Last night while walking around Alberta during Last Thursday, my friend— who is a die-hard baseball fan— turned to me and said, “It’s like spring training for Burning Man.”

I instantly burst into laughter as I moved to the side to avoid being hit by a two-story bike being peddled by a man wearing face paint and football shoulder pads, then side stepped a group of fire twirlers dancing to house music before I finally fell in line behind a long line of people who looked like they just came from an ecstasy fueled costume party.

Each block was complete with some type of musical act, or performance, some much better than others. For instance, I would’ve easily spent time listening to the all-woman bluegrass group picking on the corner, or the band that sounded a lot like Gogol Bordello, rather than listen to the horrible house music that was being blasted on many street corners and even from a few rooftop lofts.

My first trip to Last Thursday, which was this past fall, was a great experience and I was excited to see so much great art so close to my home. Last night I didn’t dare stop to look at any art—which was nearly impossible to find amongst the corduroy skirts, neon pins, and other handmade clothing being sold—because I was scared of being trampled by the mob of people.

So what is to become of Last Thursday, is it too late to save the art side of it? Will it now be nothing more than a spring training for Burning Man; a place for people to practice spinning fire, wearing crazy costumes on crazy bikes while their friends spin shitty house music? Say it ain’t so!