About What If

What If, previously known as Burn in the Forest (BitF) is the Greater Vancouver Interactive Arts Society’s (GVIAS) Official Burning Man Regional annual summer event.

About What If & Burning Man Regional Events

PARTICIPATION!

On top of the 10 guiding Principles that shape burner events, the most significant difference between a “typical” festival and Burning Man Regional events like What If is citizen participation.

Whereas at most commercial events, you pay your admission and in exchange become a spectator for whatever entertainment the producers have prepared for you, at What If all activities, stages, theme camps, workshops, art, and performances are independently produced by What If citizens and offered free of charge for the benefit of everyone.

Check out last year’s BitF Org Chart to get a sense of all of the wonderful humans who’ve stepped up to volunteer their time to make the event happen!

What’s a Burning Man Official Regional Event?

This official status allows GVIAS and the What If Production team to utilize the trademarked logo and words such as ‘Burning Man’ in their materials and promotion. The Burning Man Vancouver Regional Contacts are tasked with overseeing and ensuring that the event adheres to all guidelines, requirements and that the event follows Burning Man’s 10 Principles.
Read more about the criteria here: Burning Man Official Regional Event.

Burning Man Regional Network Info: regionals.burningman.org
Burning Man Vancouver Regional News Page: facebook.com/vancouverburners

GIFT YOUR PASSIONS!

The beautiful tapestry of citizen contributions is what makes What If special. Citizens dedicate their effort and time to the things that they are passionate about, then build them, bring them, and let the others experience this amazing gift. The What If experience is the sum of a thousand citizens’ passions, laid out for all to experience, like a fantasy carnival midway.

The most rewarding way to experience What If is to create something that stokes your passions, and share it with all of us! You can DIY and be your own rockstar, or collaborate and create lasting connections with other citizens!

Head on over to the PARTICIPATE section to learn more about getting involved.

To learn more about the local community and all of the ways to connect, see: https://linktr.ee/vancburners

History of What If & Burn in the Forest

Burn in the Forest began in 2002 when a group of loosely organized Burners from Vancouver decided that it was time to create an outdoor camping event, in accordance with the 10 principles of Burning Man.  Many people in the community feel this was a magical event, in a magical space, where the community came together with minimal central organization, with everyone participating and helping to create an event like no other

Located on the Squamish River, the old site was a very popular one for outdoor events, and because it was on Crown Land we were able to keep the event free/by donation. Unfortunately, due to overuse and the increasing pressures of human encroachment into natural habitats, in 2006 a young grizzly started to visit the site, and ultimately that is what caused the site to be completely closed to the public.

In the beginning of 2009 the new site was found at Squamish Valley Campground, and at the GVIAS Annual General Meeting a nearly unanimous vote decided that, once again, the name Burn in the Forest would be used for our summer camping event.

In 2015, only 6 weeks before our scheduled event, we lost the use of the Squamish Valley Campground over some Crown Land use issues. As the Production Team had already been scoping out land to accommodate future years’ growth, we were able to secure our new home, at the Cheam Fishing Village, located on Cheam First Nation traditional lands near Agassiz, BC.

In 2019 circumstances led to us moving our event location to the Snug Lake Amphitheatre.

After several years without the opportunity to come together to celebrate, Burn in the Forest 2022 took place in Sept in Merritt, BC. We returned to Merritt again for the 2023 & 2024 events.

After the 2024 event, the community undertook the renaming of our flagship event. You can read about the project details and reasons here:
Burn in the Forest name change project info.

We’re sure to continue to make it every bit as memorable as the Burn in the Forest events of years past.

Contact the What If Production team via the Contact Us form.
Join the What If Facebook Group to connect with other participants.

10 Principles

New to What If or the Burning Man community? These 10 Principles are the foundational roots of this community and participation forward. You’re encouraged to get to know these perspectives. Tune it on how they currently pepper your days. Witness how they can influence your life before, during and after What If.

Radical Inclusion

Anyone may be a part of What If. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

Gifting

What If is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

Decommodification

In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorship, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

Radical Self-Reliance

What If encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.

Radical Self-Expression

Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.

Communal Effort

Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.

Civic Responsibility

We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavour to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

Leaving No Trace

Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

Participation

Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.

Immediacy

Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.

Consent

Considered as the “11th Principle” by some, consent respects the autonomy of the individual, who has the right to make their own choice about their own body, property, personal space and privacy. Read more about The 11th principle Consent.

Post-Event Reports & Financials

One of the conditions of being recognized an an Official Burning Man Regional event includes that all accounting must be transparent, and post event wrap up reports & Financials be posted publicly.
Read more about what it means to obtain Regional Status.

 

 

©2025 Greater Vancouver Interactive Art Society