Blazing Swan
{{Short description|Festival in Western Australia}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name = Blazing Swan
| logo =
| image = Blazing Swan Logo Spray Painted.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Blazing Swan logo spray painted onto an art piece in 2015
| first = 2013
| location = Jilakin Rock City
| last = March 27 – April 2, 2024
| next =
| website = {{URL|http://www.blazingswan.com.au/}}
}}
Blazing Swan is an annual regional Burning Man event held adjacent to Jilakin Lake near the town of Kulin, Western Australia. It is promoted as an experiment in temporary community and artistic expression, guided by eleven main principles, including radical inclusion, gifting and radical self-reliance.
The event occurs around Easter each year, usually over a period of seven days. The event location is on bushland adjacent to Jilakin Lake, and is referred to as Jilakin Rock City. A wooden effigy is built and burned at the culmination of the event.{{Cite web |title=The Effigy |url=https://blazingswan.com.au/the-effigy/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=Blazing Swan |language=en-US}}
History
A collective of artists/producers who had attended the Burning Man Festival in the US, organized the official regional event in Western Australia.
| class="wikitable" style="width:98%;" |
| style="white-space:nowrap;"| Year
! Theme ! Date ! Location ! Participants ! Ticket price ! Notes |
|---|
| 2013
| Ignite | 2 June | Bickley | ~150 | | |
| 2013
| Syncronicity | 1 September | ~250 | $15-$30 | |
| 2014
| Inception | 24–28 April | Kulin | 1400 | $145–$195 | |
| 2015
| Inspiration | 1–7 April | Kulin | 1900 | $145–$255 | |
| 2016
| Illumination | 23–29 March | Kulin | 2500 | $150–$250 | |
| 2017
| Elemental | 12–18 April | Kulin | 2700 | $150–$250 | |
| 2018
| Beyond the Black Stump | 28 March – 3 April | Kulin | 3200 | $200–$300 | |
| 2019
|Happy as Larry |17 - 23 April | Kulin |3000 |$200–$300 | |
| 2020
|Perception |8 - 14 April | |N/A |$200–$300 |Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic{{cite news |title=A Letter to our Community |url=https://blazingswan.com.au/blazing-swan-2020-a-letter-to-our-community-16-march-2020/|publisher=Blazing Swan|date=2020-03-16}} |
| 2021
|Phoenix |1 April - 6 April | Kulin |1500 |$250–350 | |
| 2022
|Poseidon's Flame |13 - 19 April | |N/A |$250–350 |Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic{{cite news |title=A Letter to our Community |url=https://blazingswan.com.au/2022-cancellation-announcement/}} |
| 2023
|Poseidon's Flame II |5 April - 11 April | Kulin |3000 |$290–350 | |
| 2024
|Neon Caravan |27 March - 2 April | Kulin |3000 |$400–475 | |
Blazing Swan, Inc.
Blazing Swan, Inc. is the not-for-profit incorporated association dedicated to organizing the annual Blazing Swan event.{{cite web|url=
http://dev.blazingswan.com.au/aboutus/ |title=About Us |publisher=Blazing Swan |date= |accessdate=2015-12-30}}
=Community Involvement=
Blazing Swan Inc has been involved with a number of community art projects and philanthropic activities in Western Australia. Some examples are:
- Providing significant art grants to the community to encourage creative expression.{{cite web|url=
http://dev.blazingswan.com.au/grants/ |title=Art at Blazing Swan |publisher=Blazing Swan |date= |accessdate=2015-12-30}}
- Donating $10 from each ticket sold at the 2015 event towards funding a full-time age care nurse to the Shire of Kulin.{{cite web |url=http://rotundamedia.com.au/2015/04/02/blazing-swan-comes-to-wa/ |title=Blazing Swan Comes To WA |publisher=Rotunda Media |date= |accessdate=2015-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070641/http://rotundamedia.com.au/2015/04/02/blazing-swan-comes-to-wa/ |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}
- Partnership with the Australian Government's 'Work for the Dole' program, to help job seekers gain skills and experience that give back to the community and can help them find a job.
- Donating a {{convert|3|m|ft|adj=mid|-wide|spell=in}} metal sculpture created by Matt Bray to the Shire of Kulin, as a permanent public art offering.{{cite web|url=
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/04/15/4216972.htm |title=Blazing Swan memento: Kulin's giant egg |publisher=ABC Great Southern WA |date=2015-04-14 |accessdate=2015-12-30}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{official website|http://blazingswan.com.au/}}
{{Burning Man}}