The 10 Principles

The TL;DR Version

Here's a super short bullet list of the 10 principles of Burning Man for complete newbies:

1. Radical Inclusion: Embrace all and welcome diversity.
2. Gifting: Give without expecting anything in return.
3. Decommodification: Create a culture free from commercial influence.
4. Radical Self-Reliance: Be self-sufficient and accountable for yourself.
5. Radical Self-Expression: Celebrate and express your true self freely.
6. Communal Effort: Collaborate and work together to build a community.
7. Civic Responsibility: Respect rules and take care of the environment.
8. Leave No Trace: Clean up after yourself, leaving the place as you found it.
9. Participation: Actively engage and contribute to the experience.
   
10. Immediacy: Live in the present and fully embrace the moment.

These principles form the core values of Burning Man and guide the event's unique culture of creativity, community, and self-expression. Below is the original version that is a bit more specific. If you have never seen this list, please read it carefully.

The original (slightly longer) version

Radical Inclusion

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

Gifting

Burning Man 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.

De-commodification

​In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising.

Radical Self-Reliance

Burning Man 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 freely 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. We work collectively as a Camp and as Burners to make sure everyone has their best experience possible.

Civic Responsibility

We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants, 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.

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.