Well, comparing our event to Burning Man is an easy way to tell people that it’s a fun desert camping event with costumes, music and themed campsites. Despite the fact that Wasteland Weekend may look similar on the surface, or has been described by some as reminiscent of Burning Man in its early days, the two events are not related and actually differ on many fundamental levels. Don’t expect Wasteland Weekend to fit into the Burning Man mold.

The major differences between Burning Man and Wasteland Weekend could be categorized into 3 factors: identity, goals, and rules.

Identity
Burning Man emerged from the art and counter-culture communities of San Francisco and is known for breaking the envelope of societal norms – whether that be riding your bicycle naked, wearing a colorful, funky costume, or driving a vehicle shaped like a banana. Because of this, Burning Man tends to attract folks like avant-garde artists, spiritual seekers, progressives, as well as a lot of trance music enthusiasts.

Wasteland Weekend, on the other hand, was started by fans of cult-classic pop-culture films like The Road Warrior. It attracts folks from the punk, metal and industrial scenes, gear heads, survivalists, reenactors, and geeks. While the event could be categorized as an outdoor science-fiction convention, it is actually more accurate to say that it’s like a post-apocalyptic Renaissance Fair. As such, Wasteland Weekend operates more like a traditional festival, with official, scheduled entertainment.

Burning Man, for the most part, is focused less on providing entertainment, and more on providing a venue – so that attendees can make their own parties and share their own art as they wish. As they say on their homepage,

“Burning Man isn’t your usual festival, with big acts booked to play on massive stages. In fact, it’s more of a city than a festival, wherein almost everything that happens is created entirely by its citizens, who are active participants in the event.”

Goals
Burning Man and Wasteland Weekend operate differently and attract different crowds because they are trying to achieve different things with their events.

Burning Man wants to make a difference, whether that includes building community, making provocative statements through art, or simply, “making a positive spiritual change in the world.”

While that’s all good and well, Wasteland Weekend’s goal is having light-hearted fun and providing entertainment in a fully-immersive post-apocalyptic environment. It’s a theme party that’s all about the costumes, the vehicles and the sets. Community is a bi-product of what happens when post-apocalypse fans come out and share in the experience. New Wasteland Weekend attendees are always surprised by how friendly and cool their fellow attendees end up being.

Rules
The rules of an event are guided by its goals, local laws, as well as by the agencies that have jurisdiction over the area. Burning Man is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, a federal agency, and falls under the laws of Nevada. Wasteland Weekend is a California-based event and is under the jurisdiction of the city of California City. While that means the authorities provide a faster response time, and are easier to work with, this and other factors lead to two different sets of rules at the two events. Some things will be stricter, and some will be more lenient.

The fact that Wasteland Weekend is trying to create a themed, immersive environment means it has to be stricter in controlling the atmosphere – the music people hear, the physical environment, etc. This means all costumes need be in theme, and unapproved sound systems (ie large DJ set-ups) will not be allowed.

Wasteland Weekend is a costumes-required event (so there are no gawkers, only participants in the theme) and we’re laser-focused on only one theme: post-apocalyptic. At Burning Man, a random assortment of vehicles, costumes, camps and art installations scatter the landscape, sometimes within a very broad theme but often not (the “Mad Max”-themed stuff makes up a very small percentage). Wasteland Weekend is an event where everyone collectively contributes to one specific unifying theme, creating a powerful movie-like setting.

Entertainment wise, there are also some similarities and differences. Like Burning Man, we’ll have a lot of fire performers, DJs and live drumming.  But unlike Burning Man, our entertainment isn’t a kind of free-flowing, user-created jam session. Ours is a set list of performers appearing at specific stage areas. Think of it more as a night club in the desert. (Performers interested in being part of the entertainment must get in touch with us ahead of time.)

Wasteland Weekend is more lenient than Burning Man as far as allowing vendors, allowing unlimited re-entry, and not requiring registration for special vehicles. Participants can come and go as they like and are free to buy and sell (vendors need to register).

Summary
Wasteland Weekend has a lot it can learn from a highly-planned, successful annual event that has been in the desert for over 20 years. However, the two events are fundamentally different in essence and what they are trying to achieve.

