Florida en Fuego
December 27, 2016 AUTHOR: Florida en Fuego CATEGORIES: Breaking News, Featured, Frontpage Article, News, Official Update

Incandescence Theme Camps Announced

The Hookah Lounge
Come to the Hookah Lounge and enjoy our flavored
tobaccos, coffee, and wide selection of teas. Our Moroccan style
lounge serves up shisha filtered through juice and water every night.
The plush seating, soft carpeting, and great people make this the
ultimate AfterBurn chill-out zone. If you have a favorite molasses
based tobacco, you are welcome to bring it and share with others

Resolution Revolution
Resolution Revolution gives you a place to come and
share your Resolutions for the year to come. We will have some
interactive methods of sharing your resolutions set up so that they
may be seen or heard by all, or secretly let go in the flames of the
effigy. Also our resident DJs will be bringing the party vibe for all
throughout the event so come and Dance the night away and share a
Champagne Toast!

Kinky Mean Girls
Kinky Mean Girls is a BDSM/Fetish themed camp with
a functional woodland dungeon space and cuddle tent. We host open dungeon
during the event and our camp is available for this purpose 24 hours.
Nestled back in the woods, KMG offers a great deal of privacy to
cater to your scenes and senses while still keeping the kink away from innocent
eyes or those who wish to avoid it. Friday night’s only whiskey fueled cuddle puddle against humanity. Whiskey shots, cards, and cuddles plus open dungeon all night.

The Eclectic Sound and Motion Tribe
This camp features two completely awesome assholes
who only endeavor to open your fucking minds with sound, motion, and
psychic fuckery. Djembe Jack (Kuiper) will be debuting his new
psytrance compositions and spinning down some antique beats and chill
vibes. Desja will be doing her shamanic dance thing and will be on tap
for anyone interested in communicating with the dead, experience a
theta healing session, and/or having their tarot cards read to see
what craptastic shit 2017 has in store. If the mood strikes she may
art it up a bit as well – on demand or inspiration, of course.

Camp Plug N Play
Down themecamp row, you will find a table, some
speakers, a few lights, a clearing for a dance floor, a single 3 prong
edison 120V AC plug, and a 3.5mm standard auxillary jack. Plug your
music producing equipment (phone, laptop, turntables) into the aux
jack, and pull any power you need from the single power cable (if you
need more outlets, bring your own power splitter). The speakers have
their own power. At it’s core, this is an experiment in negotiation,
if you and another participant want to use it at the same time, then
you need to negotiate it out as to who gets to play at that moment.
Work it out among yourselves and don’t get to the point where you need
to involve a ranger. Through your contribution to this music space,
allow us to experience the art you call music through your ears.

The Slutty Paintbrush
The Slutty Paintbrush will be a portable – on – the
go face painting and body paint station on the go traveling around on
the beautiful property as needed. Cupcakes and Smiles will be
provided.

The Secret Garden
Explore Xanadu and follow every garden path and you
will find the secret garden, a playspace that will induce your and
your walkabout partner into a romantic mindset. See the wonderous
characters abound, see the soothing and relaxing light, and hear the
backtrack of romantic songs. Take your partner by the hand and slow
dance your way into each other’s hearts in this quaint and hidden
clearing. If you can’t find it… F’jord might show you.

December 22, 2016 AUTHOR: Florida en Fuego CATEGORIES: Breaking News, Nature, News, Official Update

Winter Survival Guide

Guide to Winter Camping at Xanadu
Xanadu weather is never easy. Over the summer we released a camping guide to Xanadu that detailed everything you would need to stay healthy and have a blast at Midsummer Night’s Dream. The seasons have turned and winter is upon us. In this guide we aim to give you the best advice to have a spectacular time at Incandescence.
For tent camping, one of the most important things not having contact with the ground when you are sleeping. This even means through tarps or the bottom of your tent. You can use an insulated bed roll, thermal sleeping bag, or inflatable mattress, but direct contact will cause the heat in your body to go into the ground which will cause at the very least a lot of pain but can result in hypothermia.
If you get an inflatable mattress, the best thing is to put a sleeping bag or other insulation face up on top of it and then a fitted sheet over that. The air in the mattress will get very cold as well, which can be uncomfortable. Putting an open sleeping bag face up on the mattress will keep you separated from that cold. If you have one sleeping bag, then just use it as normal with you inside and on top of the mattress. Also, suggested for an inflatable mattress is an air pump with batteries (rechargeable or not). If the mattress loses air in the middle of the night, it’s usually better to inflate it where it is. If you have access to a generator at the event an electric blanket works great. Use it carefully and don’t leave it on all night as this can result in burns at high temperatures. Most of these blankets have an emergency cut off switch.

