Burning Man 2025

What happens when we gather fragments of a shared experience?

vibe check

noun
/ˈvaɪb ˌtʃek/

an act of finding out how someone is feeling or what the mood in a particular place or situation is

Storytime

At the Burn in 2024, I always had a to-do list during the build and strike for our camp. Everything that needed to get done. And when someone completed a task? They got the deeply satisfying joy of checking it off. It became a little ritual, a shared sense of progress. A list, but make it communal.Fast forward to a Halloween party where my costume was an AI Art Generator (nerdy, I know) with a notebook and a marker, ready to bring people’s prompts to life. At some point, a campmate said, “Of course you have a list with you!” It kind of stuck and I took it to heart. Instead of drawing, I started asking people: What’s making this party amazing right now? That night, the very first Vibe Check was born.Since then, I’ve made Vibe Checks at parties, weddings, book launches, anywhere the magic is happening. It’s become a way of noticing, collecting, and celebrating the mischief, meaning, and mayhem of a shared moment.During the Man Burn in 2024, I had told a friend, “I think the only way I’ll come again next year is if I have an art project.”It felt fitting that the Vibe Check became that project. It’s truly an act of my own self-expression. A way of connecting, creating, and documenting what makes this wild world so special.The Vibe Check is rooted in the principles of Immediacy, Participation, Communal Effort, and Radical Self-Expression. It’s a little weird, a little wonderful, and completely shaped by the people around it. A living, growing snapshot of the Burn as it’s happening, built from overheard brilliance, tiny moments, quiet magic, and the kinds of things you might forget if you didn’t stop to write them down.

How to participate

There are a few ways to participate...Run into a Vibe Checker
You might spot someone (possibly me, possibly someone else with a notebook and a curious look in their eye) asking everyone questions! If you pop by Serendipitea at 3:30 & B you're likely to find one.Become a Vibe Checker
Want to join the magic? Sign up to be a Vibe Checker and help collect moments on playa. All you need is a notebook, curiosity, and a willingness to witness the wonder around you. I’ll share some prompts and a few simple instructions, and then you’re off into the dust.Submit a Vibe Later
Did something stick with you? Something you can’t stop thinking about?
You’ll be able to submit post-playa moments and pictures too, right here on the site after the Burn.

The Vibe Check is a collective anonymous voice, a kind of poetic documentary built from the small, real, beautiful moments we often forget to name.You’ll be able to see the Vibe Check later on Instagram and here on the site in a format yet to be revealed.

Participate as a Vibe Checker

follow along - @thevibechecklifeemail me love notes - hello[at]thevibecheck.lifebuy me a coffee