On the island of Hawaii, a relatively unknown buyer is purchasing large portions of land, rapidly becoming one of Hawaii’s largest landowners, while also stirring controversy with a Burning Man-inspired annual festival he is trying to cultivate.

Since 2021, Pennsylvania native Andrew Tepper has bought over 14,000 acres in Papaikou near Hilo, according to public records, under his company Teppy Mountain LLC. Tepper held a festival, called Falls on Fire, on his agriculturally zoned property in 2023 and 2024. The events were unpermitted, sparking backlash among his neighbors and government agencies, who have hit him with violations. 

Hawaii County spokesperson Tom Callis told SFGATE that Teppy Mountain has been fined $34,000 so far. “As this is a private event that involves many people that exceeds the customary use of the agricultural property, it requires a Special Permit,” Callis said.

To comply, Tepper submitted a Special Use Permit with the Windward Planning Commission in September 2024 for the annual event, which calls for a four-day-long festival with overnight camping and commercial vehicle storage on approximately 14.7 acres of the Papaikou land, with a maximum attendance of 500. As at Burning Man, a burning ceremony of an effigy is lit on fire to close the event.

“Hawaiian culture and Burning Man culture share so many principals… decommodification, communal effort, gifting, participation, ‘leave no trace’ – those are all things I keep noticing in Hawaiian culture, and they are stated principles of Burning Man culture. Falls on Fire is such a wonderful blending of those cultures,” Tepper told SFGATE in an email.

“If any readers are Burning Man participants, come visit my camp, Habitat for Insanity, and I will serve you the fanciest, most delicious shave ice on the playa,” he continued.

Tepper is now awaiting a contested case hearing on Nov. 13, 2025, before a decision is made about whether to approve or deny the permit. But until the permit is approved, the event is not authorized to be held.

Despite repeated warnings by the Hawaii Planning Department not to hold the event, it took place last year from Nov. 8 to 11, with over 200 attendees. 

No event has been publicized this year, but details were sent out to an email listserv from an email address associated with Falls on Fire stating that an event would take place Nov. 7 to 9, 2025, referring to it as a “private gathering” with no charge and advising participants to “keep it off all public pages” so it can avoid a “$500 per day fine.”

SFGATE obtained a copy of the email, dated Oct. 8, and it links to a new website with private access and a “bible for everything FoF” that details rules, fire safety, sound policy, theme camps and volunteer information. Tepper confirmed that it was from an email address that he and other organizers are using, but also added that “it is not the email that invitations were sent from.”

Tepper also told SFGATE that he is “having a smaller private gathering while the permit is pending. I hope to have the permit next year, and if I do, I will again welcome members of the public to experience this incredible property.” 

Hawaii County would not comment on whether it is aware of another event happening this year, but did tell SFGATE that “the Planning Department will issue another notice” if an unpermitted event is held. 

Asked whether or not it is something that would get shut down, Hawaii County Police Department told SFGATE it “does not necessarily enforce permit violations, however if we received noise and/or other complaints then police would respond.”

Hawaii County said more or less the same: “Reports of illegal or unsafe activities can be made to the Police or Fire departments, and they will respond based on the complaint.”

Earlier this year, Tepper purchased additional properties in the towns of Keaau and North Kona, according to public records. Then in October, he made another large acquisition when he bought the 792-acre Kupaianaha Ranch for $10.59 million. The ranch, near Hilo Forest Reserve, has waterfalls, orchards, pastureland and a two-story, 8,542-square-foot log cabin.

Tepper told SFGATE he purchased the property because he likes agricultural land. “The new property has a large lychee orchard that had been neglected, and I’ve already started tending the trees. I’m hoping that by next year we’ll be producing a small crop, and then be back to full production the following year or so,” Tepper told SFGATE in an email.

The purchase of Kupaianaha Ranch brings his total landholdings to over 15,000 acres on Hawaii Island. By comparison, Hilo, the largest town on the island, is approximately 35,000 acres, while the second-largest, Kailua-Kona, is 8,832 acres.

It’s a sizable sum that puts Tepper among the top wealthy Hawaii landowners, somewhere between Larry Ellison’s 87,810 acres on Lanai and Mark Zuckerberg’s 2,300 acres on Kauai. Others, like Oprah Winfrey, Michael Dell and Jeff Bezos, fall below.

Tepper is the founder and president of game development studio eGenesis, which started in 1998. He is best known for his work on “A Tale in the Desert,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, launching it in 2003. Then in 2013, eGenesis created Dragon’s Tale, an MMORPG casino that uses cryptocurrency. Tepper graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and ran a software company before starting eGenesis.

Aside from the Falls on Fire festival, it’s unclear what Tepper plans to do with the combined 15,000 acres, but he has a history of purchasing large properties in other states, including the 1,143-acre Dream Mountain Ranch in West Virginia in 2018. He opened it to guided trophy deer and elk hunts the following year. 

Editor’s note: SFGATE recognizes the importance of diacritical marks in the Hawaiian language. We are unable to use them due to the limitations of our publishing platform.