Participate

Volunteering

What If is a purely volunteer organized and created event – thank YOU for being part of it!

Updates for What If 2026 are being made as information becomes available.

Why Should I Volunteer?

What If is built on the Ten Principles of Burning Man. One of the Principles is Gifting. Gifting is less about trinkets, and more about sharing your time and energy. Nothing will cement your experience as a part of this community – particularly if you’re new or don’t recognize many faces – more than being part of the Crew. Seriously! Maximum participation is what makes this event work the way it does. Other Principles realized by the Crew include: Communal Effort, Participation and Immediacy.

If you need any support with the Vome app, please email: [email protected].

Yes, I want to Volunteer!

Do you have questions about volunteering at What If 2026?

Then join us at an upcoming Virtual Volunteer Info Session!

We’ll be hosting 2 virtual Volunteer Info Sessions on Tuesday, May 26th and Tuesday, June 9th @ 8 PM via zoom.

Register here:

Tuesday, May 26th @ 8 PM

Tuesday, June 9th @ 8 PM

This year’s ParticiParty will take place on Sunday, June 28th @ Breemer Park (895 W 27th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2G7). More info and registration information forthcoming!

Volunteer Roles

There are so many ways to volunteer at What If! If you like being on the ground at the event in the middle of all the action, then check out these roles.

Flow

The Flow Team is all about safely and efficiently getting in/out of the event in the most FUN way possible! They are the lovely/surly people who will greet you at the gate, get you sorted out for parking and direct you to your camp.

Volunteers needed in: Greeters, Gate, Parking, Accessibility, Signage

Principles realized by the Flow Team include Communal Effort, Gifting, Civic Responsibility, and Participation.

Safety

Safety third! But seriously, we need folks to make sure we don’t test the fine print on the back of your ticket (“you might die”), Civic Responsibility is a key part of making What If safe, fun, and able to get insurance.

Responsible people are needed in the following areas: Rangers, Harm Reduction

DPW

The Department of Public Works are the folks who show up early and stay late. They get their hands dirty making sure we have infrastructure in place to do all the things we love to do! If laying wire, bushwacking, fixing a gennie, or wielding a belt full of tools sounds like a dreamy way to spend your day, this is your Crew!

We need hard-working humans in the following teams: Advance Site Prep, Placement, LNT, Power, Site Setup, Teardown, Transport, and Exodus.

Volunteer

If you’re a people person, this is your team! Serving food at the Commissary to other volunteers, giving out info at the Volunteer Hub, and rocking out the Partici-party and Volunteer Appreciation BBQ, this is a surefire way to appreciate and be appreciated by your fellow Volunteer Crew!

Acculturation Ambassadors

The Acculturation Ambassadors are part of the Culture Committee. They’re friendly folks with a few burns under their belts who can tell you the Ten Principles by heart and which one(s) have the most meaning to them.

They roam the land, dispensing wisdom, snark, and their love of all things Burner to help create the vibe we love about burning, encouraging participation, inspiration, consent culture, creativity, and positivity.

Foundations

This is basically set dec, but at a burn! The Foundations team is responsible for making sure things look beautiful, weird, trippy, and all around amazing.

If you’ve got an eye for design and want a chance to practice the Principles of Radical Self-expression, Gifting, Communal Effort, and Leave No Trace, check out the Foundations Team!

Volunteers are needed for: Centre Camp and Temple Guardians.

How do I reserve a volunteer shift?

Vome, GVIAS’s official volunteer management platform, is versatile, easy to use, and Canadian-made!

In order to sign up to volunteer at What If 2026, first you need to be in our system. If you haven’t already registered with Vome, please sign up here via our What If 2026 Volunteer Form.

Now that you’re officially in our system, please navigate to the Volunteer Opportunity you’re interested in and RESERVE YOUR SHIFT. See the instructions below for more information.

How to Reserve Your Shift:

Log in to https://www.vomevolunteer.com/

From the left-hand navigation menu, click Home

Within the section titled “What are you looking to do today?”, click Reserve shifts

Click the orange Reserve button for one or more shifts (Click see more details to learn more about the shift)

Click Review & Confirm

On the confirmation page, click Confirm Reservation

Click “See More Details” on the shift you are interested in to learn more about it. Watch Vome’s How to reserve a shift video for detailed instructions.

If you are interested in Rangering, please visit the BC Rangers, our local ranger org that recruit, train, and schedule What If’s Rangers.

Volunteer Recognition

Participation is a key element of having a good burn, and we all contribute to making What If the magical, weird, wonderful event that it is! Being part of the team that built it, decorated it, made things flow, and cleaned up when it’s all over is an amazing way to support our community and have fun while doing it!

Volunteering is also a great way to meet people, learn new skills, refresh forgotten knowledge, practice the Ten Principles, and give back to the volunteers that have come before you to make our regional burn what it is today.

And we love to appreciate and recognize our volunteers! At What If, volunteers get swag (a little gift of thanks for the hard work they do) and a delicious commissary meal the day they are volunteering (or the next one if it’s a late shift). Then, after it’s all over, we host a Volunteer Appreciation BBQ in Vancouver, so you can decompress and reconnect with your What If Volunteer homies.

So join the team to join the fun!