Wasteland Weekend
Our tear down and clean up crew are still out on site, heroically returning Wasteland Valley to its natural splendor, but we wanted to take a moment to thank you all and acknowledge what an incredible effort everyone made to bring Wasteland Weekend back in 2021!
The world’s greatest post-apocalyptic party came roaring back in a big way and we can’t begin to tell you how good it feels. Many of our attendees have described it as one of, if not THE best Wastelands EVER!
We’ll have a lot of photos, videos, and memories of this really special year to share with you as the weeks roll on and our staff, photographers, and attendees shake off the dust, but for now, here is a column reprinted from Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021 issue of The Wastelander daily newspaper (printed each day at the event). It’s the words of our Event Director, Jared Butler, welcoming everyone back.
Thanks to Deadline and the entire The Wastelander newspaper staff for the amazing job they do!
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Welcome back to Wasteland Valley, and the 11th creation of the fabled Wasteland City.
This is your city. You helped us dream it. You helped us build it. You give it life.
For ten years in a row we built it from nothing, and then return the desert to its empty beauty. And then the world changed a little. A dystopian future came that wasn’t quite like anything we had imagined. It wasn’t worse, it wasn’t better, it was just… weird. And it was hard. And sad. And lonely for many. And we missed our mythic place in the desert.
Wasteland has always been a celebration of survival. Mostly imagined, sometimes real. And this year, it’s more real than in the past. Not just the survival we have been fortunate to have (and some of those we loved were not) but the survival of the event, the community, and the dream.
We all knew we would get back here. It was just a matter of how and when. And we want to thank all of you who believed, and who helped. Who believed that this city could, would be built again. You put your faith in us to keep things going throw a long off-season. To do the belt tightening and creative scrounging (like good wasteland scavengers do), to hold on to the means to come back again. And you helped with your online merchandise purchases and your early tickets sales, and finally with your blood and sweat to start building again once vaccinations made that possible.
The real world is still in a strange, uncertain, and sometimes scary situation. That hasn’t changed. But there will always be uncertainty. There will always be danger. There will always be loss, and sadness. But the return of our humble little gathering to escape reality proves that there will always be creativity. And optimism in some form. And friends. And family.
So let’s celebrate. Let’s remember. Let’s think about the ways our world has changed, the ways our Wasteland has changed in the two years we’ve been away, and all the ways that it hasn’t.
This is still a place where we imagine a crazy, larger-than-life, action-packed, chaotic, but somehow welcoming and friendly post-apocalyptic future. This is still a place where you can come alone and leave with new friends and family. This still a place where we can leave the real world behind for five days, and make memories that last a lifetime.
This is still your city. Your dream. You’re Wasteland.
Welcome back, to the beautiful end of the world.
Jared Butler
Event Director
Co-Owner
Wasteland World
