IGNiGHT Burning Man event returns to Phoenix this weekend

The incendiary brilliance of Burning Man may be over, but its spirit lives on in Arizona for two days at IGNiGHT, coming back to Phoenix on Oct. 2 and 3.  But this time, it’s connecting two creative communities to create one unforgettable experience. And even as the embers still smolder at the official site in Nevada, the very spirit of Burning Man’s artistic ethos is rising from the ashes, as Phoenix’s namesake would imply.

Going into its eighth year, IGNiGHT is an event that gathers people who go to Burning Man (“burners”) and the burner-curious. It’s a community of artists and those who appreciate self-expression through different mediums. There’s no judgment or criticism. There’s no elitism or stuffed shirts. If art, in any form, moves you, you might be a burner. The only way to find out is to experience IGNiGHT for yourself. 

To start from the very beginning, the idea for Burning Man was born on a San Francisco beach back in 1986. Some friends gathered to celebrate nature. To mark the occasion, they lit an 8-foot wooden “man” on fire. Now, almost 40 years later, Burning Man attracts thousands of revelers to Black Rock Desert in Nevada every year to continue the tradition. It has become one of the best-known gatherings of participatory art and self- expressionism in America. 

IGNiGHT in Phoenix comes weeks after Burning Man 2026, which ended this past Labor Day. It might not be as grand, but its idea is. And before you think it might be too intimidating or nuanced for your tastes, consider who IGNiGHT is for. 

“It’s for anybody who has any interest in any kind of art form that fits within our list of principles. You know, we need things to be very inclusive, interactive; all of these fun things.” 

That’s Rene Johnson, IGNiGHT’s organizer, and the “principles” of which she speaks are: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. 

Arizona Burners also have an 11th principle: consent.

Johnson explains there is a network of small events that celebrate Burning Man across the globe.  

“Arizona has their own,” she explains. “We call it the regional community of folks that have some sort of an interest in — at this point — not just the Burning Man event, but the entire kind of culture and ethos and style of creativity and a way of interacting with other people.”

Arizona Burners, she says, are simply a group of people who have a common interest of having a creative community that focuses on inclusion and very bold expression.

This year’s IGNiGHT is taking place on historic Grand Avenue, a popular district for artists and their artwork. The event will also be a part of First Fridays, a public event that celebrates creative works in an artist-driven atmosphere. 

One of the things guests will see at this year’s IGNiGHT event is the popular mutant vehicles, which are pretty much what they sound like: cars or trucks repurposed and modified by creators to make them bold, self-expressive statements. Johnson says this year a new piece will be added to the lot: a golf cart made to look like a zebra. 

“It’s called Lil’Z,” she says. “The other mutant vehicles we’ll have are kind of crowd favorites. The Bunny, I think, will be back. We’ll have the Struggle Bus, which is just beautiful. (It’s a) Victorian steampunk train-looking thing that I cannot describe properly.”

People will have an opportunity to interact with these vehicular installations and even speak with the builders as a kind of behind-the-scenes experience where people can ask questions, “because we end up with a lot of really interesting problem solving that we’re up against in designing,” Johnson adds. “These various arts are sometimes really, really difficult.” 

Johnson is excited to see people’s reactions to another exhibit she won’t describe in detail but gives us a glimpse of how it’s constructed. 

“(It) requires guide wires to keep it safe.  It needs to be (installed) somewhere that we can screw the guy wires down using 12- to 18-inch lag bolts into the ground so everything’s nice and secure.

How big is it? Maybe like a 3-foot-diameter suspended tetrahedron made out of two-by-fours, which is a really, really fun kind of kinetic piece.” 

With all of these physical artworks, one might wonder if using AI is acceptable when submitting a piece. It’s a polarizing topic, one which Johnson is still thinking about. Half of her peers think of it as a tool; the other half think that, as an art-space community, people shouldn’t be typing words into AI and having it spit something out. They feel artists should be working together to find others who can help with the learning curve, keeping it all human-based.

“I don’t consider myself to be in a position to determine whether someone’s art is valid or not,” she contends. “So, if someone is presenting something as a genuine expression of their ideals and they’re able to speak about that, then that’s just as valid as you taking a photograph of something and the camera does all the magic if they have it set on auto.”

However, the topic of AI isn’t the only conversation being had within the IGNiGHT organizers’ space; there’s an even bigger decision that has to be made in the coming year: Will IGNiGHT remain in Phoenix? Maybe not. With all of the other responsibilities Johnson has, deciding on a change of venue is one of them. 

“There are talks going on about moving the event to Tucson for 2027,” she says, although nothing has been confirmed. She explains that inclusivity is the main motivation for considering the move: “There are a number of people that are artists that have been contributing art to this event or have been attending this event for years, and they’re traveling all the way from Tucson to do it, or they’re traveling from Flagstaff, or they’re traveling from Willcox.”

The idea is to even out the playing field and circulate the event around so various pockets of the community can enjoy it, “instead of making them always come all the way down to Phoenix,” she says. 

Whether the event is in Phoenix or Tucson, someone has to organize it, and for now that’s Johnson herself. Perhaps not an installation artist, she is still using her talents to bring everyone, and everything, together; it’s a form of art in and of itself. I wondered if she had ever seen it that way.  

“You know,” she said after a slight pause. “I hadn’t thought about it in that context. But as you’re describing this, and as I’m thinking of all of the different motions that go into pulling all of these different pieces and kind of weaving all of these different pieces together into an event — yeah, I’m kind of finding myself visualizing it in that way, as kind of like weaving something together.” Johnson pauses to consider it further. “Or maybe even as an orchestration. Kind of like pulling this tune from over here and that note from over there, and we’re going to put them together, and then we’ll have a cohesive thing to share with other people.”

IGNiGHT 2026. 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, and 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3. 1009 Grand Ave. Get pay-what-you-wish tickets and info on the AZ Burners website.