Missing your Midwest burner friends, both current and future? Look, we all know the January slump is real, but it’s time to shake off the hibernation. Ignition, our annual Midwest Burners season kickoff, is happening January 17, 2026.
🔥 The Mission: Fueling the Four 🔥
The Midwest Burners Association 501(c)(3) is the engine behind four annual regional burns: Interfuse (MO), This Event Is Cancelled (KS), HearthsO’Phyre (IA), and HullabalU (MO). These events are the heart of our community, but here’s the deal: each of these burns is entirely self-funded by ticket sales and community donations. By showing up for Ignition, you are directly fueling all four events at once.
We’re also committed to getting that money back into your hands. Each event puts 25% of its ticket sales straight into art grants. That means the money raised here helps fund the next big, weird, or beautiful project you (or your friends) bring to the burn(s).
This isn’t just another party, it’s the fuel for our entire community for the year!
🔥 Change of Plans: New Venue Alert! 🔥
Look, we know we previously mentioned Vibe Ultra Lounge, but in true burner fashion, we’ve pivoted. We are officially moving the party to The Jewel KC. It’s a fresh space that gives us exactly what we need for the workshops, the auction, and the dance floor. Plus, it’s the perfect home base for the end of the City Quest Art Challenge.
🎟️ The Logistics 🎟️
📍 Address 📍
410 Admiral Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64106
- Parking: There’s a parking garage for the venue directly across from the front door. There’s also street parking but it’s less plentiful.
- Age: All ages until 4:30 PM; 21+ after that.
- Last Call: 1:30 AM (don’t miss it).
- Tickets: $22 Presale / $30 at the door. Pro-tip: We greatly prefer to not receive cash, so please try to buy online via the QR code at the door. In fact, get your tickets now to save yourself the funds!
- Virtual: We’re making a Live Stream happen, and here’s the twitch link for if you’re joining us from afar. Live Stream has a suggested donation of $5, but we won’t let a measly Lincoln note stand in the way of you being with us in spirit.
👉🏾 The Details 👈🏾
- Vibe: We’re bringing in a full sound system to make sure the room actually thumps.
- Care: We’re also making a point to handle our own cleanup, because we’re burners, that’s just how we roll. If you’re down to help the crew keep the venue pristine, we’d love the extra hands. If not, still take care of the venue like you would your own camp!
- On that same note, no glitter, feathers, or any other loose detritus. We know 👀 you wouldn’t , naturally, but we have to ask.
- And a slightly harder ask, no fire effects. Any flowing can be done plain fire-less or with LEDs just fine, but please, help us keep our friendship with the venue so we can keep doing fun things together.
🔥 Interactive Stations 🔥
Choose Your Own Adventure
While the schedule is packed with workshops and sets, we’ll have several stations running all day that you can hit up whenever you’re feeling the itch to create, give, or explore. No clock-watching required.
Warm Bodies (and Hearts) with the Coat Drive
We aren’t just here to burn, we’re here to take care of our neighbors. We are hosting a Coat Drive during Ignition! Bring your clean, gently used warm coats to the collection station (behind the doorperson). All donations are going directly to Nourish KC, a local community kitchen and pantry that feeds and clothes our unhoused community members. Let’s make sure they’re stocked for the rest of the winter!
City Quest Art Challenge
The City Quest Art Challenge is now an all-day, DIY experience. Grab your friends and explore some of Kansas City’s coolest, hidden-gem art spots at your own pace. It’s a literal playground out there! Solve the puzzles, see the city, and make your way to the party when you’re ready.
Trashion Creation Station
Get your hands dirty, metaphorically. We’re hosting a staffed station where you can build wearable art, headpieces, or full-body accessories on the fly.
- The Materials: We need your “good,” “clean” trash. If you have bubble wrap, tape, plastic bags, or chicken wire, bring it in.
- The Catwalk: Use these supplies to build a masterpiece, then show it off during the Trashion Showcase at 7:15 PM.
The Auction Corner
We have a great collection of items up for grabs, and your bids directly support our four regional burns.
- Silent Auction: Browsable throughout the day, bid on unique handmade treasures like glass art from RedBear or flow art sessions with Morgan.
- Live Auction Highlights: At 7:30 PM, things get high-energy with Miss Conception and friends as we bid on special items like axe throwing, dance lessons, and unique experiences.
