Ephemerisle
We are a gathering of thinkers, doers, artists, dreamers, muckrakers, and builders interested in life on the water.
We construct a floating city on the Sacramento River Delta at Mandeville Point and live on it for seven days.
There are no tickets, no central organizers, no rules, and no Rangers to keep you safe. You must practice radical self-reliance, if you want to have a good time.
What's it like to attend? Here's a slideshow from past years of Ephemerisles. Also see Judd Weiss's pictures from Ephemerisle 2014.
Since there's no central organizer, the event only happens if people contribute.
Culture
After lively discussion in 2012 about the values that connect Ephemerislers as a community, the following received broad support:
- Seasteading. Ephemerisle was started by The Seasteading Institute (TSI), a non-profit devoted the creation of long-term human communities on the water (aka seasteading). Although the event is now entirely community run, many of the attendees continue to be enthusiasts of living on the water.
- Art. A society without art has no soul. Just as Burning Man has inspired art in the desert, we want to inspire art on the sea.
- Learning. One of the goals of TSI in starting Ephemerisle was to give people who may not have much boating experience the opportunity to gain nautical skills: anchoring, sailing, ropework, etc in a relatively safe environment. In addition, many of the attendees are scientists, engineers, artists, entrepreneurs and activists, who frequently have fascinating stories to tell. There are many opportunities to learn from each other at Ephemerisle.
- Community. Spend a week rafted up on the Delta with awesome people, and you can't up but connect with old friends, and make new friends.
Ephemerisle 2020
Ephemerisle 2020 will take place July 20 - July 27
Before anything else, PLEASE READ THE survival guide!! The Survival guide contains important "how tos" and information on having a fun, safe time.
Next, check out the Announcements 2019 page, which contains links to important announcements regarding ferries, parking, etc. Join the Ephemerisle Announcements Only mailing list to receive important announcements via email. For active discussion for all things Ephemerisle, check out the Facebook page.
Interested in getting involved this year? Volunteer or support us!
Looking for a berth? Join a crew!
Ephemerisle Dates
For several years, Ephemerisle began on the first Monday after July 11.
However, as Ephemerisle grew, the amount of build time required for some islands, such as Elysium, grew as well.
As a result, the start of build began pushing up against the July 4th weekend. Many of the build crew members attend events during Fourth of July weekend, such as family reunions, Priceless, Camp Tipsy, etc. Immediately starting Ephemerisle build after those events became difficult for those crew members.
Therefore, many of the island leads requested to change the start date for Ephemerisle to the Monday of the last full week in July. After some discussion, a survey of the community found that most were either supportive or neutral towards the proposed change.
As a result, the following islands will be showing up on the Monday of the last full week in July, beginning in 2019, and continuing into the indefinite future:
- Siren Island [1]
- Elysium
- DIYsland
- SS Mazapeta
- Blues House
- Washed Up Yacht Club
Note that as a decentralized gathering, it's up to each island to decide for themselves when to show up, and other islands may show up before or after those dates. However, if you want to be there when most other islands will be there, you should plan to arrive from July 22 - July 29. (If you want to add your island to the list get in touch.)
Here are the dates for the next few years:
2019: July 22 - July 29
2020: July 20 - July 27
2021: July 19 - July 26
2022: July 18 - July 25
2023: July 24 - July 31
Get involved
Here's a few things you can do: bring art, give talks, build your own boats and platforms, rent a truck and help carry floating platform parts, build illumination, make music, bring a wakeboard, and help build this wiki.
- Join the Facebook Group.
- Attend scheduled pre-Ephemerisle events. If there's none listed, check back regularly.
- Create an art project.
- Help create / maintain this wiki. Ask Adam Katz for access and see the wiki todo list.
