Greetings from the largest coffee shop in the world!

Dear Friends and Family,
At this point, the city population is growing exponentially, with cars, trucks, vans, RV's, and art cars arriving in a constant stream, each full to the brim of goodies, people, and gear. As I return to camp from the Café, my path of the last two weeks is now blocked by several encampments, a row of art cars, and a bus painted like a cow. Landmarks have changed and the center roads are now pedestrian or art car only zones... which is a good thing, as I tend to do things like lay on the ground in the middle of the "road" taking pictures of the Café.

Some of the artists are still setting up their installations, but for the most part the Café is physically and decoratively done. It's out of our hands now. All we can hope is that everyone enjoys and respects the space, and fills the stages with their talents.

Speaking of talent, tonight starts our Regional Night entertainment on the music stage. We all felt that the Café was too sedate at night in 2001 and we wanted to make better use of the space in 2002, so we invited regional groups from all over the U.S. and internationally to take over the stage with music and variety performance in their areas. Plus with the tremendous growth in Regional activities, this is a great way to share all the terrific Burner communities and events taking place all over the world!