especially among the hippy types.
One of the unique characteristics is the number of bicycles that
appear on the scene. At night they glow with lights and the
cyclists roam around the ground creating an eerie spectacle. Cars
and trucks join in the “parade” which is one of the least structured
events in this day and age. The event is described as an
“experiment in community art, radical self-expression and radical
self-reliance”—whatever that means. People leave notes, poems,
art work, messages to departed souls etc. on or around the effigy.
An estimated 60,000 people attended the burning last year
paying 400 dollars per person. I am not about to describe the
event. Katie Couric said it best: “Trying to explain Burning
Man to someone who has not been there is like trying to describe
color to someone who is blind”. Last year’s effigy was 40 feet tall.
So what has this to do with Londonderry?
The history of Londonderry is synonymous with violence,
bloodshed and burning. It started sometime in 1688 when the
Catholic troops of James II tried to storm the Protestant
controlled walled city. These days there is a tenuous truce
between the Protestants and Catholics and yet every July,
21