Karma Chickens Camp at Burning Man




Karma Chickens were at Burning Man 2009 on Extinct at 7:40.
(Visit the link for the 2009 planning documents and calendar.)

  • Activities
  • Camp Layout
  • Recipe for the Flaming Cluck, our signature cocktail
  • Pictures of Karma Chickens at Previous Years' Burning Mans

  • Camp Activities

    Karma Chickens operate in a spirit of sharing knowledge, experience, and fun. We are a diverse group of people with wide-ranging interests including members of theme camps from previous years. We offer workshops, lessons, and opportunities to participate in joining together in voice, skill, and motion. In the past, members of Karma Chickens have: In 2009, we invited residents of Black Rock City to:


    Camp Layout

    The Karma Chickens camp centers around our 25-foot EMT conduit dome, covered in hand-made colorful shade panels. Our dome is secured with rebar stakes. On top of a large soft carpet in the center of the dome, we keep several lounge chairs and a few tables. This is our space for conducting workshops and classes.

    Behind the dome, we store some food and cook some meals in a 15x15 foot quonset hut made from PVC pipes, a large tarp, and rebar. In previous years we have erected a second dome built like the first, and used it to hold Pillow Fighting tournaments.

    We place our shower and gray-water evaporation area about twenty feet behind the cooking hut. The shower in 2009 was a raised platform with shower curtains (based on the Nosefish shower design) that drains into our gray-water system. Last year, gray water emptied into three buckets connected by pipes for settling solids, then recirculated onto a large evaporation mesh. Our 200 watts of solar panels feed a 2000 watt-hour battery system and are backed up by a nearly-silent gasoline generator that we rarely need to run.

    Some Karma Chickens camp in their RVs and the others camp in canopies and tents ranging from the "CostCo Barn" 10' by 20' footprint to family-size 10' by 10' tents to 8' by 6' personal tents.

    RVs and SUVs line the back of the camp and other cars line the sides. Some of our campmates also bring their own smoking and barbecuing grills and cook near their tents.


    The Flaming Cluck

    The Flaming Cluck Recipe — easy as 1-2-3


    On Wednesday, the Karma Chickens were scheduled to host a "Classic Cocktail" hour, and one of the drinks listed in the What, Where, When was the Gimlet, a mix of gin and Rose's Lime Juice. Some nice citrus-y sourness to cut the playa in the back of our throats, a bit of sweetness to balance the sourness, and of course, alcohol to help move the party along. Sounds like the perfect drink for Burning Man!


    Unfortunately, the person bringing the lime juice was delayed, and so we had to improvise. We had no lime juice, but we did have lemon juice. Chip replaced the gin with vodka and the lime juice with lemon juice, and dubbed it the Flaming Cluck:


    1/2 oz. simple syrup*

    1 oz. lemon juice (we used ReaLemon)

    1-1/2 oz. vodka


    (Those of you who are mixologists will recognize this as a Vodka Sour.) The drink was a huge hit, and we immediately started making it by the pitcher. All you need to remember to scale the recipe upwards is one part simple syrup, two parts lemon juice, and three parts vodka. Or, even more simply, just remember the basic "sour" recipe:


    "One sweet, two sour, three strong"


    The "strong," of course, is the alcohol. You can use the same "1-2-3" proportions for whiskey sours, gimlets, even margaritas!


    * If you aren't familiar with simple syrup, it's really nothing more than concentrated sugar water. The nice thing about simple syrup when mixing drinks is that the sugar is already pre-dissolved. Simple syrup can usually be found with the sugar and syrups in the supermarket or in the mixers section of liquor stores, where it is also known as "bar syrup." Simple syrups made from cane sugar are preferable to ones made from high fructose corn syrup. You can also make your own:


    Simple Syrup Recipe


    Bring two cups of water to a boil. Turn down the heat and stir in two cups of granulated sugar and continue to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Then put it in a clean glass bottle or jar and store in the fridge. It should keep for at least a few weeks. 


    Memories from Previous Years' Burning Mans. Men. Burnings Man. Whatever.


    The Karma Chickens main dome with banner

    Playing some guitar, singing some songs

    Swing dancing lessons in the dome

    A collaborative canvas

    The Karma Chicken Camp in 2006

    Our painted banner we hang on the dome

    After Burning Man 2006, the MOOP MAP showed us in the green at 4:10 and Guess.

    Sari tying workshop

    Modified Nosefish shower design and graywater evaporation fountain

    Manually-orientable 200W solar panel rig

    Some of the chickens before heading to the Waffle ("Uchronia")

    Computerized interactive dome lighting