Another difference of course is that Wasteland Weekend is much closer to Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas than Burning Man, and a lot less expensive!
Burning Man ticket price range (if you can get one): $240 – $420 (including gate ticketing)
Wasteland Weekend price range: $55 – $100

To find out more, check out the following blog posts:

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/02/06/mel-gibson-on-his-mad-max-past-and-new-epic-aspirations/

http://www.welovecult.com/2012/featured/an-evening-with-the-wastelanders-and-mel-gibson/

http://renrobot.blogspot.com/2012/01/mad-max-trilogy-screening.html

http://www.moveablefest.com/moveable_fest/2012/01/mel-gibson-mad-max-thunder-road-berserker-maccabees.html

All photos by Michael Darling

A Look Back

We want to begin by saying THANK YOU. Wasteland Weekend is a volunteer-driven event, and this event could not have happened without the enormous energy, effort and sacrifice of all of our volunteers (including our senior staff and performers who are also volunteers). And the event could not have been as memorable and exciting as it was without the creative contributions of our many enthusiastic tribe members and other attendees.

Our 2011 event was a huge success. We nearly doubled our attendance from the previous year, and the overall look and feel of the event took another big step toward our dream of a fully-immersive post-apocalyptic experience.

With any event of this type, especially one with a budget as tight as ours, there will always be hurdles to overcome, and we certainly had our share. But ultimately, the fauxpocalypse ™ could not be stopped, and we all had a hell of a good time.

The event planning began months in advance, with strategizing and coordinating, recruitment of amazing (and slightly mentally deranged) participants, build days in Hesperia, promotion at conventions and clubs, and online social networking.

When September finally arrived, our build crew hit the empty Mojave desert and began to transform it into the Wasteland Compound.

The tribes (a new initiative this year, and a very successful one) began to arrive early, and their camp sites, towers, market stalls, thunderdomes and jugger fields began to fill in the interior of the compound.

The tribes of WW2011 were such a big part of the event that they will probably be the subject of their own, more detailed blog post at a later time, but suffice it to say that we will be continuing and expanding the tribe aspect of WW in the future.

Arriving attendees were guided by “WW” signs across the desert roads, leading them to the check-in station (guarded by a menacing multi-barreled flame cannon in the back of an armored pickup truck).

By Friday afternoon the compound had filled in, and the masses gathering in the general camping area outside the Wasteland Gates (new this year) were growing restless.

Our Captain of the Elite Guard (another new concept this year) gave the order “Open the gates!” – and the great rusted steal doors parted.

As attendees surveyed the 360-degree post-apocalyptic compound, the theme from Bartertown played from the main stage sound system. Tribal leaders stood proudly at the gates of their little enclaves welcoming the curious. Bartertown merchants hawked their wares. Thunderdome combatants practiced, getting ready for the first match.

The ApocaLIPS tribe of Amazon women gave us our first diversion, with the coronation of their queen along with an auction of male slaves (one of which had the misfortune of being auctioned to the tribe of Wasteland Cannibals).

An approaching storm caused the music and generators to be temporarily shut down as a precaution, and the Elite Guards to climb down from their towers, but the lightning show and desert sunset that followed made up for it. And we were spared the rain that passed nearby.

As an authentic Australian replica of Mad Max’s car, the black-on-black Pursuit Special aka the last of the V8 Interceptors, came roaring through the main gates, the opening ceremonies began.

Fire performers Celsius lit up for the crowd as the V8 Interceptor parked in front of the main stage and revved its engine. The first DJ began spinning music and the Atomic Cafe and Wasteland Casino opened for business.

The first Thunderdome match began Friday evening to the chants of “Two men enter, one man leaves!”. The Carnival Of Destruction crew put on Thunderdome matches all weekend, and while the dome itself may have been small (there are plans for a bigger dome in the future) the matches themselves were larger than life – complete with Peckinpah-sized blood splatters (woe to those front-row patrons standing in the “splash zones”.)

As the night rolled on, more DJs stepped up to spin, the Beckys and the Grind Queens lit up the night with fire breathing and showers of sparks, and Brazen Booties Burlesque put on some wasteland-themed dance numbers. On top of all of that, the Lord Humungus himself drove up to the Wasteland Gates and gave a threatening speech to the crowd (thanks Tank!).

