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Wikipedia

Burning Man

Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the western United States.[1][2] The event's name comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night, the Saturday evening before Labor Day.[3] Since 1991, the event has been at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. According to Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten stated principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.[4]

Burning Man
The Temple, Burning Man 2016
BeginsAugust 25, 2024
EndsSeptember 2, 2024
VenueBlack Rock City
Location(s)Black Rock Desert,
Pershing County, Nevada, US
Coordinates40°47′6″N 119°12′18″W / 40.78500°N 119.20500°W / 40.78500; -119.20500
Years active37
InauguratedJune 22, 1986 (1986-06-22)
FoundersCacophony Society
Larry Harvey
John Law
Jerry James
Participants2019 (official): 78,850
2021 (unofficial): 20,000
Organised byBurning Man Project
Websiteburningman.org

At Burning Man, there are no headliners or scheduled performers. Instead, the participants design and build all the art, activities, and events.[5] Artwork includes experimental and interactive sculptures, buildings, performances, and art cars, among other media. These contributions are inspired by a theme chosen annually by the Burning Man Project.[6] The event has been called "countercultural revelry" and described by its organizers as an "excuse to party in the desert".[7] However, NPR said of Burning Man in 2019, "Once considered an underground gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, Burning Man has since evolved into a destination for social media influencers, celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite."[8]

Black Rock City
class=notpageimage|
Location in Nevada

Burning Man originated on June 22, 1986, on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a small function organized by Larry Harvey and Jerry James, the builders of the first Man. It has since been held annually, spanning the nine days leading up to and including Labor Day. Over the event's history, attendance has generally increased. In 2019, 78,850 people participated.[9]

Burning Man is organized by the Burning Man Project, a nonprofit organization that, in 2013, succeeded Black Rock City LLC, a for-profit limited liability company. Black Rock City LLC was formed in 1999 to represent the event's organizers and is now considered a subsidiary of the nonprofit organization. The Burning Man Project endorses multiple smaller regional events guided by the Burning Man principles, in the United States and internationally.

History edit

1980s edit

 
Two of the founders of Burning Man: John Law (left) and Michael Mikel (right)

Burning Man began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice. Sculptor Mary Grauberger, a friend of Larry Harvey's girlfriend, Janet Lohr, held solstice bonfire gatherings on Baker Beach for several years before 1986, some of which Harvey attended. When Grauberger stopped organizing it, Harvey "picked up the torch", with Grauberger's permission, and ran with it.[10] He and Jerry James built the first wooden effigy on June 21, 1986, cobbled together using scrap wood, to be torched that evening. On June 22, Harvey, James, and a few friends met on Baker Beach in San Francisco[11][12] and burned an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) wooden man and a smaller wooden dog. Harvey later described his inspiration for burning these effigies as a spontaneous act of "radical self-expression".[10] In 1987, the Man grew to 15 feet (5 m) tall, and by 1988, it had grown to 30 feet (9 m).[13][14]

By 1988, Harvey formally named the summer solstice ritual "Burning Man" by titling flyers for the happening as such. This was apparently done to ward off references to "wicker man", the reputed Celtic pagan practice of burning live sacrifices in human-shaped wicker cages. Harvey has said that he had not seen the 1973 cult film The Wicker Man until many years after and that it did not inspire the action.[13][15]

1990 to 1996 edit

8mm film footage of Burning Man in 1995 by Ammon Haggerty

In 1990, a separate event was planned by Kevin Evans and John Law on the remote and largely unknown playa, known as the Black Rock Desert, about 110 miles (180 km) north of Reno, Nevada.[16] Evans conceived it as a dadaist temporary autonomous zone with sculptures to be burned and situationist performance art. He asked John Law, who also had experience on the dry lake and was a defining founder of the Cacophony Society, to take on central organizing functions of the events. In the Cacophony Society's newsletter, it was announced as Zone Trip No. 4, A Bad Day at Black Rock (inspired by the 1955 film of the same name).

Meanwhile, the solstice burn at Baker Beach was interrupted by the park police for not having a permit. After striking a deal to raise the Man but not to burn it, event organizers disassembled it and returned it to the vacant lot where it had been built. Shortly thereafter, the legs and torso of the Man were chain-sawed and the pieces removed when the space was unexpectedly leased as a parking lot. The Man was reconstructed, led by Dan Miller, Harvey's then-housemate of many years, just in time to take it to Zone Trip No. 4.[17]

Michael Mikel, another active Cacophonist, realized that participants unfamiliar with the environment of the dry lake would benefit from knowledgeable persons helping to ensure they did not get lost in the deep dry lake and risk dehydration and death. He took the name Danger Ranger and created the Black Rock Rangers to assist them. Thus, Black Rock City began as a fellowship, organized by Law and Mikel, based on Evans's and Grauberger's ideas, along with Harvey's and James's symbolic man. Drawing on experience in the sign business and with light sculpture, Law prepared custom neon tubes for the Man starting in 1991 so it could be seen as a beacon to aid navigation at night long before there were any planned roads.

In its early years, the community grew by word of mouth alone, all were considered (and generally not invited until they could be expected to be) participants under their contribution to the cacophonous situationist vibe. There were no paid or scheduled performers or artists, no separation between art and life nor art-space and living-space, no rules other than "Don't interfere with anyone else's immediate experience" and "no guns in central camp".

1991 marked the first year that the event had a legal permit through the BLM (the Bureau of Land Management).[18] It was also the year that art model and fire dancer (and later Burning Man's first art director) Crimson Rose attended the event.[19] 1992 saw the birth of a smaller, intensive, nearby event named "Desert Siteworks", conceived and directed by William Binzen and co-produced (in 1993 and '94) with Judy West.[20] There were about 20 participants the first year, and approximately 100 in the second and third year. The annual, several weeks-long event, was held over summer Solstice at various fertile hot springs surrounding the desert. Participants built art and participated in self-directed performances.[21]

Some key organizers of Burning Man were also part of Desert Siteworks (Law, Mikel) and Binzen was a friend of Harvey. Hence, the two events saw much cross-pollination of ideas and participants.[22] The Desert Siteworks project ran for three years (1992–1994). 1996 was the first year a formal partnership was created to own the name "Burning Man" and was also the last year that the event was held in the middle of the Black Rock Desert with no fence around it.

Before the event opened to the public in 1996, a worker named Michael Furey was killed in a motorcycle crash[23] while riding from Gerlach, Nevada, to the Burning Man camp in the Black Rock Desert. Harvey insisted that the death had not occurred at Burning Man, since the gates were not yet open. Another couple were run over in their tent by an art car driving to the "rave camp", which was at that time distant from the main camp. After the 1996 event, Law broke with Burning Man and publicly said the event should not continue.

