April 3, 2020

Community Broadcast for Lakes of Fire 2020

LAKES LETTER || Community Broadcast for Lakes of Fire 2020

To our Burner Family,

It is with a heavy, heavy heart that we must announce that Lakes of Fire 2020 is cancelled. This is the most difficult expression of Civic Responsibility we’ve ever attempted.

WHY?

We are facing unprecedented changes to our daily lives, without a clear end in sight. What has become clear is that we all play a role in preventing the spread of COVID-19, primarily by physically distancing ourselves and using good hygiene. We are all charged with disrupting the rapid increase in COVID-19 spread by avoiding group gatherings and doing our best not to increase the burden on already overwhelmed medical systems.

The impacts of this virus are far-reaching. Burners are using up their vacation hours they normally reserve for Lakes of Fire. Many are losing their jobs and the income they would use to create art and set up theme camps. Immunocompromised burners are making hard decisions to stay isolated to reduce risk of transmission, including members of our leadership. The strains on our resources and leadership are great and impede our ability to safely produce a successful event.

We are the Great Lakes REGIONAL burn, drawing people from many communities, and it is imperative that we act in the best interest of the community and the world at large. We come from nearly every state and many countries to the small town of Rothbury, which has just 500 residents in a rural county. We feel a responsibility to prioritize the community and avoid unnecessary danger.

WHY NOW? WHY NOT WAIT?

Making this decision now allows people to plan for the future as best they can. As a small nonprofit organization, this decision also enables us to cut current spending so that Lakes of Fire 2021 and beyond can be on strong financial ground.

WHAT HAPPENS WITH MY TICKET?

Your ticket will be honored for participation in Lakes of Fire 2021. We would like to extend the opportunity for current ticket holders who were the original purchaser of a ticket to obtain a refund, by request, until May 1st, 2020 OR two weeks from the time the refund button becomes available, whichever is later. If you currently have a ticket and you would prefer to transfer it to another participant, you will be able to transfer the ticket until the close of transfers for the 2021 event.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS IF I HAVE A TICKET THAT I PURCHASED DIRECTLY FROM BURNER TICKETS?

Most original ticket purchasers have three options:

Hold on to your ticket. It will be honored for LOF21. Transfer the ticket. Ask for a refund (see below).

You must be the original purchaser of a ticket to receive a refund. A refund will be issued to the same credit card used to purchase the ticket.

Because low income discount tickets are not eligible for transfer, a LID ticket holder must either keep their ticket for LOF21 or request a refund.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS IF I HAVE A TICKET THAT I RECEIVED VIA A TRANSFER?

Transfer recipients have two options:

Hold on to your ticket. It will be honored for LOF21. Transfer the ticket.

We will not issue refunds for transferred tickets, because we can only issue a refund to the original credit card, not the current ticket holder. Neither the original ticket purchaser nor the current ticket holder may request a refund for a transferred ticket.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO REFUNDED TICKETS?

All refunded tickets will be placed into a new lottery pool. If you refund a ticket (including a volunteer ticket), the only way to get a ticket for LOF21 is by registering and participating in the ticket lottery for LOF21, or receiving a transfer ticket. The new 2021 lottery will require re-registration (and group selection if desired). Line positions in the LOF20 lottery will not carry over to the LOF21 lottery.

WHAT IF I ASK FOR A REFUND FOR A VOLUNTEER TICKET?

Once a refund is issued, you will not receive a new volunteer ticket offer for LOF21. You will have to register and participate in the ticket lottery for LOF21. If you refund your current volunteer appreciation ticket, it’s gone.

HOW DO I TRANSFER OR ASK FOR A REFUND?

Please see our 2020 Cancellation Ticket FAQ page for further ticket related details.

WHAT IF I RECEIVED AN ART GRANT?

Our core mission as an organization is to support art – the first payment is being disbursed to grantees and will stay with the artists, so that they can continue to create their projects. We hope that many, if not most of you, will stay the course, continue to build your fantastic space-y creations, and bring them to Lakes of Fire in 2021.

WHAT ABOUT MY ADDITIONAL DONATION FOR ART?

We are not only an event, we are an arts organization. Each year, we provide a portion of our revenue to a local elementary school to fund art enrichment activities for students. We will continue to provide that financial support for arts education via a portion of the donations we received during ticket sales this year. Funds from 2019 have also been allocated to special artistic community projects, which we are looking forward to unveiling at Lakes of Fire 2021. Thank you to everyone who contributed additional donation funds with their ticket purchase.

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?

Burners Without Borders works with communities to respond to disasters around the world. They have provided these resources for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic:

If you see an unmet need in your community, read more about starting a project with Burners Without Borders.

If you have any extra personal protection equipment (PPE), please consider donating it to your local hospital.

Great Lakes Experimental Arts is donating our available PPE to Lakeshore Hospital in Shelby, near Lucky Lake. Many burner communities are doing the same in their neighborhoods.

WHAT NEXT?

Now is a time to make art. We need it now more than ever.

Now is a time to take care of yourself and each other. Your community needs support.

Now is a time to think of how our world might look after this has passed, and how each of us can shape it for the better. Our culture is ready for this. If any group of people can work collaboratively, it’s ours. We’re badasses!

Now is a time to stay connected and burn together… separately.

Once we’ve all had a chance to take a breath, we would love to engage you on how we can stay connected, and keep Burning together in the lead up to Lakes of Fire 2021.

For the answers to more general questions please see our General 2020 Cancellation FAQ. Ticketing-related details from this announcement will be available at COVID-19 Ticket Announcement and FAQ.

Next year was better,

BrewBear, Jackpot, Jin, Megan, Rabit, Scottie, & Skennedy

(in consultation with the Lakes of Fire Department Leads)

Board of Directors

Great Lakes Experimental Arts