The Wasteland Games took place on Saturday morning, just outside the bounds of the compound. There was an archery contest featuring all manner of arrow-flinging weapons (cross bows, compound bows, standard recurve bows, etc.) all overseen by an experienced range master. In addition to shooting arrows, contestants could use a giant sling shot to expel irradiated vermin from the camp in the “rad roach launch” (one of many nods to the popular Fallout video game series throughout the event). Things got back to Mad Max territory with the boomerang toss (the winner of which won a beautiful hand-made metal boomerang courtesy of Dark’s Emporium), and a Dinki-Di dogfood eating contest, an event about which it could be said that there were truly no winners. The Wasteland Games had become a bit like an apocalyptic company picnic by the time of the “grenade toss”, which featured pairs of contestants tossing grenade-styled water balloons back and forth at increasing distances. Finally, the gas can carry reenacted one of the scenes from the Road Warrior as a few determined men (and one woman) hoofed it across the dust carrying big jerry cans on a pole across their backs. Trinkets were awarded to the winners of all the contests, and the losers were subjected to ridicule by our contest MCs Jack Dagger and Mr. Dark.

Back inside the compound, mohawks were given by our wasteland barbers to a long line of willing volunteers and body paint was sprayed on at the Wasteland Beauty Parlor (a concept we plan to expand on for future events, making it a one-stop shop to get wasteland haircuts, body paint, appropriately dirtied up, and even kitted out via a costume swap pile of donated items).

The Casino did a brisk business all weekend, run by Boss Cap, Big Disco and the rest of their crew. Players enjoyed various games of chance and won special bottle caps which could be redeemed for wasteland-themed prizes at the end of the event.

The Casino crew weren’t the only ones doing a brisk business, so were our staff of medical volunteers. An unfortunate and unexpected heatwave hit that weekend, causing temperatures to be hotter than they normally would be that time of year. And while everyone made the best of it, many folks needed some TLC from our great EMTs before it was all over.

One way to beat the heat was the impromptu wet T-shirt contest put on by the women of the Wasteland Brothel. Others simply tried to stay shaded and hydrated. In hindsight, the brothel women probably had the best strategy.

As the temperature eased (a little), the Juggers hit the field for the post-apocalyptic sporting event that consists of two teams beating the hell out of each other while trying to post a dog skull onto a spike. The entire Jugger organization really stepped it up this year, having done extensive training and recruitment in the off season. Everyone seemed to agree that the matches were even more fast-paced and aggressive this year. In addition, the roster of players had expanded to include a third team.

At halftime, we had a special knife throwing show put on by the world-renowned Jack Dagger.

During the second Jugger match, we had one of our scarier moments of the weekend when one of the players went down with what appeared to be a very serious injury. Play was stopped for the day, and the team leading at that stage of the game was declared the winner by default. Thankfully, the injured player was able to make a full recovery by later in the day and stayed to enjoy the rest of the event.

As the sun began to set, the second of two large group photo gatherings took place, followed by the costume contest (and one need only scan the photos of the winners to see just how high the bar has been raised for this aspect of the event). (Note: Full post about the costume contest coming soon, with photos.)

Saturday night brought more performances by our great WW2011 entertainers, including a live set by the band Dead Hand Projekt (DHP).

By Sunday morning, it was time for those with long drives (such as all the way back to Arizona, Colorado, and Canada) to begin packing for the journey. Our resident wasteland preacher Brother Justify did his traditional Sunday morning sermon, undeterred by the radiation sickness that seems to be claiming more and more of his body with each passing year.

The final semi-official event of the weekend was a car cruise that saw a half-dozen customized vehicles circling the dirt roads around the compound to create some great photo and video opportunities (and simply because it was a lot of fun).

The clean-up and tear-down crew stayed in the desert for days after the event, removing all traces that any of it had ever happened. These are the folks that will survive and thrive in a real apocalypse, busting their butts for all of us long after amenities such as portapotties had been carted away.