1997 to 2013 edit

 
The neon-tubed Man at the 1999 event

1997 marked another major pivotal year for the event. It had to be moved because the permit for Black Rock was denied for the 1997 event. A team conducting land speed trials had a conflicting permit that took precedence. Fly Ranch, with the smaller adjoining Hualapai dry lakebed, just west of the Black Rock desert, was chosen as the alternate location. This moved Burning Man from Pershing County/federal BLM land into the jurisdiction of Washoe County, which brought a protracted list of permit requirements.[24]

To comply with the new requirements and manage the increased liability load, the organizers formed Black Rock City LLC with the assistance of "Biz Babe" Dana Harrison. Will Roger Peterson and Flynn Mauthe created the Department of Public Works (DPW) to build the "city" grid layout, a requirement so that emergency vehicles could be directed to an "address", designed by Rod Garrett, an architect. Garrett continued as the city designer until his death, in 2011, at age 76. He is also credited with the design of all of the Man bases from 2001 through 2012, the center camp café and first camp.[25] 1998 saw a return to the Black Rock desert, although not to the deep playa, along with a temporary perimeter fence. The event has remained there since.

As the population of Black Rock City grew, more restrictions were added by the BLM, and changes were made in how people were invited to the event, notably the addition of publicized online ticket sales to all comers, further rules were established concerning its survival. Some critics of the later phase of the event cite these rules as impinging on the original freedoms and principles, diminishing the scope of the experience unacceptably, while many newer attendees find the increased level of activity more than balances out the changes:

  • A grid street structure.[26]
  • A speed limit of 5 mph (8 km/h).[27]
  • A ban on driving, except for approved "mutant vehicles" and service vehicles.[28]
  • Safety standards on mutant vehicles.[27]
  • Burning of any art must be done on an approved burn platform.[29]
  • A ban on fireworks.[30]
  • A ban on animals.[31]

Another notable restriction to attendees is the 9.2-mile- (14.8 km) long[32] temporary plastic fence that surrounds the event and defines the pentagon of land used by the event on the southern edge of the Black Rock dry lake.[33] This 4-foot- (1.2-meter) high barrier is known as the "trash fence" because its initial use was to catch wind-blown debris that might escape from campsites during the event. Since 2002, the area beyond this fence has not been accessible to Burning Man participants during the event.[34]

One visitor who was accidentally burned at the 2005 event unsuccessfully sued Black Rock City LLC in San Francisco County Superior Court. On June 30, 2009, the California Court of Appeal for the First District upheld the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Black Rock City LLC on the basis that people who deliberately walk toward The Man after it is ignited assume the risk of getting burned by such a hazardous object.[35]

2013 to 2019 edit

In December 2013,[36] Black Rock City LLC was made a subsidiary of a new nonprofit entity known as the Burning Man Project, though this was a controversial move among the founders.[37]

On September 3, 2017,[38] a 41-year-old man, Aaron Joel Mitchell, fought his way past a safety cordon of volunteers and firefighters and threw himself into the flames of the Man. Mitchell died the next day due to cardiac arrest, bodily shock, and third-degree burns to 98% of his body. His death was ruled a suicide.[39][40][41]

2020 to 2021 edit

 
2021 Man built of drones

On April 10, 2020, the Burning Man Project announced that Burning Man was canceled for 2020[42] due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2020 the first year Burning Man did not happen since its inception. They then decided to offer ticket refunds despite the tickets being sold explicitly as non-refundable.[43]

On September 7, 2020, an estimated 1,000 Burners celebrated on San Francisco's Ocean Beach. San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted about the event, "This was reckless and selfish. You aren't celebrating, but are putting people's lives and our progress at risk. No one is immune from spreading the virus."[44] Several thousand also showed up in the Black Rock desert for an unofficial event and some described it as a return to the "old days".[45][46]

The 2021 event was canceled on April 27, 2021, due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite progress on vaccination, organizers said that "uncertainties that need to be resolved are impossible to resolve in the time we have".[47] On May 14, 2021, the Burning Man Project released tickets on their website for online events slated between August 22 and September 7, 2021.[48]

The unofficial event was larger than 2020 with an estimated 20,000 attending. It was loosely coordinated by a variety of groups including Black Rock Plan B and Rogue Burn. The Bureau of Land Management implemented restrictions including no structures other than shade structures and no fires other than campfires. There was a massive illuminated drone display outlining the Man instead of the burning of a Man effigy.[49]

2023 edit

The 2023 Burning Man had rains and subsequent flooding on Labor Day weekend, with a lockdown preventing vehicle movement throughout the site.[50][51] Organizers arranged for some cellular service and shared a 2023 Wet Playa Survival Guide: "no driving is permitted until the playa surface dries up, with the exception of emergency services… Participants are encouraged to conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space" and told attendees about Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR) 94.5 FM and Gate Information Radio Station (GARS) 95.1.[52] One person died following the flooding, with thousands more stranded.[53]

Event timeline edit

The statistics below illustrate the growth in both the scale and scope of Burning Man in terms of location, height of the central Man sculpture, population, ticket price, and several registered camps and art.

After starting at 8 ft (2.4 m) and growing taller each of the next three years, the height of the titular Man remained at 40 ft (12 m) between 1989 and 2013. During those years, changes in the size and form of the base on which the wooden Man stood accounted for the differing heights of the overall structures.[54] In 2014 the construction of the Man changed to a 105 ft (32 m) tall figure standing directly on the ground with no base. From 2015 to 2019 the Man returned to 40 ft (12 m) in height.

