Building Wasteland: The Crew Building a Better Apocalypse
1,278In this documentary we look at a few of the hundreds of volunteers who help build Wasteland Weekend.
Starting days before the event, the crew arrive to assemble incredible builds, like the Wasteland City Gates, the Wasteland Stage, and the command center. But, building at a new location for the first time proved to have it's problems. The desert sands were swallowing vehicles left and right so the crew had to do the unthinkable, paving the roads by hand.
A film by Mike Darling
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#MadMax #postapocalypse #wastelandweekend
This is Wasteland Weekend
It's a festival held on the edge of the Mojave desert in southern California. Rooted in the world of mad max, its 5 days of post-apocalyptic immersion with music, arts, cage fights, thunderdome battles, engines, warring tribes and everything else that comes with an imagined future world in near-annihilation.
Beginning in 2010, the event has grown from a few hundred participants, to several thousand With a small, dedicated team putting the whole thing together.
after SEVEN YEARS AT California CITY'S h park
Wasteland weekend SETS UP FOR THE FIRST TIME AT ITS
permanent HOME IN THE MOJAVE DESERT
MOST OF THE EVENT IS BUILT IN JUST A FEW DAYS BY A SMALL ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS
They are the wasteland build crew
They’ve already begun building operational structures and set pieces for the event. One of the top priorities is the Command center which will provide shade in the 90+ heat of the Mojave desert.
Volunteers will arrive steadily throughout the next few days, though Some have already been on site for a week.
There's no permanent buildings here, So all structures, boundaries and infrastructure need to be completed in the few days before the event.
There's very little time for unforeseen problems.
Hiring heavy equipment is not an option for the small event, so over 20 truckloads of gravel have to be moved with rakes and shovels
This is the first time these newly designed City Gates and Wasteland sign
have been constructed outside of a work shop
With a few major projects well underway and only 3 days until attendees arive, some of the crew leaders gather to plan out the next days operations. Meanwhile work continues through the night to make up for lost time
Volunteering for wasteland build crew means using whatever skills you have
helping wherever you can and often improvising to get the work done
Volunteers are asked for 16 hours of work to earn a free ticket to the event. Many build crew members will do much more than that.
Morale remains high even as another load of gravel arrives on site.
back at the command center, a more cosmetic task
small flags mark over a hundred assigned spaces, to add a touch of order to a property that a few days ago had no roads
The rusted metal facade has been installed on the
main gates so some of the crew move on to the
next big project, the atomic cafe.
Massive custom-built shipping crates double as walls, towers and on-site storage. The unimog is busy with other projects, so they need to be moved with more primitive methods
Tribes camping inside the themed area are allowed to arrive early to get
a jump on setting up
At the main stage, Adam's focusing his attention on the fire effects
with a fresh leg injury, this is his first time having to lead from the ground
As the sun sets in the Mojave desert the temperature
can swing 30 degrees in just a couple hours.
And With limited power and lights on site, most work
Must come to a stop after dark.
with another day of work wrapping up the crew gather to celebrate their accomplishments so far, organize the next projects, and enjoy hanging out with their fellow wastelanders
These meetings not only keep everyone motivated, but also let them celebrate together. After year-long preparations, everyone’s excited just to be here.
The festival coordinator, Jared, is now on site and assesses how everything is going
With the gates opening so soon, everyone hustles to get the final details into place
the opening of the Wasteland gates is the official start to Wasteland Weekend. for the next 5 days, thousands of people will walk through these gates and celebrate the post-apocalypse.