Dinner Duty, A Melon Tradition

In 2016 the Melons got a new kitchen tent, the Dusty Bucket. It is huge.

The oldest Melon tradition is simple: Each Melon helps make camp dinner once.

That's it. But there is a catch: there are a LOT of Melons to feed at dinner. At one point in 2016 Melon of Troy had nearly 100! Luckily, we take our food very seriously. And we have a system.

How it works: Dinners are prepared by teams of Melons each night, who are responsible for getting their food to the playa, having dinner ready by the time the sun goes behind the mountains, and cleaning up the kitchen afterward. Everyone is assigned to a dinner team and a menu, and everyone is expected to actively participate in either dinner preparation or dinner clean up.

Camp provides: A kitchen in a fancy tent full of stoves and other kitchen equipment. We have pots, pans, dishes, knives and utensils all for your use. We have coolers to help you store your team dinner supplies. We also provide cooking oil and seasonings.

Camp does not provide: anyone a free pass to skirt, duck out on, flake, ghost, bail or otherwise fail to actively participate in their assigned dinner group. Your wallet cannot take your place. Your friend cannot take your place. No one will believe you if you say that you forgot. We reserve the right to refer to you as “that fucking guy” for perpetuity if you shirk your duties.

Bottomline: you do ONE evening of work, and in exchange, you eat FIVE meals made lovingly by your fellow Melons. It’s not even a whole evening of work; it’s a few hours. Frankly, it’s a pretty sweet deal, and the Melons are good cooks.

Dinner-related emails (and a very important water survey) begin the month before the Burn.

For more on our kitchen, the Dusty Bucket, head here.