Jeet-Kei Leung: Burning Man and Transformational Festivals

The Wild Hunt blog recently posted on the video above: Jason Pitzl-Waters wrote:

The TEDx Youtube channel recently uploaded a talk by Jeet Kei Leung from TEDxVancouver 2010 on transformational festivals. The half-hour presentation focuses on West Coast-oriented festivals and events like Faerieworlds and Burning Man and talks about how these events re-merge spiritual/religious practices with secular festival culture.

As Jason offers his commentary on Leung's work he also connects this idea of transformational festivals to Dragon*Con, a fascinating idea which has merit as I've noted in the religious elements in the Star Trek subculture and in my past posts elsewhere (see below) on the similarities between Burning Man Festival and Dragon*Con.

Near the end of Leung's analysis he summarizes some of the key elements in these festivals. His mention of co-creation in participation, and returning a sense of mythos are especially significant for those in Western Christendom with ears to hears the winds of change among the cultural creatives.

I'm glad to see others picking up on the spiritual and religious significance of these events, and I'm looking forward to Leung's book.

See my related posts "Star Trek as a Religious Phenomenon," "Star Trek Conventions as Sacred Pilgrimage," and "Fan Culture Documentaries: Back to Space-Con, and Four Days at Dragon*Con."