If we were in a colder climate, then the choice of tent would be very important. But it’s not that cold so any cheap nylon tent will typically do well. A canvas tent is great for keeping the heat in, but it’s just not necessary.
If you are getting a propane heater for your tent, it’s a good idea to get a carbon monoxide and fire detector as well. No one expects an accident to happen, but heaters can get knocked over in the middle of the night or during other activity and it’s good to have a warning.
Small propane heaters will heat up most small enclosed spaces and can make things a lot more comfortable. They sell these at big box hardware stores and they take the 1lb green canisters. It depends on the heater you get, but one canister usually lasts two nights.
Electric heaters are also an option if you expect to have power. Just remember that it’s you that will be jumping out in the middle of the night to refuel the generator if it runs out of gas.
In the day time, it will be warm enough that food will spoil. A refrigerator is normally kept at 40 degrees, and so for anything perishable you will need a cooler and ice. There will be ways to get ice at the event, but a large cooler should last the whole weekend. One tip for making ice last longer is to keep a towel on top of the food, as it will hold the cold in when you open it to get a drink.
In the day time, it can get pretty warm. Especially if you are coming from up north, the temperature in the day will be comfortable in jeans and t-shirt. But at night, it will dip down, so having a warm coat is a good idea. Layers are always good because theme camps might have different kinds of fire and other heaters going so it’s better to be able to adjust your clothing to your comfort.
As with all camping, it’s good to have a propane stove for cooking. Pretty much any one will do and one green canister will last the weekend. Pots and pans from home should be brought as well.
Some clean water should be brought for washing and drinking. This isn’t That Thing In The Desert, so 1 gallon per person for the weekend should be plenty. There are stalls for camp showers as well, so you may want to bring extra water for that. But even in the day time, this can be pretty cold.
It isn’t expected to rain, but weather people can be wrong and having an umbrella never hurt anyone. I’ve never gone on a trip and said “Man, I really wish I didn’t bring this umbrella.”

To recap, the minimal packing list is
– any basic tent
– insulation from the ground when you are sleeping. If you are bringing an air mattress, extra insulation from the air mattress.
– some kind of warm cover/duvet/sleeping bag
– possibly a personal heater
– food and drinks
– a cooler with ice for your perishable food. Consider laying a towel inside to help keep the cold in.
– a simple camp stove
– some propane canisters
– clothes for temperate weather (70s and 60s) that can be layered to chilly weather (40s and 30s)
– water for washing and drinking
– an umbrella

If you want to have a fire, then please understand that no ground fires are allowed on the property. It should be in a fire pit. If you are under or near trees, it should have a metal screen to catch embers. All fires must have someone present to tend to them, and if one is left alone, DPW or fire safety may put it out without talking to anyone.

Happy burn

July 1, 2016 AUTHOR: Florida en Fuego CATEGORIES: Official Update

Florida en Fuego Survival Guide 2016

Xanadu

Coming from the East, if you head on Interstate 10 to exit 225, head north on US Road 19, dropping gradually from 55mph to 25mph, until you get to a round about Monticello City Hall, heading counterclockwise around the roundabout past the first and second offshoots to take the third, effectively turning left on the roundabout, you will find yourself on US Road 90. Jacksonville people will recognize this road as the same road as Beach Boulevard, but out here it’s call West Washington St. Continuing west on US-90, you will pass by a Shell gas station on the right which will signal you to slow down, just as the speed sings are ramping back up from 25mph to 55mph. Continue an in the day time, you will see a tree orchard on the right, an oddly formed set of trees in perfect rows and not planted into the ground but planted into pots laid on the ground. Right where the orchard ends, on the left side of the road, you’ll see two purple reflectors and a post with two signs on it.

Coming from the West, on Interstate 10 you go to exit 217, head north on Florida State Road 59 until you can turn right onto US-90. Continue on that road until you go over a concrete bridge and then see a sign on the left that says “Welcome Monticello City Limit”. Before sign also on the left is the entrance. You will see the purple reflectors and the two signs.

