| How to Raise a Big Tent |
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To raise the sides of the tent, we use many side poles.
Each side pole needs one person holding it up,
while another person secures the two thick ropes
that hold the side pole to the ground rebar.
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We raise the sides of the tent first,
with the center of the tent still on the ground.
When the tent looks like big bowl,
with raised sides all the way around,
then we raise the quarter poles.
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To make it easier to raise the center pole,
we dig a trench from the rim to the center.
The trench is like a guide for the center pole.
To help the pole slide in the trench, we put
a metal sled under the bottom of the pole,
in the trench.
We all push the center pole from the bottom,
and the pole and sled will slide along the trench.
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When the center pole is straight,
we refill the trench, and tightly pack
the playa around the base of the center pole,
covering the sled.
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When the center pole is raised correctly,
it looks like this from below.
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When the tent roof is complete,
we attach all the tent walls.
Some of the walls have clear windows,
so we put these near our entrance.
We tighten all the ropes, several times,
so the tent is stable even in high winds.
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Inside the tent, we set up our decorations.
Here we suspend a jellyfish overhead by
connecting ropes between the quarter poles.
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The center pole is strong enough to hold
heavy decorations like this robotic octopus body.
The octopus fits over the center pole,
and we raise it using pulleys and rope.
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To build our pod rooms inside the tent,
we use metal fence poles and PVC poles.
We connect the poles using metal corner joints,
and then we hang our decorations on them.
To make the pod rooms more private,
we hang sheets and curtains around the poles.
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The pod rooms inside the tent are our lounges
and chillspaces.
We add raised platforms for lounging,
futons, pillows, and our decorations.
Last year we built three pod rooms:
a Morrocan lounge with plush red velvet,
a psychedelic blacklight area with groovy toys,
and a soft heavenly bedroom with light fur fabrics.
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