Upstate NY's Burning Man Festival

It's impossible to find details about it on the internet but, through a friend, we scored directions to "The Event" of the spring season last night. This is the Saratoga Springs version Burning Man minus the sandy desert and naked people.

A magnanimous free-spirited doctor with hundreds of acres of property organizes the all night soiree twice a year. The doctor is also a skilled sculptor, his driveway is lined with tall thin Mayan-like statues and torch-lit tikis.

The event kicks off with a catered BBQ dinner, local acoustic singing (Kevin McKrell), a May Pole dance and 3 big bomb fires. BYO it or grab a free Pabst and connect with Saratoga's peace-loving subculture, many trying to relive their colorful past.

With such close proximity to Skidmore University, I was surprised to see very few college kids invading/ruining the easy tranquility.

Everybody huddled around three crackling bomb fires when the temps dipped to 40 degrees singing to a boom box blasting the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil". Sofas and couches circled the crackling conflagrations refueled by the occasional toss of another log on the fire.

Kim and Jen stayed on well past midnight but Miriam and I bailed worried about falling asleep at the wheel. The next festival kicks off in November and indeed a Wicker Man statue will glow strong throughout the night.