Inside AfrikaBurn: The desert town that exists for one wild week

The Citizen

10-05-2025

On a windswept Friday night deep in the Karoo desert, a man dropped to one knee under a sky full of stars and before the dust could even settle, he and his beloved were married in a full-blown, impromptu celebration complete with singing, drumming and an African choir.
That's AfrikaBurn. Equal parts art festival, social experiment and desert dreamscape, it's a place where the extraordinary becomes ordinary and strangers become family overnight. Set against the stark beauty of South Africa's Tankwa Karoo, AfrikaBurn is the largest official Burning Man regional event outside the United States – but to describe it as just a festival would be missing the point entirely.
AfrikaBurn is not something you attend. It's something you co-create. For one week each year, around 10 000 participants from around the globe gather to build a temporary city, called Tankwa Town. Founded on principles of radical self-expression, participation and a culture of gifting, there's no money, no advertising, and no spectators allowed.
Everything you see, from the intricately designed mutant vehicles to towering wooden sculptures (some destined to be burnt in ritual celebration), is built, brought and shared by volunteers.
Between April 28 and May 4, under this year's theme, 'Out of the Blue', the desert pulsed with sea creatures on wheels, spontaneous performances, sonic adventures and hundreds of interactive art installations. In a place with no phone signal, no commerce and no hierarchy, what you bring to AfrikaBurn defines what it becomes.
For Philip and Nikki, Cape Town residents, AfrikaBurn became an unforgettable part of their story when they said 'I do' in a whirlwind wedding on May 3.
The couple, who asked to go by their first names only, were at Mad Hatters Village on Friday night when Philip popped the big question.
'I say yes – obviously!' Nikki told Caxton Network News. 'Before we could even process what just happened, our friend Xolani Sibanda yelled: 'We are having a wedding tomorrow'. And just like that, we were getting married at Afrika Burn.'
At sunset on Saturday, the female members of an African choir arrived at Philip and Nikki's camp, bringing with them a 'full-blown musical invasion'. 'Drums, tambourines, voices raised high in iXhosa chanting, 'The Bride is coming'! The whole street lit up like a scene from a dream,' says Nikki.
'We paraded down the road in a joyful, singing procession until we reached the Chillaz tent, where Phil and his best man, Van Zyl de Vos, were waiting – along with a pastor ready to seal the deal.'
They exchanged vows and 'rings', with Philip having to settle on an improvised keyring. 'The moment we were declared husband and wife, the tent erupted in song and dance. About 100 strangers – now all family – celebrated with us under the stars of Tankwa Town. It was wild, beautiful and perfectly us. A true love story that I will be able to tell for generations to come.'
It seems Cupid is an AfrikaBurn regular – last year, Dave Agsteribbe and Jessica du Toit were engaged there, and the private AfrikaBurn Facebook page is peppered with similar stories.
Caxton Network News caught up with Dave, a DJ and producer who goes by the name Dave Skinz, to hear about his experience as a performer at this year's AfrikaBurn.
Based in Northriding, Johannesburg, Dave attended the Burn with a group of six, including Jessica and his 13-year-old daughter. 'There are school lessons and then there are life lessons,' he says, explaining why it felt important to share the experience with his daughter.
True to the spirit of intentionality, Dave chose to gift his music at just one camp, Luminosity Lounge. 'I try and restrict myself so I can get the most out of AfrikaBurn,' he says. During his first set on Wednesday evening, a double rainbow, unobstructed by city lights or buildings, made him feel doubly blessed. His set extended an hour beyond his scheduled time, and he was later asked to open the floor on Saturday.
Dave says trying to define the essence of AfrikaBurn is like trying to explain a dream. As many participants have said, there's something deeply transformative about the rawness of the space and the way it forces you to confront yourself. Dave echoes this sentiment, noting how the experience strips away daily pretences. 'It's like a weight falls off, but once you're home, you have to armour up again,' he says. 'It makes us realise how much of our true self we repress in the daily grind.'
He also shared how personally healing the experience was. Having lost both of his parents at 17, his life's journey has been marked by emotional resilience. AfrikaBurn allowed him to release some of the pain he'd long carried. 'I cried. Over and over again, I found myself in fits of tears in the arms of a stranger.'
In a surprising twist, his rare surname helped him connect with a distant relative in Amsterdam, adding another layer of meaning to an already profound experience.
Brian Palmer, communications lead for AfrikaBurn, says that the organisers were excited to host many Burners from around the world and look forward to future adventures under the equator with 'our creative community of participants'.
He explains that AfrikaBurn is a community of participants who come together to create art, costumes, performance, theme camps, music, mutant vehicles and more. 'All of this is created through a volunteer and gifting culture,' he says.
Since first being held in 2007, AfrikaBurn has upheld the principle of radical self expression. 'AfrikaBurn encourages you to express yourself however you want to… be it with a silly hat or a full-blown costume.'
'This year's event had several standout features,' says Brian, 'with more artworks, mutant vehicles and theme camps than ever before. So I guess the real standout feature is that almost everyone who came to AfrikaBurn fully participated in the event.'
Themed camps can offer anything from music and meditation to Ethiopian coffee, pancakes and silent discos. They are elaborate affairs that beg to be explored.
Brian explains that in recent years, participant numbers have been limited to around 10 000. 'While we could have grown the event quite easily, we felt that we wanted to rebuild after Covid more sustainably and focus on the quality of experience, rather than the numbers.
'We're an extremely diverse group, with participants from around the world,' he says, adding that just over 50% come from South Africa.
Why are installations burnt?
Despite the mammoth effort that goes into making the art installations, several of them are burnt at AfrikaBurn. 'This was inspired by the original Burning Man event in Nevada, USA. One of our founding principles is immediacy, and burning (some of) the art when finished encourages participants to appreciate it in the moment while it still exists,' says Brian.
The AfrikaBurn community has a central effigy that is set alight at the Clan Burn at the culmination of each year's event.
Want to go in 2026?
Brian says the dates and theme for AfrikaBurn 2026 will he announced in the next few months. 'As usual, with limited numbers, we expect to sell out within minutes, so anyone planning to come should start preparing and sign up for our newsletter for ticket announcements.'
Interesting AfrikaBurn facts
The only thing sold is ice.
AfrikaBurn has its own radio station: Radio Free Tankwa Tune (99.9fm).
Mutant vehicles must be licensed.
This year's temperatures were extreme, ranging from 38°C to 5°C.
Skollie Patrollie is AfrikaBurn's volunteer traffic crew, ensuring mutant vehicles are safely driven.
It takes nearly 4 000 shifts of volunteers to run Tankwa Town.
There is a danger of scorpion stings and snakebites.
Everything brought to the desert must be taken away again. Even greywater is responsibly disposed of.
Rangers are event participants who volunteer a portion of their time at AfrikaBurn in service of the safety and well-being of the AfrikaBurn community. Also known as The Orange, they act as non-confrontational community mediators and providers of reliable information.
Watch a video taken by a participant:
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