MISSION STATEMENT
To bring live Bluegrass music and mountain food and culture to the Burns that we attend with the intent to provide interaction with the positive aspects of our southern mountain heritage and to dispel negative stereotypes.
Background
Our founder, Fixxer, first brought Bluegrass Music to Burning Man in 2012. When he first started going to Burns, he realized that Burners were his people, but the overwhelming majority of music that he heard was EDM, and he wanted to bring live Bluegrass to the Burner community.
Fixxer created Rootpile Themecamp which was built as a mini Bluegrass festival destination within Burning Man with live pro-level Bluegrass music, instrument workshops, and hillbilly food offerings, bringing the camp back year after year.
Beginning in 2026—in order to continue Rootpile's mission into the future:
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We are pleased to announce the passing of the torch to Fixxer’s sons, Stuart & Cameron Owens, who will now be leading Rootpile camp.
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To sustain Rootpile into the future, we are making some changes to our camp offerings. Learn more here.
Camp
Rootpile campers will get a taste of Hillbilly music, food and culture. We encourage everyone to come to the live Bluegrass shows and participate in other interactivities in camp.
Camp members are from all over the world and we welcome people, no matter your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or national origin. There is no need to be a musician to be part of camp. We have many different opportunities to participate in Rootpile.
We take the 10 Burning Man Principles seriously and expect all Rootpile campers to do the same. Communal Effort, Participation, Leave No Trace and the like are integral to the success of our camp.
In addition to their daily Rootpile camp duty shift, all campers are encouraged to also volunteer with one of the many Burning Man departments.
Join Rootpile Camp
The 2026 Camp Member Application is Now Open!
Rootpile Musicians
There are many playing opportunities for Bluegrass musicians of all levels who would like to join our camp. There are possibilities for scholarships and for help finding tickets for professional Bluegrass musicians wishing to participate.
If you are interested in being a Rootpile musician, email us.