Virtual & Global Connection
- VR Headset Station: Put on the goggles and transport yourself to Burn2. We’ll have a projection of the digital world running so everyone else can see the dust too.
- The Live Stream: We’re setting up a consent-safe station. It’s positioned in a dedicated corner away from the crowd so you can video-chat with burners near and far without accidentally being broadcast to the internet while you’re mid-dance.
Support & Swag
- Harm Reduction Table: We’re looking out for each other. Stop by for vital info and safety supplies to keep the community strong.
- Swag Table: Want to represent? Pick up some Midwest Burners gear and see what kind of treasures are floating around this year.
🔥 The Schedule 🔥
🕐 Phase 1: The Business of Burning 🕐
- 12 PM – 1 PM |MWB Event Coordinator Calibrations: A calibration session for the folks running the show. All are welcomed but focus is on EC Teams attending
- 1 PM – 2 PM | Public Board Meeting: It’s open to everyone! Ever wonder how the Midwest Burners Association actually functions? Come hear how the Board works, ask your burning questions, and offer suggestions on how we handle things.
🕑 Phase 2: The Deep Dives 🕑 (Workshops & Education)
🔥🚨 THIS IS IMPORTANT STUFF 🚨🔥
We’re putting a massive emphasis on safety education this year. If you’ve ever wanted to help out on a safety team but felt like you didn’t have the “resume” for it, this is for you. We’ve actually brought in some extremely talented people from outside the region to teach us how to do this right.
- 2 PM – 3 PM | What is a Ranger?: Tanto leads an intro to Ranger training. If you’ve ever wondered how to “refuse to help” in the most helpful way possible, and how we navigate the burn without being “the cops”, start here.
- 3 PM – 4 PM | Propane & Fire Art Safety (FAST/FART): Featuring uniK, the Safety Services Coordinator from Apogaea. He’s been leading propane inspections since 2019 and will be walking us through the engineering and safety of ambitious fire art.
- 4 PM – 5 PM | Fire Team Ops: Handy and Snapshot from Myschievia share how they run their fire teams in Texas, from real-world scenarios to coordination.
- 4 PM – 4:30 PM | Art Grants Writing Q&A: Your favorite Star is hosting a Q&A session to pull back the curtain on the art grant process for our Midwest burns. Since 25% of our ticket sales go directly into funding these grants, we want to make sure you know exactly how to apply and get your project funded for the 2026 season.
- 4:30 PM – 5 PM | Let’s get Knotty: A practical session with Todd and CAPSLOCK. Whether you need to secure a 100lb shade structure or… well… secure a friend during the “off-hours,” these are the skills you need.
- 5 PM – 6 PM | Applied Incident Command (ICS): Handy and Snapshot are back to lead this talk but it’s all hands on deck session with all our safety leads weighing in. Join us for a tabletop exercise on how to handle evolving situations without losing your cool. Whether you’re a first-time volunteer or a seasoned lead, this scalable framework will help you handle incidents as they evolve. It’s about staying calm when things get complicated.
🕒 Phase 3: The Party 🕒
- 6 PM – 7 PM | Dinner & Vibes With DJ Potter: Take a breather and grab some food (plenty of downtown options nearby) or bring something back to chill with us. While you eat, enjoy an early downtempo electro set to get in the mood.
- 7:15 PM | The Half-Time Show:
- Dollar Bill Folding Competition: High stakes, low currency. BYOBills and show us you can do little origami
- Trashion Showcase: Hosted by MissConception & TaraByte. Walk the runway in your best “clean trash” creation. Whether you brought a look from home or built one at our Trashion Station, now is the time to hit the runway.
- 7:25 PM | Live Auction KickOff: We’re auctioning off everything from Axe Throwing and Belly Dance lessons to original Glass Art by RedBear.
- 8 PM – Late | DJs KingBoa, Peacock Donny Jepp, Penguin, Injuntrubl, and PRIZM: Tech-house, DnB, and bass music to carry us through the night.
- 1:30 AM | LAST CALL: You don’t gotta go home, but you can’t stay here! So get your final rounds in before we lovingly (but firmly) usher you out the door. If you would pick up around you before you go, we would be so grateful for your participation!