The first sign reads “No Trespassers. WILL BE SHOT.” A notice to the outside world that Florida en Fuego ain’t nothing to mess with.

The second sign reads “Burns family reunion” and has an artistic representation of the Florida En Fuego tree on it.

You’re home.

Come inside where the gate/greeter volunteers will process your tickets, waivers, child registration, service animal registration, and all the things needed for you to gain admittance. Once admitted, they will relax and, if per-missed, will hug you and welcome you. You will get your event bracelets and other items and will be ushered into the land we call Xanadu.

Survival Camping

First and foremost, this is a survival camping event. The only infrastructure the event provides is portolets.
You want a cooking kitchen? Pack in some propane, a table, a sheet of aluminum foil (to protect the table from heat), and one of these https://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-Camping-Outdoor-Burner/dp/B0013LLSZG/ref=sr_1_1?s=outdoor-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1467309903&sr=8-1&keywords=camp+chef+oven
You want showers? Pack in your water, some low impact soap, and one of these: https://www.amazon.com/camping-showers/b?ie=UTF8&node=3401561 and you’ll have showers.
You want a cool place to hang out? Pack in a small tent, some sheets as curtains, a generator, some gasoline, and one of these https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=portable+air+conditioner or even just one of these http://www.homedepot.com/p/Arctic-Cove-18-Volt-Bucket-Top-Misting-Fan-Tool-Only-First-Generation-MBF018BTN/205397250?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D26P-AirCirculation%7c&gclid=Cj0KEQjwhtO7BRCtwuO9gfTH-fQBEiQAdJ8FY-k_Ja4EGtLzDzgWao4i0MRncCx-HZp4c0z0xmWD7nsaAv1P8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

The event will have a way to place ice orders at central operations before 10am, where you will give them cash, and someone will drive to the store and get ice based on your order, then drive back and deliver it by 11am, every day. You can use the ice in your mist bucket.

Or you can get water from the lake.

If you want to use water from the lake for drinking or food preparation, you will need to either heat it above 171 degrees Fahrenheit or use bleach drops in the appropriate ratio. Boiling the water is always better, but you can learn about bleaching water here: http://www.newjerusalem.com/PureWater.htm

If you need a fire, bring a portable fire pit as well as a bring a set of garden sheers and read the Leave A Better Trace guide on how to collect branches per our guidelines. Also look on the ground for dry wood. To keep a fire going, you need a good mix of small thin pieces of wood (kindling) and larger pieces (fuel wood). No ground fires please, and if you are under the trees, and you are using a wood fire put, we will need you to use your metal screen guard to prevent embers from flying into the woods.

Or just use a camping burner https://www.google.com/#q=coleman+burner . I mean, what are we? Savages?

Heat the water until large bubbles rise to the top, stir once to prevent cold spots, let the bubbles come again, and it’s 100% potable water.

Work with Xanadu, not against it

We’ve found that people can end up with a condition called Xanadone. If not treated properly, it can turn into a longer term Xanaflu. Don’t let this happen to you. Basically, save 10am-5pm as play time. Toss a frisbee in the field. Swim in the Lake. Hike the back trails. Blow bubbles for some kids. Practice your fire toy with some experts. Snooze in a hammock in the trees. Update your facebook with selfies. Work on that novel you’ve been putting off.

Whatever you do DON’T WORK. Even under the cool canopy of the trees, DON’T WORK. It’s very humid and working raises you body temperature badly and your sweat can’t cool you off because of the humidity. It’s just not worth it. It’s never worth it. Just do not work from 10am-5pm. Set up a two pole 4 person tent, okay. Set up a tent, and a popup, and carpets, and a mister, and table, and kitchen, and pop in your famous mac and cheese, and clear out some low hanging branches, and hang your solar lighting, and assemble your self sculpted artwork, and mix your 150 proof liquor into your fruity mix for gifting, and erect your massage tables, and put all the clothing for exchange out on your racks, and inflate your kiddie pool that you then fill with stuffed animals, and all the things an action participant wants to do right away when they get there?

Calm down.

Relax.

It’ll be okay. There’s a lot of light between 5pm and 8:30pm and the humidity goes down a lot. Just do the bare minimum to survive (set up a tent and a camp chair) and then leave the rest for the appropriate time. No one here is forcing you to do anything. This is a volunteer and participant driven event. No one is voluntelling you to do anything. We appreciate your gift, but we appreciate your health more. Doing too much in the day time is no bueno. Keep your strength for when it matters, please.