Year Location Theme Man height Population Bureau of Land Management population limit Ticket price(s)[55] Number of theme camps, mutant vehicles, and placed art
1986 Baker Beach None 8 ft (2.4 m) 35 Not on BLM land Free None
Larry Harvey and Jerry James burn a wooden effigy of a man at Baker Beach on the summer solstice, following a tradition begun by Mary Grauberger of burning art at Baker Beach on the summer solstice.[56]
1987 Baker Beach None 15 ft (4.6 m) 80 Not on BLM land Free None
Whereas the previous year's effigy was assembled from scrap wood on the morning of the solstice, the 1987 Man was built over several weeks from cut lumber.[57]
1988 Baker Beach None 30 ft (9.1 m) 200 Not on BLM land Free None
Larry Harvey first names the annual event "Burning Man."[58]
1989 Baker Beach None 40 ft (12 m) 300 Not on BLM land Free None
First listing of Burning Man in the San Francisco Cacophony Society newsletter, "Rough Draft" under "sounds like cacophony".
1990 Baker Beach
& Black Rock Desert
None 40 ft (12 m)
  • 500 at Baker Beach
  • 120 at Black Rock Desert
None $15 (requested donation) None
The Man was erected at Baker Beach on the summer solstice but not burned. The Man was then "invited" to the San Francisco Cacophony Zone Trip No. 4 on Labor Day weekend in the Black Rock Desert.
1991 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft (12 m) 250 None $15 (requested donation) None
The Man was decorated with neon lighting in 1991 for the first time, and it has been decorated with neon every year since.
1992 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft (12 m) 600 None $25 (requested donation)
  • Theme Camps: 0
  • Placed art: 2
First year amplified music appeared at Burning Man. Craig Ellenwood and TerboTed set up a camp, approved by Larry Harvey one mile from center camp and launched the first EDM camp.[59][60][61]
1993 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft (12 m) 1,000 None $40
  • Theme Camps: 1
  • Placed art: 3
"Christmas Camp" becomes the first theme camp, with its two members dressing up as Santa Claus and giving out fruitcake and eggnog.
1994 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft (12 m) 2,000 None $30
  • Theme Camps: Unknown
  • Placed art: 5
First year of wooden spires and lamp lighting.
1995 Black Rock Desert 40 ft (12 m) 4,000 None $35
  • Theme Camps: Unknown
  • Placed art: 6
The Center Camp Cafe began selling coffee.
1996 Black Rock Desert heLLCo 48 ft (15 m) 8,000 None $35
  • Theme Camps: Unknown
  • Placed art: 11
Theme was a satire referencing Dante's Inferno, heLLCo (a corporate takeover of Hell). First year the Man is elevated on a straw bale pyramid. First fatality in motorcycle collision. Three people seriously injured in a tent run over by a car.[62] 10 of 16 BLM stipulations violated, putting BM on probationary status for next year. An injury claim drives liability coverage up by a factor of 6. Featured in an article in Wired magazine.[63]
1997 Hualapai Playa Fertility 50 ft (15 m) 10,000 Not on BLM land
  • Advance sale: $65
  • At gate: $75
  • Day visit: $20
  • Theme Camps: 51
  • Placed art: 21
Burning Man's founders form a management structure, and created the DPW to meet strict permit requirements newly imposed. The first year the city has grid streets and a driving ban. Washoe County officials impounded gate receipts to ensure payment after the fire and protection fees along with more than 100 new fire and safety conditions are imposed before the event.[64]
1998 Black Rock Desert Nebulous Entity 52 ft (16 m) 15,000 None
  • Early sale: $65
  • Advance sale: $80
  • At gate: $100
  • Theme Camps: 348
  • Placed art: 20
Burning Man returned to the Black Rock Desert although much closer to Gerlach than before. The "Nebulous Entity" was Harvey's satirical concept of alien beings who thrive on information – who consume it but do not understand it. The First Doodle from Google to Celebrate.
1999 Black Rock Desert Wheel of Time 54 ft (16 m) 23,000 None
  • Until April 15: $65
  • Until July 31: $80
  • Until August 29: $100
  • August 30: $105
  • August 31: $110
  • September 1: $115
  • September 2: $120
  • Theme Camps: 320
  • Placed art: 30
Listed in the AAA's RV guide under "Great Destinations."
2000 Black Rock Desert The Body 54 ft (16 m) 25,400 None
  • Until April 30: $145
  • Until June 30: $165
  • Until July 31: $185
  • Until August 27: $200
  • August 28/29: $220
  • August 30/31: $250
  • Theme Camps: 460
  • Placed art: 80
First active law enforcement activity, 60 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and police arrests and citations. Most are for minor drug charges following surveillance and searches.
2001 Black Rock Desert Seven Ages 70 ft (21 m) 25,659 None
  • Early sale: $145
  • Next 4,000 tickets: $165
  • Next 4,000 tickets: $185
  • Remaining advance sale: $200
  • At gate: $250
  • Theme Camps: 466
  • Placed art: 150
See Seven Ages of Man. Over 100 BLM citations and 5 arrests.
2002 Black Rock Desert The Floating World 80 ft (24 m) 28,979 None
  • Early sale: $145
  • Next 4,000 tickets: $165
  • Next 4,000 tickets: $175
  • Next 4,000 tickets: $185
  • Remaining advance sale: $200
  • At gate: $250
  • Theme Camps: 487
  • Placed art: 120
First year for FAA approved airport. 135 BLM citations and 4 Sheriff citations.
2003 Black Rock Desert Beyond Belief 79 ft (24 m) 30,586 None
  • Early sale: $145
  • Next 2,500 tickets: $165
  • Next 2,500 tickets: $175
  • Next 2,500 tickets: $185
  • Next 2,500 tickets: $200
  • Remaining advance sale: $225
  • At gate: $250
  • Theme Camps: 504
  • Placed art: 261
Dogs are banned for the first time. 177 BLM citations, 9 police citations, 10 arrests and 1 fatality.[65]
2004 Black Rock Desert The Vault of Heaven 80 ft (24 m) 35,664 None
  • Low income tickets: $145
  • First 6,000 tickets: $165
  • Next 6,000 tickets: $185
  • Next 7,000 tickets: $200
  • Next 7,000 tickets: $225
  • Remaining advance sale and at gate: $250
  • Theme Camps: 503
  • Placed art: 220
218 BLM citations, some issued from decoy 'art car'. Camps giving away alcohol subject to state law compliance examinations and 1 arrest. Pershing County Sheriff's office: 27 cases, 4 arrests, 2 citations. Nevada Highway Patrol: 2 DUI arrests, 217 citations, and 246 warnings were issued.
2005 Black Rock Desert Psyche 72 ft (22 m) 35,567 None
  • Low income tickets: $145
  • First 10,000 tickets: $175
  • Next 5,000 tickets: $200
  • Next 5,000 tickets: $225
  • Remaining advance sale and at gate: $250
  • Theme Camps: 485
  • Placed art: 275
The Man, perched atop a "funhouse" maze, could be turned by participants, confusing those at a distance who use it to navigate. Dream related artwork. 218 BLM citations, 6 arrests and 1 fatality.
2006 Black Rock Desert Hope and Fear 72 ft (22 m) 38,989
  • 6%> previous highest[66]: 1 
  • (37,803)
  • Low income tickets: $145
  • First 7,000 tickets: $185
  • Next 7,000 tickets: $200
  • Next 6,000 tickets: $225
  • Remaining advance sale until August 13: $250
  • After August 13 and at gate: $280
  • Theme Camps: 570
  • Placed art: 300
The Man goes up and down reflecting a hope/fear meter. Voting stations were set up around the playa, allowing residents to cast a Hopeful or Fearful vote for the future of Man. If the vote was hopeful he would burn with his hands in the air, otherwise with hands down. They voted hopeful, and his arms were raised until the end. 155 BLM citations and 1 arrest. Pershing County Sheriff's office: 1 citation and 7 arrests. Nevada Highway Patrol: 234 citations, 17 arrests, and 213 warnings.
