Our community views volunteering as both a generous contribution and a meaningful, hands-on way to engage in civic participation. It’s a defining aspect of burns, creating the unique experience we cherish. Beyond that, it’s simply the easiest, most fulfilling, and most rewarding way to connect with fellow burners!
There are plenty of ways to get involved and put your particular skill set to good use, whether before, during or after the event. Are you new to burns? Volunteering is the best way to meet the community. Are you a seasoned burner, ready for more? You already get it – without volunteering, without YOU, we’re nothing more than a big group of people camping in the forest.
A few things we’ve heard from volunteers (and some we just made up):
“I met my partner while spanking burners in at greeters.”
“I wanted to focus on my mindfulness practice and I found helping others relax at Sanctuary to be very fulfilling.”
“I sparkled so hard at [close-by regional] that I’m gonna take like 4 shifts at Summerisle to make up for it.”
Whatever you passion, we have your raison!
New this year, we have worked to better define the different levels of volunteering that one may partake in across the various departments at Summerisle. It’s also our attempt to clarify who-does-what-when better.
Please contact us if you are interested in stepping into any higher-level leadership with our burn!
BOD: Board of Directors. They are the legally accountable board members who are on the nonprofit’s paperwork. They the one ones who play Ozian yahtzee behind the curtain re: addressing the critical infrastructure needs that makes the burn possible at the base level. Many also maintain coordinator and/or lead positions, but this role is theoretically distinct. This is an (almost) year-round job.
Coordinator(s): Pre-planner(s) for a Dept. or high-level job and head Bish-in-Charge on site in most cases unless it is urgent enough to elevate to BoD This is the person(s) the BOD looks to if something waxes catastrophic. Where every other volunteer fails, this is where the buck stops. More than one person can be a Coordinator of a Department, but they must work together, either via our Discord Summerisle Planning server or by other means of communication. Coordinator perks include early arrival on Tuesday afternoon and a discount reserve ticket for the event the year you step into the role!
Current open Coordinator positions:
- Sanitation Coordinators: If making sure there’s always TP available at all hours of day, noon and night, this position is for you! Your role is in two parts – when setup is underway, you will borrow a cart and distribute our Spare TP Boxes to each of the Porto banks around the burn. Then each day, you’ll onboard your volunteers, whose job it is to check out their own cart and go around making sure those boxes stay full throughout the burn, so burners can replace TP rolls themselves as needed! And on the final day, you take a cart back around and retrieve the boxes.
- Lamplighter Co-Coordinator: We are looking for an additional lamplighter coordinator, and help us put out, and retrieve, our lovely luminaires to help light burners’ paths! You will have a team of volunteers assisting, and you will help decide where the lighting will do the most good!
Lead(s) (either Of-the-Day, Of-the-Task, or Of-a-Shift): The person reporting directly to the Coordinator, but is the lead on their shift. They make the on-the-spot calls unless it is urgent enough to elevate to a Coordinator or the BoD. More than one person can be a Lead. We invite Leads to be part of pre-burn talks and decisions on our planning Discord channel. Lead perks include a discount reserve ticket starting your second year in the role.
Current open Lead positions:
- Effigy Perimeter Lead: Talk about a firebug’s dream! Ideal candidate will not merely be comfortable around fire but have a decent working understanding of fuels and safety needs, as you will liaise with the Burn Night Coordinator and Conclave Lead, cordon off the perimeter pre-burn, help train our perimeter team on expectations, space the perimeter volunteers, set the conclave area alongside the Conclave and Perimeter Leads, and be part of the go/no-go on whether circumstances are safe to light up. You also get to help decide when we drop the perimeter.
- RV Placement Lead: (new!) Looking for someone to help handle RV requests and placement. As a new role for 2026, you’ll work closely with our Parking Coordinators, shadowing them to learn more about what the role entails before taking it on fully for Summerisle 2027.
Shift volunteers: Burn staff filling in open non-Lead slots on Signup.com and keeping the gears turning smoothly during the event itself. They elevate issues to Lead as needed. Most burners fall here! These shifts do NOT qualify for the reserve tickets.
Any questions? Email us at summerisleburn@gmail.com.