As for Wasteland Weekend 2012, planning for it had begun before the 2011 weekend had even finished. If people weren’t talking about how much there were enjoying this year, they were plotting how to do it all bigger and better next year. By sunset on Sunday, the organizers had already made two big decisions for 2012: push the event date back a week or two to try to get closer to our original aim of doing the event in early October (and as an added bonus make an unseasonable heat wave even less likely, though it’s obviously something we can never completely control), and turn the three days of the event into four. The apocalypse is growing…

Feel free to discuss this post in the official wasteland forum. Click HERE.

Given that post-apocalyptic outfits are required for all attendees at Wasteland Weekend, costumes are obviously a very important component of the event. And while it isn’t necessary to wear an elaborate costume to fit in at the event (a wide range of simple outfits can fit the theme) that doesn’t stop many of our attendees from going ALL OUT. In fact, I don’t think it would be presumptuous to say that Wasteland Weekend is the Super Bowl of post-apocalyptic costuming events. Which brings us to the annual WW costume contest. If you want to win this one, you’d better bring your A game.

Here is a recap of those who really brought it for the 2011 event.

First, a note about categories and judging:

We had two main categories for 2011, split into male and female. We had “original”, which is self-explanatory, and “replica”. Replica meant a costume based on an existing property (a movie, comic book, or video game character). Not surprisingly, Mad Max and Fallout tend to dominate the replica category.

The judges for 2011 were myself (Jared), Karol Bartoszynski, Dany, and Rachel.

All of us judges have quite a bit of costume experience and we took the judging very seriously. The replica category involved the most scrutiny. After all, it’s a category where accuracy of reproduction is one of the key criterion. Rachel had a hardcover Fallout book ready for reference, and Karol and I are known as the leading experts in Mad Max costumes (hope that doesn’t sound like too much of a brag, it’s not like we have a lot of competition). For both categories, difficulty and originality were taken into consideration. We also factored in whether or not the contestant fabricated or purchased their costume pieces (buying a costume doesn’t disqualify you from the contest, but it is considered in the overall score). Some of our entrants are real industry pros (we don’t currently have separate amateur and pro categories) and spend a long time and a lot of money getting their Wasteland outfit together. Bottom line, if you win one of the coveted Wasteland costume trophies, you’ve got a lot to be proud of.

And now… THE WINNERS!

In the replica category:

1st Place Male

The Ayatollah of Rock n’ Rolla himself… Humungus (by Tank)

This was more than just a costume. This was one man’s year long obsession. Tank worked out for a year straight and lost something like fifty pounds solely to get his body ready to pull off this costume at WW2011. And yes, we factored that in. But that wasn’t the only factor. This was a VERY accurate representation of the costume from the Road Warrior, down to the custom-distressed leather harness, the boots, the gun, the bald wig with individual hair strands on it, etc.. This was the judges’ easiest decision of the contest.

1st Place Female

Vault Princess (by Raygun Robin)

This Fallout-inspired costume was a fan and judge favorite. Robin didn’t just create a great costume, she created a whole character. And while the judges don’t factor performance very heavily into the final score, her wacky dance antics certainly didn’t hurt.

2nd Place Male

Fallout Ranger (by Doug)

Another Fallout winner, this one include some nice homemade armor.

2nd Place Female

Female Toecutter (by Lea)

Cross-dressing characters are certainly allowed, and this is the first time we’d seen a female version of the Toecutter from the first Mad Max film. Lea did a nice job with adding some of the little touches (like the eye makeup).

3rd Place Male

Bearclaw (by Ryan)

This minor character from The Road Warrior (referred to in the script simply as “Bear Claw Biker”) was well represented here, with a homemade version of the tribal mask and the steel “bearclaw” that digs into Max’s shoulder during the film’s climactic chase. Lots of attention to detail with this one.

3rd Place Female

Fallout Ranger (by Kira)

Another nice costume from the Fallout video game franchise.

In the original category:

1st Place Female

A very striking costume with tribal and animal elements to it. We loved how the long lines of the horns complemented the wearer’s long physique, giving the whole costume a larger-than-life feel. The variety of narrow leather belts around the waist also added a lot of fascinating detail.

1st Place Male

Brucifer (by Bruce)

Once again, all of the components for this outfit were all handmade by the contestant, including the excellent helmet sculpt (complete with sliding removable lenses for the eyes). This design and detail on this outfit were truly inspiring.