2007 Black Rock Desert The Green Man 72 ft (22 m) 47,097[67]
  • 6%> previous highest[66]: 1 
  • (41,328)
  • Low income tickets: $145
  • First 10,000 tickets: $195
  • Next 10,000 tickets: $225
  • Next 10,000 tickets: $250
  • Remaining advance sale & At gate: $280
  • Theme Camps: 681
  • Placed art: 300
The Man was prematurely set on fire around 2:58 am, Tuesday, August 28, during a full lunar eclipse. A repeat Burning Man prankster, Paul Addis, was arrested and charged with arson,[68] and the Man was rebuilt for regular Saturday burn. Addis pleaded guilty in May 2008 to one felony count of injury to property, was sentenced to up to four years in Nevada state prison, and was ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution.[69] 331 BLM citations.
2008 Black Rock Desert American Dream 90 ft (27 m) 49,599[70]
  • 6%> previous highest[66]: 1 
  • (50,207)
  • Low income tickets: $145
  • First 10,000 tickets: $210
  • Next 10,000 tickets: $225
  • Next 10,000 tickets: $250
  • Remaining advance sale: $295
  • Theme Camps: 746
  • Placed art: 285
First year that tickets are not sold at the gate.[71] The size and layout of the city is enlarged to accommodate a larger central playa and a longer Esplanade. Because of excessively high winds and whiteout conditions on Saturday, the burning of the Man was delayed for over an hour and a half and the fire conclave was canceled. Many longtime contributors opted out allegedly due to the chosen theme ("The American Dream"), the jailing of dissenter Addis, and the founders' rift. The perimeter of BRC extended to 9 miles. The BLM made 6 arrests and issued 129 citations.
2009 Black Rock Desert Evolution 75 ft (23 m) 43,558[72]
  • 6%> previous highest[66]: 1 
  • (52,575)
  • Low income tickets: $160
  • Pre-sale tickets: $260
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $210
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $240
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $260
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $280
  • Remaining advance sale: $300
  • Theme Camps: 618
  • Placed art: 215
As the result of some criticism, the size and layout of the city were returned to roughly the same as the 2007 event. The BLM officials said that as of noon Saturday, 41,059 people were at Burning Man, and the crowd peaked at 43,435 at noon Friday, a noted decline after years of steady attendance growth, due mainly to the 2007–2008 financial crisis. BLM issued 287 citations and 9 arrests.
2010 Black Rock Desert Metropolis[73] 104 ft (32 m) 51,525[74]
  • 6%> previous highest[66]: 1 
  • (52,575)
  • Low income tickets: $160
  • Pre-sale tickets: $280
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $210
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $240
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $260
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $280
  • Remaining advance sale: $300
  • Theme Camps: 700
  • Placed art: 275
Attendance over 50,000 mark, for the first time. The gate opened early, at 6 pm Sunday, for the first time. Coincided with the inaugural Black Rock City Film Festival. BLM issued 293 citations and 8 arrests.
2011 Black Rock Desert Rites of Passage[75] 90 ft (27 m) 53,963[76] 50,000[77]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $160
  • Pre-sale tickets: $360
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $210
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $240
  • Next 9,000 tickets: $280
  • Remaining advance sale: $320
  • Theme Camps: 920
  • Placed art: 309
According to Black Rock LLC, 27,000 tickets (all discounted tiers) were sold by midday the day following the opening of ticket sales.[78] For the first time in Burning Man history, tickets sold out before the event on July 24, 2011.[78]
2012 Black Rock Desert Fertility 2.0[79] 85 ft (26 m) 56,149[80] 60,900[81]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $160
  • Pre-sale tickets: $420
  • Lottery 1st draw: $240
  • Lottery 2nd draw: $320
  • Lottery 3rd draw and Directed Group Sales (DGS): $390
  • Theme Camps: 978
  • Placed art: 360
Due to the sellout of the event in 2011, Burning Man Project opted for a complex multi-round, random selection system of ticket sales with a separate low-income program. On January 27, Burning Man Project announced that the number of tickets requested in the Main Sale was around 120,000 vis-à-vis the 40,000 that were available. In consequence, a significant number of registrants would not be awarded tickets in the Main Sale. The Main Sale was originally planned to be followed by a secondary open sale of 10,000 tickets. However, as the huge demand from the Main Sale left many veteran burners and theme camps without tickets, Burning Man Project opted for a "directed ticket distribution" (DGS) instead, i.e., "manually redirect them to some of the vital groups and collaborations that make up Black Rock City" rather than an open sale.
2013 Black Rock Desert Cargo Cult[82] 85 ft (26 m) 69,613[83] 68,000[84]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • Pre-sale tickets: $650
  • DGS, Individual Sale, and OMG Sale: $380
  • Theme Camps: 1056
  • Placed art: 382
The year's theme was based on John Frum and Cargo Cults.[85] Ticket tiers were eliminated and a flat rate price structure was adopted (except for low-income ticket program).[86]
2014 Black Rock Desert Caravansary[87] 105 ft (32 m) 65,922[88] 68,000[89]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • Pre-sale tickets: $650
  • DGS, Individual Sale, and OMG Sale: $380
  • Vehicle passes: $40
  • Theme Camps:
  • Placed art: 350
This year, the Burning Man Traffic Mitigation Plan went into effect. All vehicles entering Black Rock City needed a $40 vehicle pass. Only 35,000 passes were available.[90]
A woman is killed in a vehicle collision.[91]
2015 Black Rock Desert Carnival of Mirrors[92] 69 ft (21 m) 67,564[93] 70,000[94]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • Pre-sale tickets: $800
  • DGS, Individual Sale, and OMG Sale: $390
  • Vehicle passes: $50
  • Theme Camps:
  • Placed art: 326
First time in nearly 10 years that the Man base is on the ground (vis-à-vis a raised base). Only 27,000 vehicle passes were made available this year.[95]
2016 Black Rock Desert Da Vinci's Workshop[96] 70 ft (21 m) 67,290[97] 70,000[98]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • Pre-sale tickets: $990
  • Pre-sale "Art Tickets": $1200
  • DGS, Individual Sale, and OMG Sale: $390
  • Vehicle passes: $80
  • Theme Camps:
  • Placed art: 316
Tying in with the 2016 theme – the works of Leonardo da Vinci, the Man was a large-scale interpretation of the Vitruvian Man on a circular frame; contained within its base was a wheel and gear system that was to allow groups of visitors to manually rotate the Man.[99] The gear system was damaged during setup, however, and was not functional during the event.[100]
2017 Black Rock Desert Radical Ritual[101] 105 ft (32 m) 69,493[102] 70,000[103]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • Pre-sale tickets: $990
  • Pre-sale "Art Tickets": $1200
  • DGS, Main Sale, and OMG Sale: $425
  • Vehicle passes: $80
Theme Camps: 1395[104]

