>>1488596Bonfires are usually a group thing and people like playing with fire even if it is only for feeding the fire. Fast burning woods are best for that. They give out lots of flames and people can replenish the pile continually. If people are dancing around it then use wood that is longer burning so there's no need to whack dancing people in their face when other people try to replenish the fire so often. You'd also want to use wood that doesn't smoke and doesn't have toxic smoke. So no wet or green wood and nothing overly toxic (see chart.) If you are also cooking with it then that will depend on what you are cooking and how you are cooking it. You may want flames or just coals. Dense slow burning woods are better for cooking coals. Fast burning woods are better for flame cooking. So, build the fire in a manner that allows fast burning on one side and slow burning on the other side.
While you can just toss shit on and watch it burn, taking the time to plan things out will help everyone enjoy the fire far more than normal.
