Afrikaburn was founded in 2007 on a private farm called Stonehenge, next to the Tankwa Karoo National Park, about 250 miles outside Cape Town in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, far from civilization.
This trek is for international travelers and is held during the Southern Hemisphere's early fall, during South Africa's version of Labor Day, which is May Day.
There is a sculpture focus at this art event, called the San Clan and it's designed to look like a San rock art glyph of a group of people that convey the sense of unity at the event. Whether you're in a theme camp or not, you definitely will feel a sense of community at AfrikaBurn, especially given its more intimate size. Everyone also practices "moop," which translates to "matter out of place", as part of the "Leave No Trace" principle of the event. AfrikaBurn has learned to live with ever increasing numbers of attendees in a sustainable way.
Those who have attended and experienced the event state that AfrikaBurn has more of a festival vibe to it as a larger percentage of the population is dancing and partying and while the rest hang out in healing camps or attend the various workshops offered. The activity division atmosphere can be attributed with the demographics as the younger average age does create a more active party environment and that appreciate the desert. In fact, it is evident with the prevalent costumes that seem more colorfully indigenous.
The music scene is different here as well as you won't hear any dubstep, drum and bass nor electro and Dutch house. Instead, it is more of psytrance and house.
Everywhere you look, you'll see dancing, grooving, screaming, shouting, cartwheeling and all sorts of different party fun. The creative, radical self-expression attitude is in full regalia in Africa. Even the way the temporary city is laid out with a center playa and camps providing a semi-circle around it.