Mutant Vehicles: unknown

Placed art: 317[104]

A 41-year-old man, Aaron Joel Mitchell, died after running through the security cordon into the already ignited Man.[105]
2018 Black Rock Desert I, Robot[106] 85 ft (26 m) 70,248[107] 70,000[108]: 5 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • Pre-sale tickets: $990
  • Pre-sale "Art Tickets": $1200
  • DGS, Main Sale, and OMG Sale: $425
  • Vehicle passes: $80
Theme Camps: 1472[109]

Mutant Vehicles: 618[109]

Placed art: 383[109]

Due to ticket overselling, the population of Black Rock City exceeded the 70,000 participant limit, and on Thursday of event week the BLM requested that the gate be closed. New participants were only let in once another had left.[110]
2019 Black Rock Desert Metamorphoses[111] 61 ft (19 m) 78,850[112] 80,000[113]: 1 
  • Low income tickets: $190
  • FOMO Sale: $1400
  • DGS & Main Sale: $425
  • OMG Sale: $550
  • Vehicle passes: $100
Theme camps: 1545[114]

Mutant vehicles: 632[114]

Placed art: 415[114]

The BLM's definition of "population" was changed to include BRC staff and volunteers in addition to paid participants.[113]: 1 The maximum population limit was increased by 10,000 to accommodate, accordingly.[115]: 2
2020 Black Rock Desert The Multiverse[116] N/A 5,000[117] N/A N/A Unknown
Burning Man was canceled in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.[118] On July 2, 2020, the eight virtual Universes were announced as The Infinite Playa, Multiverse, SparkleVerse, MysticVerse, BRCvr, BURN2, Build-A-Burn, and The Bridge Experience.[119] Approximately 5,000 people showed up in the Black Rock desert for a ticketless, unofficial burn.[117]
2021 Black Rock Desert The Great Unknown[120] drone display 20,000 N/A N/A Camps: 500+[121]
The theme was originally announced as "Terra Incognita" then later changed to "The Great Unknown".[122] The event was canceled for the second year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.[123] An estimated 20,000 showed up for a loosely organized "rogue" burn.[49]
2022 Black Rock Desert Waking Dreams[124] Not yet public information 75,069[125] 87,000[126]: 2
  • Ticket Aid Program: $225
  • FOMO Sale: $2500 or $1500
  • Stewards Sale (formerly DGS): $475
  • Main Sale and OMG Sale: $575
  • Vehicle passes: $140
Not yet public information
On December 15, 2021, the Burning Man Project announced that the 2022 event would take place in person.[127]
2023 Black Rock Desert Animalia[128] Not yet public information Not yet public information 87,000[129]: 3
  • Ticket Aid Program: $225
  • FOMO Sale: $2750 or $1500
  • Stewards Sale: $575
  • Main Sale and OMG Sale: $575
  • Vehicle passes: $150
Not yet public information
The event experienced inclement weather and flooding for the first time, forcing the gates and the roads leading to Black Rock City to be closed for a period of time. A death was also reported.[130]

Population counts edit

The population count is a stipulation of the Special Recreation Permit (SRP) granted to the Burning Man Project, formerly Black Rock City, LLC (BRC), by the BLM, for the event each year. Originally used to calculate fees, it's now used to ensure that the event does not exceed the maximum authorized population as specified in the SRP. Not everyone at the event is included in the population count. Exempted from the count are government personnel and government contractors; however, this has changed over time.

The population count was originally used to calculate fees owed to the BLM. It was not long until the BLM began considering putting a limit on the number of people that would be allowed to attend the event. This became a point of contention as early as 1998 when the BLM proposed a complicated usage formula, effectively limiting the size of the event to that of the previous year.[131][132]

Starting in 2006, the SRP stipulated that BRC manage "ticket sales in a manner to keep the maximum population of the event from increasing more than 6% above the highest population recorded in a previous year."[66]: 1  Fees were based on the daily population counts of Black Rock City at noon.[66]: 12  This was the first year where fees were explicitly exempted for BRC staff.[66]: 12.

In 2011, the fee structure changed to be based on adjusted gross income and was no longer tied to daily population counts.[133]: 5 

The 2012 SRP further defined who was to be counted in population counts. The term "participant" was introduced, as defined in that year's Environmental Assessment (EA), to include "all attendees of the event, including paid participants and volunteers. The population does not include government personnel, Humboldt General Hospital emergency service providers, vendors and contractors."[134]: 2–1  The maximum authorized population now applied to "participants".[81]: 1 

In 2014, volunteers were explicitly exempted from the population count and the population cap was further refined to now apply to "paid participants".[89]: 1 

In 2019, the definition of "population" changed again, this time to include BRC staff and volunteers, now collectively referred to as "attendees".[113]: 1  This coincided with the necessity of a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 2019-2028 SRP application which introduced this change in definition.[135]: ES-1 The Burning Man Project reported a population of 78,850 for that year, an increase of about 8,600 people from the previous year, noting that "everyone" was now being counted in the maximum population count.[136] This roughly correlates with the Burning Man Project's 2019 Form 990 disclosure which states it employs 986 people and has 10,000 volunteers.[137]: 1 

In 2022, an additional restriction on the total number of attendees for the entirety of the event was introduced. "The cumulative maximum authorized population for the 2022 event is 87,000 total attendees." The maximum number of attendees on the playa at any one time remained as it was in 2019 at 80,000.[126]: 1

Principles edit

 
The man effigy with fireworks before being burned in 2011

Because of the variety of goals fostered by participatory attendees, known as "Burners," Burning Man does not have a single focus. Features of the event are subject to the participants and include community, artwork, absurdity, decommodification and revelry. Participation is encouraged.[138][139]

The Burning Man event and its affiliated communities are guided by 10 principles meant to evoke the cultural ethos that has emerged from the event. They were originally written by Larry Harvey in 2004[140] as guidelines for regional organizing, then later became universal criteria of the general culture of the multifaceted movement. The 10 Principles are:[141]

The descriptions in quotes are the actual text:

Radical inclusion edit

"Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community." This was written with a broad stroke for general organizing, meaning anyone is welcome to the Burning Man culture. Prerequisites for the Burning Man[141] event are: participants are expected to provide for their own basic needs, follow the guidelines in the annually updated event "survival guide", and purchase a $475 ticket to get in.[142]

Gifting edit

"Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift-giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value." Instead of cash, burners are encouraged to rely on a gift economy, a sort of potlatch. In the earliest days of the event, an underground barter economy also existed, in which burners exchanged "favors" with each other. While this was originally supported by the Burning Man organization, it is now largely discouraged. Instead, burners are encouraged to give one another gifts unconditionally.

