Around 3,000 people poured into the 13th annual unSCruz gathering May 3–5 at the San Benito County Fairgrounds. The four-day mix of freestyle art projects, bizarre vehicles, outlandish costumes, food and drink, music, dance and more went its course this year with a theme of “Cosmic Odyssey.”
Described by organizers as “a radically inclusive regional burning man event,” unSCruz—which spreads out over the fairgrounds, indoors and outdoors, in a wide spectrum of venues—includes a sound rooms, open art sessions, creative kitchens, acrobatics, experimental lighted and flame-breathing vehicles, games, bizarre architectural constructs, music, dance, unique campers and tents all under the umbrella of non-judgmental acceptance.
“For me, it’s an opportunity to express myself in a way I don’t usually get to do,” said Rachel W., a woman from San Francisco who was working on a large mural inside the Art Auditorium. “There’s a great community of people here. This is my third year and it just keeps getting better.”
unSCruz is largely based on the principles of Burning Man, which began in 1986 and is described by organizers as “a community and global cultural movement.”
Burning Man has become a large-scale event that unfolds in the western United States desert over a week and focuses on “community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.”
While activities spill across the course of each day, nightlife takes on a grander mission with many of the contraptions and vehicles boasting their vast array of lighted contraptions and flame-throwing fixtures propelled by natural gas.
“I enjoy coming for the art and the community, the people and the interactions,” said one man who goes by Twisty. “That’s one of the things that keeps me coming back. I put in a lot of work but I also get a big reward. The interactions with people, not only individual interactions, but also with groups. It has changed over the years; usually I would encounter music from artists that I would never normally go to because they’re in another part of the world and they come to an event that I am at. That was the initial draw. But I see so much more creativity in the art and the passion and energy people put into this.”
Booths and interactive stations around the grounds featured such names as Word Play Cafe, Saints & Sinners, Ki$$ 4 Spanks, Magic Lantern Society, Sparkle Farkers, Purplorium, The Spoon House, and The Museum of No Spectators. In the Fireball Shooting Gallery, guests were able to shoot balls of fire at a variety of targets. Scads of activities and hands-on creative projects for kids were also on the menu, where visitors could share in day care to free themselves up for pockets of time.
