Art, Music, and a 42ft Wookie on Fire? Welcome to Ignition!

 
The International Krewe of Chewbacchus (a delightfully nerdy Mardi Gras parade crew and registered religious entity) recently held a benefit event fit for a Wookie. As a satirical space cult, the IKOC exemplifies the idea of 'go big or go home' and prides itself on being a bastion of all-inclusive revelry, and their nerdy Burning Man style festival, Ignition: Chewburnitall, was no exception.
Almost a thousand nerds converged on the FilmWorks grounds in New Orleans for the first annual Ignition Festival. The three day festival featured several sound stages, a live radio broadcast from Radio Free IKOC, live art installations and eye candy scattered throughout the camp grounds, and (of course) plenty of things being set on fire. The main event that brought over 300 day trippers in addition to the 600 people camping out and partying all weekend was the burning of a 42 foot tall wicker Wookie. The Sacred Drunken Wookie (as he is referred to by ChewbaccanALIENs), brought raucous cheers from the (mostly) costumed crowd as his outer arms simultaneously erupted in flames, and even louder cheers when the structure finally collapsed into a flaming pile.

(Photo courtesy of DPA Universe)

With a climax like that, who knows what they'll come up with for next year!

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