Decommodification edit

"To preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience." No cash transactions are permitted between burners. Cash can be used for a select few charity, fuel, and sanitation vendors as follows:[143]

  • Café beverages such as coffee, chai, lemonade, etc., which are sold at Center Camp Café, operated by the organizers of the event.[144] Citing cost, decreased need, environmental impact, and decommodification, beverage sales were halted in 2022.[145]
  • Ice sales benefit the local Gerlach-Empire school system.[146]
  • Tickets for the shuttle bus to the nearest Nevada communities of Gerlach and Empire which is operated by a contractor not participating in the event: Green Tortoise.[147]
  • A reentry wristband, which allows a person to leave and reenter the event and may be purchased at the gate upon exit.[148]
  • An airport use fee, payable at the airport upon first entry.[149]
  • Diesel and biodiesel sold by third-party contractors.
  • RV dump service and camp graywater disposal service.[150]
  • Private portable toilets and servicing, which can be arranged with the official contractor.

Radical self-reliance edit

 
Dust storms are common at Burning Man, so many come prepared with appropriate protection such as goggles and masks to reduce dust inhalation.

"Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise, and rely on his or her inner resources." The event's harsh environment and remote location require participants to be responsible for their subsistence. Since the LLC forbids most commerce, participants must be prepared and bring all their own supplies with the exception of the items stated in Decommodification.[151] Public portable toilets are also available throughout the city; some of these are, like art cars, decorated in imaginative ways by volunteers.[152]

Radical self-expression edit

Trojan Horse Pull – Burning Man 2011

"Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient." Burners are encouraged to express themselves in a number of ways through various art forms and projects. The event is clothing-optional and public nudity is common, though not practiced by the majority.[153][154][155]

Communal effort edit

"Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction." Burners are encouraged to work with and help one another.[156]

Civic responsibility edit

"We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws."

Leave no trace edit

 
Burning Man Playa Restoration 2015 – attendees carry sticks and buckets to clean the desert of MOOP (matter out of place), as part of the "leave no trace" policy.

"Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them."

Participation edit

"Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart." People are encouraged to participate, rather than observe.

Immediacy edit

"Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience."

The Temple edit

 
Temple of Joy by David Best and crew, 2002
 
Temple of Stars, burning, 2004
 
Temple of Juno, 2012
 
Temple of Grace, burning, 2014
 
Temple of Promise, 2015
 
Temple of Direction, 2019
 
Temple of Constraints, 2021

The Temple is the secondary major recurring art installation at Burning Man after the Man, and is considered just as important to the event culture. According to the Burning Man Project, "The Temple is a community shared space that is an important part of Black Rock City. It is not a temple in recognition of any religion; it's a neutral, non-denominational spiritual space where everyone can gather to share in the experience of remembering the past, honoring or cursing the present, and pondering the future to come."[157]

The prime function of the Temple is to be a canvas upon which people can leave words and objects behind to be burned, and to serve as "a place of contemplation, a place to rest, a place of reflection, a place of rituals, weddings, reunions, etc".[158] During the event, 400 volunteer Temple Guardians monitor the Temple 24 hours a day.[159] The Temple is burned on the eighth and final night of the festival, following the "Man burn" on the previous night.[157]

Timeline edit

Source:[160]

Year Name Designer(s) Notes
2000 Temple of the Mind David Best

Jack Haye

Temple of the Mind was dedicated to Michael Hefflin, a Temple builder who died in a motorcycle accident. Other people left remembrances over the course of the festival week, and the tradition of the Temple at Burning Man was born.[161]
2001 Temple of Tears / Mausoleum David Best

Jack Haye

2002 Temple of Joy David Best Temple of Joy was 100 ft (30 m) tall.[162]
2003 Temple of Honor David Best
2004 Temple of Stars David Best Temple of Stars was the first temple that allowed participants to walk on.
2005 Temples of Dreams Mark Grieve
2006 Temple of Hope Mark Grieve
2007 Temple of Forgiveness David Best

Tim Dawson

2008 Basura Sagrada Brent Allen Spears

Tucker Teutsch

'Basura Sagrada' is Spanish for 'Sacred Trash', and was constructed largely from burnable trash and recycled materials.[163]
2009 Fire of Fires David Umlas

Marrilee Ratcliffe

Fire of Fires was built in Austin, Texas.[164]
2010 Temple of Flux Rebecca Anders

Jess Hobbs

Peter Kimelman

This temple's artists formed The Flux Foundation.[165] Temple of Flux was a major departure from previous Temple design at Burning Man and was highly abstract in nature, consisting of five double-curved walls that formed cave-like spaces.[166]
2011 Temple of Transition Chris Hankins

Diarmaid Horkan

Ian Beaverstock

Temple of Transition took the form of a central 120 ft (37 m) hexagonal tower, surrounded by five 58 ft (18 m) hexagonal towers.[167]
2012 Temple of Juno David Best Temple of Juno incorporated a large central building within a 200 ft (61 m) square walled courtyard. Both the central building and the courtyard walls were made of intricately carved wood panels.[168]
2013 Temple of Whollyness Gregg Fleishman

Terry Gross

Melissa Barron

This was the first Temple built without nails, bolts, adhesives, or fasteners of any kind. As its centerpiece, Temple of Whollyness incorporated a 200 short tons (180,000 kg) black basalt Inuksuk created by artist James LaFemina.[169]
2014 Temple of Grace David Best Originally, Ross Asselstine was going to build Temple of Descendants, but he backed out due to contract disagreements with the Burning Man Project.[170]
2015 Temple of Promise Jazz Tigan Temple of Promise featured a 97 ft (30 m) archway as its entrance.[171] The structure of the Temple tapered in and curled around to form a small courtyard containing wireframe tree sculptures.[172]
2016 The Temple David Best The wooden components of the Temple were cut by hand without the use of a CNC machine.[173]
2017 The Temple Marisha Farnsworth

Steve Brummond

Mark Sinclair

The Temple was 80 ft (24 m) tall and 120 ft (37 m) across. The Temple was mostly constructed at a sawmill in Sonora, California.[174]
2018 Galaxia Arthur Mamou-Mani Galaxia's structure consisted of 20 wood trusses converging in an elevated spiral. A large, 3D printed chandelier of lanterns formed the centerpiece.[175]
2019 Temple of Direction Geordie Van Der Bosch Temple of Direction was 200 ft (61 m) long, 60 ft (18 m) wide, and 45 ft (14 m) tall. The temple's design takes inspiration from Torii at Fushimi Inari-taisha, a shrine in Japan.[176]
2020 Bamboo temple Unknown Unofficial[46]
2021 Temple of Constraints Shipwreck

Kelsey Faery

Casey Sphinx

Monera Mason

The Temple of Constraints was inspired by family members, friends, and artists who had recently died. It was designed specifically to fit into the constraints issued by the BLM.

