In Iran, the spring new year included jumping over bonfires. Surely their must be other fire ceremonies which are culturally acceptable and could provide cover for burner activities?

You can't just wave your hand and dismiss a whole religion. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, etc. already attend the event. Some may not eat the bacon, and others may not use mind-altering substances, whether in the name of certain passages in a book - The Old Testament, The Koran, etc. - or for personal reasons (e.g. annonymous camp, vegetarianism, etc.).

People in this region are accustomed to parties in the desert. Some make art, listen to/make music, drink, fuck, solve the world's problems over the dinner table, etc. As BRC only appeals to a certain percentage of the US population, the same holds true here.

I go back to (probably) my favorite part of Burning Man which is the experiment in community. It's not just peaceful co-existence, it's collaborative existence. Though I admit the tendency in the region is to put greater allegiance in the family you are born into rather than the one you choose, that does not prevent one from widening the circle.

Most people I have described the event think they would enjoy it. For that same group, however, it also presents a logistic nightmare at prohibitive cost. At least in some pretty nutty looking festivals in say India, there will be vending, lodging, etc. and I'd say those would seem approachable for me, even as a first timer . .. but hell I'm 3/4 ot the way there at this point, and I know how to go somewhere and be self-reliant, and could muster the resources and even gain support people just by reaching out.

I know some of my personal limits (thankfully not all). I am not about to volunteer to babysit someone for a week in BRC and/or support a sponsored ambassador. Radical self-reliance - most people have to make the decision on their own to come to BRC. I am not adverse, though, to bringing it to the people in some way, or help someone to plan their travels. I would note that my thread to find someone flying from Bahrain to BRC did not get very far, but it did not hurt to ask, and that really was "Plan D".

I admit that I am not much of an event planner. The Middle East Santa Stumble (MESS) seemed to be my limit . .. and a group of a dozen Santas was well received on the streets of Bahrain. I have not built big art nor do I have the facilities in my apartment to experiment, and I think for a BRC-like event (regional burn) you almost need to build something big and burn it. Nope just a humble newspaper man for one week out of the year and, though typically not the instigator, one that helps turn it up to 11.

So I'm down for a collaboration to "do" something, or otherwise go with my "normal flow" which is more based on small scale personal interaction.