The Black Rock City Department of Tethered Aviation is a bunch of freaky folks from New York, Florida, Wisconsin, Oregon, North Carolina, Hong Kong and California who gather each year at Burningman. Our passion is everything kites! That is to say--kite flying, kite performing, kite buggying, kite photography, the physics of tensegrity, kite construction and teaching people to fly.

Today DOTA is a part of Burning Man and kite festivals around the world. We have flown the Red Line, our almost-one-mile-long airfoil kite, at festivals throughout the USA, the UK and New Zealand. Our members fly kites in China, Japan, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Britain, and more! We try to represent the spirit of Burning Man- community, gifting, acceptance and love- through kite flying wherever we go.

We also build stuff, make art, drink water, deliver papers, fix bikes, eat cookies, flail about, heckle burners, twirl hula hoops and do yoga by day. By night we fly kites, eat and drink really well, flail about, ride the playa, dance, twirl fire, drum, burn stuff, and engage in overall general debauchery and play.

DOTA is proud that many of us contribute time to the whole city: You'll find some of us selling bus tickets to Gerlach at the Bus Depot with our beloved OBOP neighbor, the Owl. Others ride around and deliver the Black Rock City papers. Recently many of us have been involved with B.E.D. and the BRC Mental Health Services to educate the populace about sexual assault and to help those who have been victimized.
Most of the time you'll find us flying a kite or showing someone else how.