Burn in the Forest began in 2002, when a loosely organized group of Burners from Vancouver decided it was time to create an outdoor camping event grounded in the 10 principles of Burning Man.
What emerged was something rare and electric: a gathering with minimal central organization, where everyone participated in shaping an experience unlike any other.
Over the years, many in the community came to see Burn in the Forest as something truly magical, a place where collaboration, creativity, and shared responsibility transformed a patch of forest into a living work of art.
After the 2024 event, the community undertook a collective process to rename our flagship gathering. You can read more about the project details and the reasons behind the change here:
Burn in the Forest Name Change Project Info.
While the name has evolved, our commitment remains the same. We are dedicated to making What If every bit as memorable and meaningful as the Burn in the Forest events of years past.
Today, What If is home to over 2,000 participants who gather each year to co-create a collaborative and magical environment unlike any other. The event is 100 percent volunteer-run and hosts hundreds of art projects, theme camps, sound stages, and participatory experiences, all imagined, built, and brought to life by the community itself.
Each year, hundreds of us dusty participants return from a magical week in the desert and begin the difficult process of re-entry into the Default World.
We have experienced something nearly impossible to explain, the cosmic shifts inside of us are not reflected in the world around us. Friends, family and co-workers expect us to be the same, but we are not the same. We long to escape the confines of our daily existence, but we’re stuck in the patterns of our lives for another, long, year.
The decompression process culminates in the opportunity to re-create our experience for one night, here on our home turf. Here, we can share our experience, celebrate our personal transformation and officially make the transition back to life as we know it. We can also party with hundreds of our closest friends, and check out some of Vancouver’s best Burning Man art, music, theme camps, performances, activities, costumes and revelry.
Like the Burning Man festival itself, it is most rewarding when experienced as a participant rather than a spectator – so get involved! Bring the project you brought to Burning Man, left half-finished on your couch, or have been dreaming of for months. Help us build, decorate, ranger, greet or break down. Invite your cool friends who will “get it.”
Dustcovery is typically held in November.
(No longer held since 2019)
The goal of Recharge was to bring ideas and sketches to life at BitF, Burning Man and Dustcovery.
Artists get the opportunity to pitch their projects using miniatures, visual aids, or partially complete visions in a competition for tokens offered to the guests upon entry.
The fundraiser provided an opportunity for artists to present their visions to the community, collaborate with other artists who might want to be involved and to get an idea what kind of community support is available to them.
The event aimed to be fully transparent and revenue neutral with the lions share of the funds raised going directly to artists.
