Charleston Burners Celebrate Festivus 2024

 

Charleston Burners Celebrate Festivus 2024

By William J. Hamilton, III

The Charleston, SC Burner Community celebrated Festivus a bit early this year at their weekly burner’s gathering, Weirdo Wednesday at Container Bar.

Being burners we’ve been elaborating the limited guidance provided in the essential Sienfeld episode. We’re always looking for things to do at our weekly gatherings. Immediacy means doing, not just talking about it.  Learn more about Festivus.

The Charleston Burning man community gathers at Container Bar on Mt. Pleasant Street in downtown Charleston, SC from about 7 to 9 pm most Wednesdays. We often have wandering burners from around the world join us. We're always having some fun or planning some fun. 

Ed brought out a really impressive Festivus pole from the Magical Bamboo Forrest. The cut down flag pole was mounted on stout metal stand, which kept it erect, but not stable enough for use a dance pole.

The burners sampled the mulled wine from the bar, redolent with holiday spices, and aired their grievances around a Festivus feast of fake Samoas from the discount Aldi grocery store, artfully laid out on a paper plate. Various grievances were aired with the goal of reinforcing the community by recognizing our failure to live out the 10 burning man principles. One memorable grievance was the complaint that people had failed to practice radical inclusion by not inviting a friend for a hair dying party to they could practice radical self expression. The pink and orange haired lady offenders assured her that they would not repeat this offense in the year ahead. It wasn’t very clear that there had been a hair dying party this year, but it was obvious that there will be one in the future.

If the default world is getting ugly, what real incentive is left to conform?

Not everyone had remembered to bring their Festivus gift for the exchange, which is supposed to consist of items worth little or nothing, usually one toss from the recycle bin or next yard sale. We resisted commodifiction by gifting packages of teriyaki flavored dried seaweed misdelivered to Wendy by Walmart earlier this year, cast off candy dishes my mother in law slipped into a bag after a family dinner with severe instructions never to bring them back twenty years ago and a snap  on bicycle light. Someone brought a plate of stones which those assembled concluded might be turned into a game activity of stacking them on someone’s chest or back.

Those who had failed to plan for the gift exchange were driven back to their cars to pick through trunks, back seats and glove compartments in desperation. Everyone participated. No one was disappointed. Burners have an abundance of cast off stuff just waiting to be creatively reused, Festivus presents an obvious opening to gift some of that away. Leaving No Trace always means accumulating baggage. Ed scored an impressive propeller beanie. We even shared some of our gifts with the other patrons on the outdoor bar’s deck.

Noone found or remembered to bring a doll. However no one rained blows upon anyone else. There is a better way.

But what do you do with the pole? In lieu of the Feats of Strength we concluded our observance by gathering around the Festivus Pole, each of us reaching out for a firm grip. The pole symbolizes, Communal Effort, our shared will to gather, to share, to focus and to invent.

Festivus is a made up holiday, but they all are. Burners just refuse to surrender the making up of special days to corporate marketing departments. We can invent a city in the desert and sprinkle burns around the world. We can repurpose a private family holiday, transformed into a sub plot by a TV writer in a long cancelled situation comedy and make it our own as well.

Image, right, a Festivus gift of dried seaweed and mulled wine at Container bar. 

We celebrated our Festivus early, but Dec. 23 is the actual traditional day. I hope everyone has a happy festivus and a wonderful holiday season.

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