Everyone who came (around 90 people or so) enjoyed a very pleasant experience at the Trapper Creek Holos Festival this weekend. While Anchorage was getting dumped on with rain we were all warm and dry around the campfire (not a drop of rain fell up there) roasting hotdogs, marshmallows, and having a great time.

The participants ranged from a really cool 'ol Senior Citizen Burner couple who made delicious pancakes for everyone in the morning to about ten of us in our 40's and 50's (including veteran Burners from such excellent camp lineages as Black Rock City Post Office, Barbie Death Camp, and Barbershop Roulette -among others) to dozens of young folks in their 20's and 30's who were energetically dancing, spinning fire, rolling around on huge cable spools, swimming in the creek, walking in the woods, and so on. There were even some teens (the youngest I spoke with was 14) -and perhaps some 'lil kids, too, but if so they were running around over in the Family Camp area and I did not see them. There were at least three people from overseas, two from the East Coast, and the rest were Alaskans.

Art and activities included ice-carving (wonderful fun, that!), drawing and coloring (as on the Holos postcards available for mailing out), fabulous costumery and colorful face-painting, dancing under UV to the sound-stage's music and streaming video, and gifting. Gifts there were in abundance, from nifty Holos 2009 patches, stickers, and handmade necklaces to postcards, calenders and all sorts of other great schwag. My favorites, though, were the delicious food and beverages folks so kindly brought around and gifted to others. Probably the best burrito I have ever tasted, piping hot from the pan! Conversation while sharing chow was my favorite part of the event, noshing while getting to know new friends.

As it turned out there was a big Man who folks constructed of a bazillion teensy branches woven together, dramatically ignited Saturday night into a whoosh of brilliant flame by a fire-spinner fellow cracking it with a flaming whip. He and another fire-spinner performed an amazingly graceful ballet of sorts to the music from the sound-stage while fire-spinning. I have seen dozens if not hundreds of fire-spinning performances over the years but never before have I beheld such grace and art in motion as this one fellow. It was really something, "awesome" in the real sense of the overused word; one of those "I will remember this for the rest of my life" moments. He touched true greatness in that particular performance; I wonder if I shall ever see its match again.

The gleaming ice sculpture (of two big twisting flames, appropriately enough) adorned Center Camp all day Saturday, then that night had a second incarnation as illuminated art when moved (atop a stump) into the center of the biggest firepit with logs placed around it. While the drumming circle made music --and then for a couple hours afterwards as people chatted with one another seated around the fire-- the sculpture caught the flames leaping around it, refracting golden liquid light beautifully while it sublimed and melted away. The Holos website holosfestival.com/ has a video up and running which was recorded early on Saturday (before most people arrived, but you can see what the central area looks like in it) and there are a few photos posted; as soon as a gallery link is created there will be about 100 photos I shot at Holos up for sharing.

Thanks to the Temple of Mosquito Repellent (a net mesh tent containing an altar upon which were available sacred vials of every mosquito repellent in the world, all free for the use of everyone) the bugs were a non-issue, though I did have fun electrocuting them into a crackle and snap of sound accompanied by a blue spark by using a magical paddle which looks like a badminton racket. Great fun, that, for the mosquito-averse and slightly crazed! The camping was easy and pleasant, art/activities/chow/scenery delightful, and the company even better.

Doran and I are looking forward to returning next year (the last weekend in June is when Holos is held) and to getting together throughout the year between now and then for meals and more conversation with all the new friends we met last weekend!