The design consisted of a large, colorful shade structure that was surrounded by small altars with burn barrels.[177]

2022 Empyrean Laurence Renzo Verbeck

Sylvia Adrienne Lisse

Empyrean was originally selected for 2020, and again for 2021.[178] Both years, however, the event was canceled and Empyrean was not built in the Black Rock Desert. In 2021 Empyrean Temple Crew built a prototype in Santa Rosa, CA.[179]
2023 Temple of the Heart Ela Madej

Reed Finlay

Art edit

A hallmark of Burning Man is large-scale interactive installation art inspired by the intersection of maker culture, technology, and nature. Many works invite participation through climbing, touch, technological interfaces, or motion. At night much of the artwork is illuminated by fire or LEDs. Creative expression through art is encouraged at Burning Man in many forms. Music, performance art, and guerrilla theatre are art forms commonly presented within the camps and developed areas of the city. Artwork is placed in the open playa beyond the streets of the city. Each year hundreds of works of art, ranging from small to very large-scale, are brought to Black Rock City.

Art on the playa is assisted by a department of the Burning Man Project called the Artery, which helps artists place their art in the desert and ensures lighting to prevent collisions, burn platform to protect the integrity of the dry lake bed and that fire safety requirements are met.[180] Art grants are available to participants via a system of curation and oversight, with application deadlines early in the year. Grants are intended to help artists produce work beyond the scope of their own means, and are generally intended to cover only a portion of the costs associated with creation of the pieces, usually requiring considerable reliance on an artist's community resources. Aggregate funding for all grants varies depending on the number and quality of the submissions (usually well over 100) but amounts to several percent (in the order of $500,000 in recent years) of the gross receipts from ticket sales. In 2006, 29 pieces were funded.

Various standards regarding the nature of the artworks eligible for grants are set by the Art Department, but compliance with the theme and interactivity are important considerations. This funding has fostered artistic communities, most notably in the Bay Area of California, the region that has historically provided a majority of the event's participants. There are active and successful outreach efforts to enlarge the regional scope of the event and the grant program.

No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man edit

In 2018, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., brought art from Burning Man to the nation's capital.[181] The exhibition took over the entire Renwick Gallery building and surrounding neighborhood. The exhibit featured room-sized installations, costumes, and jewelry, while photographs and archival materials from the Nevada Museum of Art trace Burning Man's growth and its bohemian roots.[181]

Large-scale installations form the core of the exhibition. Individual artists and collectives featured in the exhibit include David Best, Candy Chang, Marco Cochrane, Duane Flatmo, Michael Garlington and Natalia Bertotti, Five Ton Crane Arts Collective, FoldHaus Art Collective, Scott Froschauer, HYBYCOZO, (Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu), Android Jones, Aaron Taylor Kuffner, Christopher Schardt, Richard Wilks, and Leo Villareal.

In addition, multiple large-scale public Burning Man art installations were exhibited throughout the neighborhood surrounding the museum, for an extension of the show No Spectators: Beyond the Renwick, which included works by Jack Champion, Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, HYBYCOZO, Laura Kimpton, Kate Raudenbush, and Mischell Riley. All outdoor works had been installed as honorarium artwork at Burning Man in years past, except for the artwork by Hybycozo. This outdoor exhibition was co-produced by a first ever collaboration with the Golden Triangle BID (Business Improvement District in Washington DC), curated by Karyn Miller.

Mutant vehicles edit

 
Boeing 747 mobile disco, 2012
 
Praying Mantis truck, 2010

Mutant Vehicles are purpose-built or creatively altered motorized vehicles. The term "Mutant Vehicle" was coined by organizers of the Burning Man event to delineate a type of "Art Car" that was more dramatically modified than simply decorating an existing vehicle.

Burning Man participants who wish to bring motorized mutant vehicles must submit their designs in advance to the event's own DMV or "Department of Mutant Vehicles"[182] for consideration. If a vehicle design meets the "Mutant Vehicle Criteria,"[183] the vehicle is invited to the event for a final physical inspection and licensing at the event. Not all designs and proposals are accepted.

The event organizers, and the DMV, have set the bar high for what it deems an acceptable MV each year, in effect capping the number of Mutant Vehicles. This is in response to constraints imposed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which grants permits to hold the event on federal property, and to participants who want to maintain a pedestrian-friendly environment. Vehicles that are minimally altered, and/or whose primary function is to transport participants, are discouraged and not invited.

One of the criteria the DMV employs to determine whether an application for a proposed Mutant Vehicle is approved is "can you recognize the base vehicle". For example, if a 1967 VW van covered with glitter, dolls' heads, and old cooking utensils can still be recognized as a VW van, the DMV would consider it an "Art Car," but it would not be sufficiently altered to meet the Mutant Vehicle Criteria.

There were over six hundred approved Mutant Vehicles at the event in 2010.

Bicycles edit

 
Cyclists at Burning Man, 2010

Bicycles and tricycles are popular for getting around on the dry lake. Mountain bikes are generally preferred over road bikes for riding on the dried silt, which is normally hard but becomes loose with traffic. Participants often decorate their bikes to make them unique. Since lighting on the bikes is critically important for safety at night, many participants incorporate the lighting into their decorations, using electroluminescent wire (a thin, flexible tube that glows with a neon-like effect when energized with electricity, also known as el wire) to create intricate patterns over the frame of the bike. Every night during Burning Man, thousands of people on their bikes and art cars, illuminated sculptures and stages create a unique visual effect.[184]

Theme camps edit

Electronic music edit

Camps focusing on electronic music, often played by live DJs, began to appear in 1992, an influence of the rave culture of the San Francisco area. Terbo Ted was identified as the first ever DJ in Burning Man history, opening with a Jean Michel Jarre song played off a vinyl record.[citation needed] DJs typically occupied an area on the outskirts of the Playa nicknamed the "Techno Ghetto". In later years, certain spokes of the main camp were designated for "sound camps", with limits on volume and speaker positioning, angled away from the center of Black Rock City.

To work around the rules, mutant vehicles with live DJs and large sound systems began to appear as well. A number of major electronic music camps have been well-known returnees at Burning Man, including Opulent Temple and Robot Heart. Major producers and DJs representing various eras and genres have performed at Burning Man, however DJ events or "lineups" are discouraged from being publicized in the spirit of decommdification and immediacy.