2nd Place Female

The Wasteland Demon (by Hydra)

This was a very detailed costume with a tribal influence. (We apologize that due to one of the judges mishearing the name, we introduced this one as the “Wasteland Diva”. Oops. Oh well, we hope the second place finish made up for it.)

2nd Place Male

Ocean Fire

Really nice custom-made black and red armor. And we’ve been told that the flamethrower mounted on his back is fully operational. That didn’t factor into the costume score but was cool nonetheless.

3rd Place Female

Wasteland Ranger

We really liked the apocalyptic practicality and attention to detail of this outfit.

3rd Place Male

Wasteland Cannibal (by Ulfblood)

With custom gas mask and scavenged/handcrafted pieces reflecting a variety of styles and influences, this multi-layered costume is really a stellar example of post-apocalyptic costuming done right.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made our judging so difficult and so much fun. And a special thanks to Humvee Driver, who supplied us with such excellent trophies this year, and to Dee Vyper who created the red plaques for them.

We’ve heard that some of you are already hard at work on your costumes for 2012, and we we can’t wait to see what you all have in store for us!

Feel free to discuss this post in the official Wasteland forum. Click HERE.

Help support a great event, and help spread the word about Wasteland Weekend, the largest post-apocalyptic gathering in the world!

$15. Shipping to the US or Canada is $5.
(Please contact us for other shipping options: wastelandweekend(at)gmail(dot)com.)

 

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Previous Wasteland Weekends have featured a variety of entertainment. Here are some highlights:

The Thunderdome!

2011 saw the introduction of a mini-Thunderdome. No, it wasn’t the huge one that Death Guild brings out to Burning Man (that one is epic), but this small one was a step in the right direction, and it let attendees get up close and personal to the action. Not to mention the blood splash zones if you were in the front row (seriously). Brought to you by the Carnival Of Destruction. They plan to return in 2012.

Music – DJs, bands and more have provided the soundtrack for Wasteland Weekend (and Wasteland Radio always broadcasts 24/7).

To see a list of previous bands and DJs, click HERE.

The Beckys and The Grind Queens

www.facebook.com/TheBeckys

Fire performances by Celsius:

http://www.celsiusarts.com/

Special Wasteland dance numbers by Brazen Booties Burlesque

Fire performances and fire combat by The Art Of Fire:

Death-defying knife throwing with the world-renowned Jack Dagger:

www.jackdagger.com

Post-apocalyptic bloodsport from the Juggers:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/134882559866761/

Sunday morning sermons by Brother Justify, the Wasteland Preacher. Each year, his radiation sickness gets worse, but his faith in the holy power of the atom grows stronger…

The Los Angeles Burn Academy brought us fire performances and flaming combat in 2010:

www.theburnacademy.com

And in addition to staged entertainment, there are always a lot of activities happening, like the Wasteland Games, costume contests, the Wasteland Casino, The Mushroom Cloud Lounge etc..

WASTELAND WEEKEND 2011 SCHEDULE:

This schedule is subject to change. We will NOT have printed versions of this schedule at the event, but you can download a PDF HERE, and please always check the large chalk board next to the main stage for the latest schedule updates.

Friday, Sep. 23nd

12 noon - Attendees are allowed to enter Wasteland Weekend and set up their camps.

Afternoon – The Wasteland Gates open to the themed area. Various ongoing activity areas include the Atomic Cafe, the Wasteland Casino (it uses Wasteland currency, not real money) and the Mushroom Cloud Lounge. Bartertown vendors will be open for business.

Sunset - Opening ceremonies.

Nightfall – After dark entertainment begins. DJs, fire dancers, burlesque dancers, belly dancers, Thunderdome action, and more (plus a few surprises)! (You can read more about our music HERE.) (Due to unforeseen last minute circumstances, the band Chivo will not be performing at this year’s Wasteland Weekend).

7:00pm – DJ Cybian

7:30pm – Fire performance

8:00pm – Thunderdome fight

8:15pm – DJ Necrotica

8:30pm – Brazen Booties Burlesque

9pm - Performance by The Beckys

9:15pm – Preview of Wasteland Stunt Show

9:45pm – DJ Liquid Sex Drive

10pm - Fire performance

10:30 - Brazen Booties Burlesque

11pm – DJ Machine Gun Suicide

11:15pm – Performance by The Beckys

Midnight - Fire Performance

12:15am – DJ Mi

1:30am – Music ends for the night.

