Why Cancel Culture Has No Place in Burn Culture

Burn culture thrives on radical inclusion, self-expression, and personal accountability. Whether at Burning Man, Flipside, or Scorched Festival, our communities exist to celebrate human creativity, connection, and the freedom to explore new ideas and experiences. These values simply do not align with cancel culture.

Cancel culture operates on public shaming, group judgment, and social exclusion based on hearsay or past actions, often without firsthand experience or direct engagement. Burn culture, on the other hand, encourages people to form their own opinions based on personal interaction and real-world behavior, not rumor or mob consensus.

At Scorched Festival, we do not ban people because of online drama, past mistakes, or personal disputes between attendees. We do not run background checks, enforce personal vendettas, or dictate who you can or cannot interact with. Our focus is on creating a safe and respectful space at the event itself. We handle concerns in the present moment, based on actual conduct during the festival, not someone’s social media history.

We Cannot Be Threatened Into Compliance

Some events can be pressured into political or performative decisions because they rely heavily on ticket sales, corporate sponsors, or third-party venues. Scorched Festival is different. We own our land. We own our core infrastructure. We do not rent our space, and we do not need permission from outside entities to host our event.

That means no one, no matter how large their online following, can leverage boycotts, sponsorship threats, or public pressure to force us into performative “justice” decisions. Even if a group decides not to attend, the festival will go on. The party will happen. The fire will burn. The community will gather.

While we welcome all who come in good faith, we will not allow online mobs or social cliques to dictate the spirit of our celebration.

Radical Inclusion Means Radical Acceptance

The burner ethos asks us to be radically inclusive. That means accepting people as they are even if they don’t perfectly fit our personal ideals. It means understanding that humans are complex, imperfect, and ever-changing. It means refusing to reduce someone’s identity to a single mistake or rumor.

This is why burn events across the world resist cancel culture:

• We judge people by direct experience, not by gossip.

• We resolve conflict through communication, not public shaming.

• We create space for growth and redemption, not permanent exile.

Participation Is the Only Real Voice

Scorched Festival is a participatory event. If you want to influence how it operates, the most effective path is to show up and help build it. Volunteer. Offer solutions. Share your ideas directly with the organizers. Those who invest their time, labor, and creativity into the festival will always carry more weight than those who simply criticize from the sidelines.

Participation creates community. Online tantrums do not.

The Party Goes On

The burning of the effigy reminds us that life is fleeting and beautiful. Every year is unique, never to be repeated. If you choose not to attend, you miss something that can never be recreated.

Our hope is that you’ll join us not just to watch the fire, but to be part of our community. To dance under the stars, to meet people you never expected, to build something extraordinary together.

At Scorched Festival, we protect our community by fostering respect, not by policing personal lives. We create safety through shared responsibility, not through public punishment. And we will never allow cancel culture to dictate how we celebrate life, art, and freedom.

We burn together. We build together. We rise together.
The fire is for everyone and no one gets to cancel that.

Learn More About the Harm of Cancel Culture

If you want to better understand how cancel culture disproportionately harms the very voices it claims to protect, especially marginalized voices, we encourage you to read the article by Josiah James Ingalls, How Cancel Culture Silences Marginalized Voices. In it, He explains how public shaming often drives away the complex thinkers and creative leaders our communities most need, replacing dialogue with fear. Educating yourself on this issue helps ensure that our burner culture remains inclusive, resilient, and committed to real human connection.