...We must find our voices, sing to the heights, cajole and dance, and celebrate what it means to be alive and human. From the first campfires of conscious man, where hairy Gruk made fun of upright Muk, and the others warm-heartedly pointed and laughed, humanity has performed for each other, told stories, performed epic poems, recalled stories, made films and shows, and for those fleeting moments amongst friends and family, escaped together. 

Do not give up the stage, my friends, for the world needs your performances and stories. The upcoming tsunami of forced artificial creativity does not know anything about the nuances of humor, the anti-hero, or how to play an inspirational guitar solo that makes you cry, smile, and think horny thoughts at the same time. We still, for the moment, are the keepers of that self-inspired and shared flame, so keep it alight, feed it with your creative energy, and hold that torch high to illuminate the machine-made darkness we fear lies ahead.

Beware of the LLM dragons deep inside the cave who tell you a better-worded prompt will make life easier. These are times when we must show each other that human creativity lies in the simple act of performance, both the high aspirational and the lowly gutter, the classical and the "so new it is still moist". 

Love Burn 2027's theme "Showtime!" is an homage to the dynamic energy of performance. Bring your too-small tap shoes, your flaming torches, your sparkly showgirl vests, your dirty jazz hands and show us what you got. We are the all-spectating, all-participating crap of the world, and in these tired and stressful times we need the outlet of both performing and active audience support. Find a performance art form you love, and push it into a strange and wonderful new place. 

Love Burn will be setting aside a much-larger percentage of the art grants this year to help performance groups and live acts attend. We are not a music festival, yet every year we relish the increase of live music and staged acts amongst us. Let's get more this year. Live acoustic music, edgy Shakespeare, lousy Broadway showtunes around a keyboard at 2am, risqué circus acts...did someone say Beckett? Dust off that high school soliloquy that impressed the cute red-head, put some slide oil on that pawn shop trombone, gather your campmates and throw down some Bollywood dance moves - it is all about putting your inner drama queen on stage for this burn.

So with the rising drumroll, the bass drum kick, the cymbal crash, and limelights flooding the first act, join us on the greatest stage ever created by you - Love Burn 2027 "Showtime!" welcomes you to Virginia Key astride beautiful Miami, Florida this February 11th-14th, 2027.