Saturday, Sep 24th

10:30 am – Archery Contest. Lineup and signup at the archery range. This will be a serious competition overseen by our range master. Categories are compound bow, recurve bow (standard bow), crossbow, and “other” (pistol crossbows etc.)

11:30 am – The Wasteland Games. (Lineup and signup place to be determined. Will be posted on the entertainment notice board.) Various contests of post-apocalyptic skill. Including, the gas can carry race, the grenade toss (aka the grenade-like water balloon toss), rad roach launch, boomerang throw and the Dinki-Di eating contest.

The winner of the boomerang toss wins a custom metal boomerang, courtesy of Mr. Dark of Dark’s Emporium.

12:30pm – Thunderdome fight

12:45pm - Mohawks given at the main stage for any willing participants (your hair should be at least two inches long beforehand or it’s no fun).

1pm – lunch break

1:30pm Group photo shoot – (We are scheduling two separate group photo shoots this year, for those of you who want to wear two outfits. This first one will probably stage various groups – all the women, everyone who has a gas mask, all MFP, etc.. The second photo shoot will just be one big group portrait – see below).

Activities at places like the Casino will continue during daytime hours as well.

2:30pm – Thunderdome fight

3:30 pm – Thunderdome fight

4:30 pm – The jugger matches. Three teams will be competing this year. Complete with a halftime show by world renowned knife thrower Jack Dagger.

5:45 pm – The costume contest - (wait until you see some of the custom trophies we have for our costume contest winners – here’s just a sneak peak!)

6:15 pm – Official group portrait of all attendees in front of the Wasteland Gates at sunset.

7:00 pm – Thunderdome fight

7:15 pm  - Prizes awarded for all of the weekend’s contests at the main stage (best vehicles, best campsites, costumes, Wasteland Games, etc.)

7:30pm – DJ Rust Ryu

7:45pm – Brazen Booties Burlesque

8:15pm – Thunderdome – final match

8:30pm – Mrs. DJ Liquid Sex Drive

8:45pm – Performance by the Beckys

9pm -Wasteland stunt show

9:30 – DJ Franck HBomb

9:45 – Fire performance

10:30pm Dead Hand Projekt

11:30pm - DJ Plastic Disease

11:45pm – Brazen Booties Burlesque

Midnight – Performance by the Beckys

12:30am – DJ Lawless

12:45pm – Brazen Booties Burlesque

1:15am – Final fire performance

Sunday, Sep 25th

11 am - Wasteland Sermon by Brother Justify (gather round the holy unexploded nuclear bomb).

Feel free to do some low speed car cruising on the nearby dirt roads (at your own risk, not officially part of the event).

1pm – Closing ceremonies at main stage.

If you’re familiar with last year’s event, or even if you’re not, here are some of the changes and new additions we have in store for this September.

Before we go into details, we’ll just give you the basics: BIGGER. And BETTER.

Ticket sales are outpacing last year. That means more people, more amazing costumes, more customized vehicles and more incredible campsites.

More entertainment:

This year, in addition to an expanded DJ roster, we’ve added a couple of live bands. Plus more dancers of all kinds (burlesque, go gos, etc.), Thunderdome action, fire dancers, a bigger jugger tournament, contests, Wasteland Radio and more. We’ll have an expanded Atomic Cafe bar, a wasteland casino (using wasteland currency, not real money), a lounge tent with belly dancers, and other set pieces and structures to really give the feeling of being inside a post-apocalyptic world.

Case in point - The Gates. These are the gates through which you will enter the themed area of Wasteland Weekend:

Other improvements planned for this year include better signage, better lighting, background music throughout the day, clearly posted entertainment and activity schedules, more food choices for purchase, more portapotties (yes, we heard your requests!), and BETTER WEATHER. At least we hope so. Statistically we should have warmer temperatures at night now that we’ve moved the event a month earlier. And the daytime, while hotter, should still be bearable.

