at the conclusion. Are we sure they won’t also be burning a Nicholas Cage effigy to restore honey production in the area?

Other things on sight are of course loads of DJs, interactive art, skateboarding, cross-country car exploration, outdoor sports, handmade art, motorcycles, graffiti, fortune telling, tattoos, and much more. There will also be another Boiler Room party with the help of Phoenix Burn’s strategic media partner LeEco Global Live Stream. They will be live streaming the entire event so that you can watch everyone sweating it out from the comfort of your living room.

There are multiple ways to get your hands on some tickets, including at the festival's four warm-up parties (Chengdu on July 1, Kunming on July 2, Chongqing on July 2, and Shanghai on July 7), none of which are in Beijing ... Hmm. Watch this space for any Beijing party additions. For now, you can buy tickets online via Damai, and will also later be sold at venues (not yet listed) around town. We advise to get them sooner rather than later though because early bird tickets are RMB 1000 (limited early bird), then it goes up to RMB 1,300 (July 11-31) for advance tickets, and RMB 1,800 (Aug 1-20).

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Email: danielkippwhittaker@thebeijinger.com 
 

Photos courtesy of dART