Also, when you are playing in the day time, whether it’s frisbee in the field, swimming in the lake, or hiking the woods, remember to hydrate. That’s not just water but water and electrolytes. It’s what plants crave. A cheap electrolytic hydration is water and lemon juice plus a pickle you keep in a jar in your pack. That will give you water and all 6 kinds of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate). We have tried to put salt in the lemon-water but it always tastes bad. If you can do this and have it taste good without sugar, let us know the ratio please.

So keep on drinking that lemon water and chewing on a pickle every now and then and you will get through your play time with no trouble.

Cooling Down

As said, you can bring all kinds of things to cool yourself down in camp. But if you don’t want to bring all that, there is a natural resource that will cool you off easily: the lake. As you enter the lake, the first layer is pretty warm from the sun. But after the first 12″, the water cools off. If you get to the center of the lake, you will feel the rush of a cold stream along the bottom which is the spring feeding the lake. This area is very cooling and relaxing, and the depth is only 4′, so most people can stand without any trouble there.

Be sure that if you enter the lake, that you have a partner with you and that you are well hydrated. Cramping in the middle of the lake is no fun and can be very dangerous.

Recovering From Dehydration

When you are dehydrated, what happens is your muscles start to cramp badly and uncontrollably. If you experience this, hydrating with electrolytes is the first thing to go to. Do not drink anything with sugar in it. Glucose and fructose will block your body from absorbing the electrolytes immediately, instead making them more slow release. This is why that popular college football inspired “ade” has so much sugar in it. It’s also why lemonade has so much sugar. It is meant to slow release the electrolytes as you are in an activity. This is for prevention, though, it is not an emergency cure.

In an emergency, you need no sugar. Drink your lemon water, eat your pickle, and wait 10 minutes. If you aren’t feeling better, then it’s time to signal for help, have 911 called, and have someone inform central operations that an ambulance is coming and where they should go to. Event Medical staff may be able to triage you, but if you have a full body cramp and hydrating didn’t help at all, then it’s best not to delay.

Medical needs

Florida en Fuego will have Medical volunteer staff at The Event. They will be available as needed, and if you find a ranger, the ranger can typically make a call for medical. However, the amount of medical care these volunteers can give is very limited. They can assess, they can explain what they think is happening, but they can’t do anything that will assume your care. If you complain of a pain in your head, they might talk about how their aunt had that and took some ibuprofen once, but they are not going to hand you a dosage of pills.

They can assess if you need to have emergency services called. If you are under your own power, they can assist you in moving to a central area to be picked up by emergency services. They can assist in making sure that the call goes out if you don’t have your phone on you. There are emergency clinics not very far away, Xanadu is literally 100 feet from the city line. For major medical, it is 30 minutes away from Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee.

We also hope you understand that Florida en Fuego expects participant groups to be radically self-reliant enough to not let their members to get to, for example, a state of alcohol intoxication that would require an ambulance to be called. If one is needed to be called, then we’ll call it, but we do not want to have an argument over whether or not the ambulance will be called while your friend needs the service badly. Please, take the steps in your groups to ensure your do not have one of you be that guy.

Alligators

This guide will address specifically the question of alligators only because we keep getting the question. At the work-play weekends, we have identified one 5′ alligator and two 3′ alligators. We have had hunting parties try to capture them, but the thing about alligators is that they are terrified of human activity. If they get to be 10′ or longer, they may attack humans, but these small ones will always run when an adult human is near. That said, if you are looking over a little one, be sure to keep them close. It is typically safer to keep yourself between the child and the embankment, as the embankment is where alligators like to hide.

Alligators, unlike their brethren crocodiles, are not aggressive at all. When put into “fight or flight” mode, they will always attempt to choose flight. But if they feel they are cornered, they will decide their only choice is to fight. So, if you do approach one, make sure you always give it an exit for it to dart to, otherwise it will defend itself.

They are passive hunters, also called ambush predators. They sit in the water with their mouths open literally waiting for up to a week for a small animal to climb inside their mouth. If you see one, don’t climb inside it’s mouth. It’s really that easy.

A reminder: this isn’t Crocodile Dundee stuff. Crocodiles are from Australia and like most things in Australia are extremely dangerous. In Florida, we have gators. Gators are… mostly harmless.