The layout:

This year, we are separating the event into themed and non-themed areas. All of the coolest stuff will be concentrated in one area, so that we can better keep the illusion of being in a post-apocalyptic world. The layout plan looks like this:

Anyone with a modern tent or vehicle will be staying in the general camping area (though themed vehicles and campsites are still strongly encouraged in the general camping area. And costumes are required for EVERYONE at all times). The themed area will be reserved for our sets and staged entertainment, as well as the tribes.

What are the tribes you ask? Tribes are new for 2011 and consist of groups of attendees who have pledged to create a camp that is 100% in keeping with our wasteland theme. Tribes are allowed to set up early and will be camping within the themed area of the event. Some of the tribes (like the amazon warrior women) will even be part of the event’s entertainment.

Find out more here: TRIBES

Vendors:

We’ll have more unique Wasteland vendors in our Bartertown this year, where you can spend your cash on everything from post-apocalyptic clothing, to weapons, to a tin type portrait sessiondone with a 19th Century camera.

In short, we are doing everything we can to give you an amazing Wasteland Weekend 2011 experience. And there are still lots of ways you can get involved. Check our volunteer page to see what’s needed. You might be able to get free admission and other perks. We are a volunteer-driven event.

(And don’t forget to friend us on Facebook for the latest news)

So if you were there in 2010, or even if you’ve only seen the photos and heard the stories, prepare for bigger… Better… More.

And that’s not all… we’re keeping several cool things secret until the event itself. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Welcome to the wasteland: where flat black is the new black.

Although we’d like to remind you that our bouncers will not be letting in any zombies, cyborgs or pirates, this guide is more to help steer your appropriate post-apocalyptic costume into a more gorgeous direction. Here are some tips to avoid committing some Post-Nuclear Couture faux pas (and avoid ruining everyone’s group photo shot) and come out looking fabulous and post-apocalyptic shabby chic. (Also see our Post-Apocalyptic Costuming 101 post for more tips.)

Blue Jeans

Nothing screams “pre-apocalypse” (or oops, I forgot to wear my costume pants) more than a pair of blue jeans. Maybe it’s the fact that jeans are so mundane and common that makes them look so out of place, or maybe it’s just that this casual denim garment is a light faded BLUE. Do us a favor, wastelanders, unless you’re doing a post-apocalyptic cowboy impression, leave them at home. If you’re going to wear jeans, an older pair of faded black, gray or brown jeans will go with a post-apocalyptic outfit sooo much better.

Department Store Sunglasses

Nothing says you’re just a weekend warrior like throwing on a pair of department store sunglasses with your costume. This is one accessory people forget about until the sun comes out and they realize they did not prepare. Instead of wearing those conspicuously-branded, plastic tortoise frames, stick to some durable classics like aviators, glacier glasses, and goggles.

Yellow and Blue

Unless you are wearing a Fallout vault suit, or using a little bit of bright yellow or blue to accent your costume (ie stripes, accessories), then stay away. They are the two basic colors that stand out as unfit for the post-apocalypse. They are just too cheery and bright. Try to make your vault suits look as drabby, worn and dusty as possible.

Anything Clean!

If you’re pretending to be arriving to Wasteland Weekend after years of scavenging through the deserts, then don’t come looking like you just laundered your costume the day before! We cannot tell you how common this mistake is among post-apocalyptic costumers the world over. Having a beat-up, weathered, dusty costume is what sells it! Shiny parts? Rub them down with an abrasive pad or sandpaper. Clean parts? Order some fullers earth and rub in with a rag. Worse comes to worst, roll around in the dirt as soon as you get out to the wasteland, (but the fullers earth can be more pleasant, trust us. One word – ants).

Fluorescent Fur

Just a warning to any burners or ravers out there: bright or crazy faux fur is just not very post-apocalyptic. Keep it scavengerific with some real or natural-looking furs (or even a gutted-out teddy bear you found on the side of a road).

And please don’t wear anything with cute animal ears on top (sometimes known as spirit hoods). You know the ones we’re talking about. Please leave those at home.
(Just to be clear, faux fur worn the right way is just fine. There were many great outfits at last year’s event that featured natural-looking fur pieces.)

