Episode 28: 2026 BoNZA Summit Review (Dani, James, Luci, & Paul)
In this episode we reflect back on the 2026 Bonza Summit weekend with a panel of blazers who made the trek to the annual skill-sharing gathering for regional burner leaders, representatives and artists. The lively panel highlights the immense value of knowledge exchange, noting how sharing resources and documentation prevents communities from "reinventing the wheel" and eases the burden of radical self-reliance on individual volunteers. Operational debates take center stage, specifically the struggle to balance radical transparency with the realities of volunteer burnout, alongside the tension between utilizing burner profiles for safety management and strictly adhering to the principle of radical inclusion. The group also brainstorms alternative rituals - such as communal art creation or dance processions - to capture the community magic of an effigy burn without putting immense pressure on safety and fire teams. Ultimately, the conversation underscores a deep commitment to psychosocial safety and intentional leadership, drawing a firm line between inclusive, playful banter and exclusionary snark or gatekeeping.
Host: Stevan ‘Silent Disco’ Lay
Guests: Danielle ‘Starlight’ Reston, James Alexander, Jason ‘Lucifer’ Raven, & Paul ‘The Count’ Castle
Produced by PY Wong & Stevan Lay
Theme music by Will & Kate
BoNZA summit 2026 | May 30-31 | Sydney, Australia
Photo credit: Stevan Lay
USEFUL Links:
Bonza Community: https://bonzacommunity.org/
Blazing Swan: https://blazingswan.com.au/
The Third Degree: https://the3rddegree.org/
Modifyre: https://www.modifyre.org/
Sunburnt Arts: https://sunburntarts.org.au/
Underland: https://underland.au/
Common Arts Victoria: https://commonarts.org.au/
Capital Incendiary Authority: https://capitalincendiaryauthority.org.au/
Peoples Art Collective Tasmania: https://auroraburn.org.au/
Kiwiburn: https://kiwiburn.org/
Ignition Festival NZ: https://ignitionfestival.co.nz/
Melburners: https://melburners.org.au/
Dragonburn: https://www.dragonburn.org/
Burning Japan: https://www.burningjapan.org/
Burning Man Project: https://burningman.org/
Burners Without Borders: https://burnerswithoutborders.org/
Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Intro theme
[00:00:30] Intro panel
[00:01:35] Bonza weekend summary
[00:08:35] Roles and contributions
[00:26:45] Luci's origin story
[00:28:33] Paul's origin story
[00:32:54] Dani's origin story
[00:39:58] James' origin story
[00:49:59] Zebra story
[00:53:05] Keynote address
[00:55:23] Transparency
[01:20:41] Volunteer and ticketing platform
[01:30:25] Accidental leadership
[01:35:34] How do we burn without a burn?
[01:50:16] Snark and gatekeeping
[02:11:47] Psychosocial safety
[02:19:09] Purpose of knowledge sharing
[02:32:21] Shoutouts and gratitude
[02:36:14] 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 11 June, 2026
