Episode 25: Sunburnt Arts & Pilot Burn (Leanna & TJ)

In this fair dinkum episode of the podcast we continue our conversations with SBA board members, Leanna and TJ, and chat with them about "Pilot Burn", the inaugural event for their newly formed organisation, Sunburnt Arts. Following a community restructuring and a departure from their previous Matong site, the team is thrilled to host this genuine and intimate 500-capacity-person gathering from May 15th to 18th in the breathtaking Capertee Valley, a spectacular canyon located a few hours west of Sydney. The team transparently discuss the logistical triumphs and hurdles of starting from scratch on a private farm, highlighting the mobilisation of shipping containers for infrastructure, the rollout of a new ticketing and volunteer platform, and the essential need for community participation and self-reliance. Ultimately, Pilot Burn serves as an emotional, back-to-basics test run designed to foster community trust, establish a respectful relationship with the new landowners, and lay a solid, scalable groundwork for the future of our regional burn culture.

Host: Stevan ‘Silent Disco’ Lay

Guests: Leanna 'Momma' Pugliese, TJ 'Hotwire' Wier

Produced by Stevan Lay

Theme music by Will & Kate

Pilot Burn | 15-18 May, 2026

USEFUL Links:

SBA/Burning Seed Townhall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xWIX78z4iU

The Third Degree: https://the3rddegree.org/

Sunburnt Arts: https://sunburntarts.org.au/

Burning Seed: https://www.burningseed.com/

Flaming Galah: https://galah.burningseed.com/

Red Earth City: https://redearthcity.com/

Blazing Swan: https://blazingswan.com.au/

Common Arts Victoria: https://commonarts.org.au/

Underland: https://underland.au/

Bonza Community: https://bonzacommunity.org/

Burning Man: https://burningman.org/

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Theme music intro

[00:00:30] Intro panel

[00:01:52] Sunburnt Arts backstory

[00:03:37] Why did you join the SBA board?

[00:04:43] Our definition of "Home"

[00:06:54] Landscape and location of Capertee

[00:11:13] Spotto game

[00:13:57] Travel distance

[00:16:49] Terrain

[00:22:54] Emergency services and safety

[00:25:47] Festival experienced

[00:28:56] Pilot burn

[00:34:39] 500-capacity

[00:37:23] Volunteers

[00:44:37] Communication tools

[00:52:39] Theme camps

[00:55:26] Dust app

[00:58:56] Effigy and temple

[01:00:19] FART team

[01:05:43] Sound and acoustics

[01:08:24] Weather at Capertee

[01:15:08] SBA milestones

[01:21:45] Outro

[01:22:59] Outro theme

The information presented in the following audio program is for informational, educational, entertainment, and archival purposes only. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on the Bonzaar Podcast are solely those of the hosts and the guests and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the entire burner community. Bonzaar Podcast is an independently-produced, volunteer-led, and community-funded project and is not associated or affiliated with the burning man organisation or it's world-wide subsidiaries.

This episode was recorded on 2 April, 2026