Here are some examples of what NOT to wear:

And don’t forget, you can also purchase accessories and costumes from our vendors. Come to the Wasteland and find that perfect finishing touch for your costume, or get yourself a whole other outfit. You’ll find everything from hand-made knives to military surplus gas masks and clothing for sale. Just remember to bring your good old pre-apocalyptic cash, because most of our vendors won’t accept anything else.

Basics of Post-Apocalyptic Costuming

Your costume should look like you’ve been wandering out in the desert for years.  It should be worn, dusty, grungy, dirty, stained. It should show how a lack of resources has led you to re-purpose clothing and materials that you have found. Put it all together in a cool or interesting package that gives you a unique look, identifies you with a group, or says something about your past.

Costume Part Suggestion Lists

There are a lot of common parts used on Post-Apocalyptic costumes. You can start by combining some of the suggested items in these lists to make your own. Copy & paste the keywords to start your search on Google Images or eBay. Items in yellow are especially good choices that you can never overdo.

Hairstyles: Bald, mohawk, red, blue, pink, or purple-dyed hair, the “I haven’t gotten a haircut in a while” look, or the “I gave myself a haircut” look.

Headgear: Hockey helmet, headband, military cold weather mask, military officers cap, military helmet, paintball mask, airsoft mask, gas mask, respirator, leather motorcycle mask, cloth mask, rag bandanna or head scarf, leather tanker helmet, leather aviator helmet, improvised helmet, coolie hat, umbrella hat.

Eyewear: Aviator sunglasses, military goggles, motorcycle goggles, lacrosse eye mask, swimming goggles, eyepatch.

Neckwear: Leather collar, plain red bandanna.

Tops: Football pads, military overcoat, metal or chainmail bra, worn out t-shirt with holes, black or brown leather garment (especially with studs, spikes and buckles) such as jackets, dresses, bras, bustiers, vests, and armor, kidney belt, studded waist belt, custom garment made out of re-purposed rubber materials (eg. inner-tube, tires), motocross chest protector (aka roost deflector) or protective jacket, mesh shirt, improvised armor and/or shoulder armor made out of plastic parts, leather, tire tread.

Bottoms: Leather pants or chaps or leather skirt or hot pants, vintage motocross pants, torn fishnet stockings or tights, military pants, black, gray, or earth-tone pants, riding pants (aka jodhpurs) leather studded codpiece, baseball shin guards, knee pads.

Footwear: Boots! Motorcycle (engineer), combat, motocross, New Rock, or others. Classic, punky Converse All-Stars can work too.

Accessories/Decoration: Elbow pads, leather studded bracelets, gauntlets and armbands, junk jewelry, baseball shin guards or other guards for the forearms, fur, car emblems, red-lens marker lights or reflectors, leather or sports gloves (motorcycle, police, paintball, lacrosse), leather ammo belt or bandolier, other ammo pouches and belts and military webbing, bullet belts. Think about tools or utensils you might need during the weekend. Can opener? Mountain bike tires are a great material to work with: easy to cut and they look like motorcycle tires.

Weapons: Bow, crossbow, baseball bat, hammer, glaive, mace, saw-blade ax

Shields: Road sign, garbage can cover, pot lid, hubcap.

Colors

Stick with black, red, and earth tones like army greens, browns, and tans.  Use purple, red or silver (or other metallic colors) as accents.  Use bright yellows and blues sparingly, if at all.  To summon the spirit of The Road Warrior, use faded yellows, off-whites and lavenders.

Weathering

Don’t make the all too common mistake of having a costume that looks too new, freshly-laundered, or shiny! (And don’t expect to get all that dusty when you come out to the event.) Follow these tips to distress your costume: http://madmaxcostumes.com/distress.htm

Costume Examples & Inspiration

Wasteland Weekend Facebook Photo Albums
http://www.facebook.com/wastelandweekend?sk=photos

A costume idea pinboard for Wasteland Weekend
http://pinterest.com/rachel_flaten/wasteland-weekend/

Flickr Search
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=mad+max+parade

Humvee Driver’s Props and Costumes
http://madmaxmodels.com/props.html

Reference & Information on Making Replica Mad Max Costumes:
http://madmaxcostumes.com

Reference Images of Female Marauders from The Road Warrior:
http://madmaxcostumes.com/C2/female.htm