South Bay Burners was founded as Burning Silicon in July 2002 by Gidget and Skid (since retired), when 150 burners converged in San Jose to meet their neighbors and get psyched about the playa. Since RealGirl was named the regional contact in 2006, we have grown and morphed into an eclectic bunch with diverse interests which is far greater than any one camp or culture. In fact, there are over 30 theme camps that call the South Bay home!

Today, we look forward to continued growth to include all Burning Man enthusiasts in the south bay region. We hereby declare that all burners who live south of Highway 92 in the San Francisco Bay area are officially South Bay Burners (yes, even if you go to the City for burny things, too!) There are parties, workshops, fire practices and pot lucks in your own back yard, ya know!

Significant events in SBB History:
July 19, 2002: Precompression party and film show
July 26, 2003: Second annual Precompression party and film show
October 1, 2003: Decompression party
July 10, 2004: Third annual Precompression party
February 5, 2007: Burning Silicon is renamed “South Bay Burners”
May 6, 2007: Burning Man Film Festival
June 8-10, 2007: First annual camping Precompression, “San Flameado” at Lupin near Los Gatos
May 15-June 15, 2008: Hosted Peter Hudson’s playa zoetrope, “Homouroboros” in downtown San Jose
June 20-22, 2008: Second annual camping Precompression, “SoulStance”, at Lupin near Los Gatos
October 16-17, 2008: Hosted 2 screenings of Laurent Le Gall’s film, “Voyage in Utopia”
June 19-21, 2009: Third annual camping Precompression, “SoulStance”, at Lupin near Los Gatos
July 16, 2009: Hosted screening of Olivier Bonin’s film, “Dust & Illusions”
November 7-8, 2009: First annual camping Decompression, “SoulFire”, at Lupin near Los Gatos

2010 Regional Events:
January - Dive Bar Spelunking - Sunnyvale
February - Costume Workshop & Fashion Show - Los Gatos
March - South Bay Meet & Greet - Mountain View
March - BRAF in Palo Alto
April - Town Hall Meeting
June - Gray-B-Gon Evapatron Workshop - Santa Clara
June - Soul Fire, Fifth Annual Regional Campout in Los Gatos
July - Meet & Greet Picnic - Mountain View
Sept - Virgin-No-More Meet & Greet - Cupertino
Oct - South Bay Meet & Greet - San Jose
Oct - Brainstorming Meeting for 2011 On-Playa Effigy Burn
Nov - South Bay Meet & Greet - Campbell
Dec - South Bay Santa Con

2011 Regional Events:
January - Burner Art Outing, San Jose Museum of Art
February - Pre-Valentine's Pub Crawl, Mountain View
March - First Friday Art Walk, San Jose
March - Costuming Workshop, Los Gatos
March - Meet & Greet, Redwood City
April - First Friday Art Walk, San Jose
April - Meet & Greet, Campbell
May - First Friday Art Walk, San Jose
May - Meet & Greet, Cupertino
June - SoulFire Regional Precompression - Los Gatos
August - CORE FUNraiser - Downtown San Jose
Sept - Meet & Greet, Campbell
Oct - Meet & Greet, Mountain View
Nov - SoulFire Regional Decompression - Los Gatos
Nov - Meet & Greet, Redwood City
Dec - South Bay Santa Con