Nearly 70,000 participants are gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock desert for alternative arts festival Burning Man, which begins today (Sunday). Visitors can expect 5.7 square miles of giant flaming art, surreal costumes, a collection of esoteric workshops, wild parties and a spirit of freedom. Born in June 1986, when founders Larry Harvey and Jerry James burnt a wooden figure on San Francisco’s Baker Beach with just 35 friends and onlookers, Burning Man has grown into an international phenomenon.

Unlike most festivals, there are no spectators: everyone gets involved, be it by bringing art, running a free bar “gifting” drinks to others, or cooking for their camp-mates. There is a total lack of commercialisation – any logos on cars for example must be covered up, and you can’t buy anything there: guests have to bring all the supplies they need to last the week, and as a result, many people club together into elaborate themed camps.

There is also a growing network of off-shoot regional Burning Man festivals in other countries and at other times of year, which are officially connected to the original event. Set up by volunteers who have usually been to Burning Man and are inspired to take the ethos to their own country, these events are intended to have the same culture, and follow the same 10 core principles, including participation, decommodification and radical self-reliance. Here are the best:

AfrikaBurn, South Africa

10,000 people | 25 April-1 May 2016
Burning Man’s largest regional event started in 2007 in the arid Tankwa Karoo, on a private reserve called Stonehenge Farm. “We jokingly call participants who have spent years at Burning Man then come to AfrikaBurn ‘Time Travellers’,” says co-founder Monique Schiess, “because they feel what Burning Man was like in the 1990s.” In one piece of performance art this year, a giant worm gave birth to a huge helium balloon. An aerial dancer was suspended from the balloon 20 metres in the air, while beasts on stilts marched below.
• ZAR1,059 (£52), afrikaburn.com

Nowhere, Spain

1,500 people | 4-10 July 2016
The first Nowhere was in 2004, with just 35 people. Set in the dusty badlands near Lleida, Catalonia, the thermometer hits 48C and the dust twisters can lift tents. Projects this year included life-size Mario Karting, a hot air balloon, and a swimming pool. The camp Übertown has a DJ tower disguised as an abandoned building – with propane flamethrowers, of course. Inventions such as a hydrogen-powered phone charger are funded by special innovation grants from the organisers, raised through ticket costs.
• €110-150 (2015), goingnowhere.org

Midburn, Israel

6,800 people | 2016 dates tbc
Midburn began last year in the Negev desert. Installations this year included a flying scarlet dragon and a pyramid made of vinyl records. “If you visit an art installation, there’s a good chance you’ll meet the artist,” says chief executive Nir Adan. Next year, there will be over 100 installations, “Some on the scale of Burning Man,” he adds.
• ILS480-540 (£79-£88) in 2015, midburn.org

Burning Seed, Australia

3,300 people | 30 September-5 October

Burning Seed takes place in the Matong state forest in New South Wales, on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people, with their permission. “The sheer size of Burning Man drives its intensity,” says Jane Lyons, head of communications. “Seed enjoys a more personal intensity … you develop a much stronger sense of being a co-creator.” This year, participants will be “encouraged” not to make trips off-site by being charged AU$20 to do so.
• AU$125-165 (£57-£75), burningseed.com

Nest, Wales

500 people | 25-31 May 2016
Running since 2013, the first full-length burn in the UK happens in a lush valley near Port Talbot in South Wales. This year, the bar – stocked with donations, of course, since nothing was for sale – had a wheel of fortune that could leave unlucky burners trapped in a tiny cage called the Tequila Slammer.
• £75-110, burningnest.co.uk

For more information and a full list of Burning Man regional festivals, visit regionals.burningman.org

• This article was amended on 2 September 2015 to clarify that AfrikaBurn is not held in the Tankwa Karoo national park, but at Stonehenge private reserve, which adjoins the national park.