Other Wildlife

There is other wildlife in the woods. At the work-plays, they come around the borders of the property and you can hear their howls in the distance. But at The Event, there will be so many fires and bassey music that it will drive all of this wildlife away. Animal kingdom predators hate dubstep. True story.

Insects

The one thing that you will encounter is insects. Use a deet or organic spray twice a day and you will keep this down. Try not to lay in the dirt with exposed skin, or ants might bite you. Theme camps are encouraged to place mats or tarps down in their public area. Straw has been good at Transformus’ Mysteria, but we’ve never tried it at Xanadu. If you forget your bug spray, the Kinky Mean Girls camp will have a bug spray service, where, upon sitting in their chairs, they will guide you through being sprayed.

Ticks

The kind of ticks we have at Xanadu are “Black legged ticks” aka “deer ticks”
http://www.tickencounter.org/tick_identification/deer_tick

These can transmit Lyme disease. However, it is important to note that simply getting bitten is not enough to catch this disease. The tick must be attached to you for at least 24 hours for an effect to take place. So check your body and the bodies of any partners or children you have with you for ticks every night. The Kinky Mean Girls camp also has tick spotting in their service, so sit in their chairs and they will find the ticks outside of your bathing suit areas. They cannot remove the ticks for you, so look at videos on how to remove ticks. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wotB38WrRY

Even if you contract Lyme disease, it can be treated in it’s early stages, just be aware that the longer it goes untreated, the more neurological effect it will have.

Spiders

It’s hard to put a section in here about this. Spiders are our friends. There are a good number of them in the woods at Xanadu, but they build their webs in the most annoying places, causing you to walk through them as you move about your camp. “That wasn’t there yesterday” you might find yourself saying.

You can just pull the web down and maybe kill the spider, but this isn’t the best thing for you or the spider. Instead, consider getting two sticks and using them to pick up the web and transfer it to the outside of the camping area. This makes it so that around the boarder of the camp, there is a natural bug zapper. You can even transfer it to a high branch of a tree in camp, but bear in mind that if it is a female, that might mean there will be a lot of little spiders around camp soon. So if you aren’t so good at telling male from female spiders, just move them outside your camping area. Try not to damage the web as you move it, because if you transfer it just right, the spider will choose to fix the damaged parts in the transfer instead of moving out and making a new web.

Hot In The Day, Cold In The Night

Between 5pm and 9pm, the temperature starts to drop. The humidity falls and at sun down, dew starts to form on all the things. This is similar to at burning man where in the day time, it’s best to wear minimal clothing, light cotton clothing, or summer style fashion. At night, have a few furry outfits that you can switch into, but be aware that it is wet on the ground so make sure the furry outfit is okay with wetness on the ground. A furry vest and leather pants might be the way to go.

Wet Ground

A lot of the ground is very dry, but there are parts in the woods that are Florida wetlands. And, as just said, at night, the whole area get covered with a layer of dew at night once the sun goes down. Because of this, footwear is important. Going cheap, galloshes have been pretty good, although after a little time, they fill up with sweat because they don’t let any water in or out. More expensive would be waterproof hiking boots with wicking https://www.google.com/#q=waterproof+hiking+boots+with+wicking The higher the ankle, the better, as it will keep insects out of there.

Walkabout Equipment

When you go on walkabout at Xanadu, it’s recommended that you bring a backpack with
– water bladder filled with lemon-water
– a flashlight or headlamp in case it gets dark while you are out
– any kind of emergency medications you might need (e.g. albuterol inhaler or glucose tablet)
– a jar of pickled vegetables or other salty snack
– your cellphone (most of Xanadu has some coverage)

as a bonus, you should consider getting an air horn. If you are in trouble, you can blast it three times to let others know that you are in distress. Please, do not be a boy crying wolf with this. A single blast can drive animals away if you are deciding to hike away from the main camping area and into the deeper parts of the woods in the south. Please be aware that the further into the woods you go, the harder it will be for event volunteers to be able to reach you if you are in trouble. Bringing a hiking partner is always safer.

Also, there are a number of good hiking apps for cellphones that participants at the work-play weekends have used. We cannot recommend any in this guide, but you can talk to them directly to get their recommendations.

This Guide

This guide is a living document. If you have any suggestions or find out new ideas, the Florida en Fuego team would love to hear them from you. If you can show us at an event, that’s even better. This advice is to enhance your safety at Xanadu events, but you should always keep your own wits about you as you interact with this unique piece of Florida wilderness.