In recent years, concerns began to surface among attendees that a growing number of "mainstream" electronic dance music acts had begun to appear. In 2015, organizers established a new area known as the "Deep Playa Music Zone" (or DMZ), to serve as a new host for art cars featuring live DJs.[185]

Black Rock City edit

 
Satellite image of Black Rock City taken from the TerraSAR-X satellite, 2011
Aerial views of Black Rock City, 2012
Aerial night views of Black Rock City, 2014

Black Rock City, often abbreviated to BRC, is the temporary city created by Burning Man participants. Much of the layout and general city infrastructure is constructed by Department of Public Works (DPW) volunteers who often reside in Black Rock City for several weeks before and after the event.[186][187] The remainder of the city including theme camps, villages, art installations and individual camping are all created by participants.

City planning edit

The developed part of the city is arranged as a series of concentric streets in an arc composing, since 1999, two-thirds of a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) diameter circle with the Man at the center. Radial streets, sometimes called Avenues, extend from the Man to the outermost circle. The outlines of these streets are visible on aerial photographs. The "missing" third of the circle, along with the open interior, is used for art installations.

 
Oblique aerial photo of Black Rock City showing the familiar "C" pattern, 2010

The innermost street is named the Esplanade. The remaining streets are given names to coincide with the overall theme of the burn, and ordered in ways such as alphabetical order or stem to stern, to make them easier to recall. For example, in 1999, for the "Wheel of Time" theme, and again in 2004 for "The Vault of Heaven" theme, the streets were named after the planets of the solar system. The radial streets are usually given a clock designation, for example, 6:00 or 6:15, in which the Man is at the center of the clock face. 12:00 is in the middle of the third of the arc lacking streets, usually at a bearing of 60° true from the Man.

These avenues have been identified in other ways, notably in 2002, in accordance with "The Floating World" theme, as the degrees of a compass. For example 175 degrees, and in 2003 as part of the Beyond Belief theme as adjectives ("Rational, Absurd") that caused every intersection with a concentric street, named after concepts of belief such as "Authority, Creed", to form a phrase such as "Absurd Authority" or "Rational Creed." These proved unpopular with participants due to difficulty in navigating the city without the familiar clock layout.

The Black Rock City Airport is constructed adjacent to the city, typically on its southern side. See Transportation section below.[188]

Center Camp edit

 
Bureau of Land Management officials with a civilian liaison at Burning Man

Center Camp is along the midline of Black Rock City, facing the Man at the 6:00 position on the Esplanade. This area serves as a central meeting place for the city and contains the Center Camp Cafe, and a number of other city operations such as camps supporting public radio (BMIR 94.5 FM), Earth Guardians, Recycling Camp, Ranger Outposts, BLM and ESD (Emergency Response), and Arctica (ice).

Villages and theme camps edit

Villages and theme camps are along the innermost streets of Black Rock City, often offering entertainment or gifts to participants.[189]

Theme camps are a collective of anywhere between several, to several hundred participants, representing theirselves under a unique value offering. To qualify as a "theme camp", and therefore be granted placement in BRC, you must apply through official Burning Man placement channels, and remain in good standing to be placed for future years.

Furthermore, "Villages" exist in Black Rock City and are collections of theme camps which share common values, and coordinate resources between their "village" of individual theme camps.

Theme camps and villages, as well as "open campers" who are free to camp outside of Placement boundaries, form to create an atmosphere in Black Rock City that they have collectively envisioned. As Burning Man grows it attracts an ever more diverse crowd. Subcultures form around theme camps at Black Rock City similar to what can be found in other cities.

Volunteers edit

The Burning Man event is heavily dependent on a large number of volunteers.[190]

Safety, policing and regulations edit

Black Rock City is patrolled by various local and state law enforcement agencies as well as the Bureau of Land Management Rangers. The local police issue $1,500 fines for drug use and serving alcohol to minors. Burning Man also has its own in-house group of volunteers, the Black Rock Rangers,[191] who act as informal mediators when disputes arise.

Firefighting, emergency medical services (EMS), mental health, and communications support is provided by the volunteer Black Rock City Emergency Services Department (ESD). Three "MASH"-like stations are set up in the city: station 3, 6, and 9. Station 6 is staffed by physicians and nurses working with a contracted state licensed ALS Medical provider. Stations 3 and 9 are staffed by Black Rock City ESD personnel. While Station 3 and 9 provide emergency services and basic life support, the volunteers are generally doctors, nurses, EMTs/paramedics, and firefighters. Both station 3 and 9 have a small fire engine available in addition to a Hazardous material/Rescue truck and quick response vehicle for medical emergencies.

In documents from February 2013 first made public in August 2015, it was revealed that in August 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had sent a memo to its field offices in Nevada stating that it would patrol Burning Man to "aid in the prevention of terrorist activities and intelligence collection". Although a threat assessment performed by the FBI determined that drug usage and crowd control were the only major threats to Burning Man, the Bureau still sent an unspecified number of undercover agents to the event, with "no adverse threats or reactions".[citation needed]

Black Rock City design evolution edit

1986–1991 edit

From the very beginning on Baker Beach, to 1991 when Burning Man was set into its desert home, there was no real organizational structure to the city. According to Rod Garrett, designer of Black Rock City, "The original form of the camp was a circle. This was not particularly planned, but formed instinctively from the traditional campfire circle and the urge to 'circle the wagons' against the nearly boundless space." This didn't work much longer, as attendance was reaching into the hundreds, and such a large gathering required some planning.[14][192]

1992–1995 edit

The Bureau of Land Management took notice of the event, and required that plans be drawn up to maintain safety. They required the Burn to be registered as an official event. In response, four cardinal roads were added emanating from center camp. The Man was located 100 yd (91 m) west of Center camp, due to the camp being oriented with the path of the sun across the sky, as opposed to north-to-south. The center circle from the birth of the event was maintained.

In 1993, the first sound camp was opened. It was known as the Techno Ghetto, and it was located two miles north of Center Camp. It was not a usual theme camp, but was instead a mini hub on its own. There was a small "center camp" with a message board and Port-a-potties. The center was surrounded by a circle of camping area 1,200 ft (370 m) across. Six massive sound systems faced out from the circle.[193] The Techno Ghetto was placed separately to keep the 'rave' out of the main event. As time has progressed, music has become more and more closely tied into the core culture of Burning Man, even spawning a unique genre known as Playa Tech.[194]

1996 edit

With the population growing to 8,000 in 1996, more structure was essential to both appease the Bureau of Land Management and to maintain safety. A ring around Center Camp, named Ring Road, was added to provide for a second circle of theme camps. The eastern section of the circle around Center Camp, in a cone shape, was declared a "No Man's Land", devoid of all art installations and campsites. The goal was to provide a picturesque view from Center Camp of the Man in the distance. In addition to the camps circling the center, there were camps lining the outside of the No Man's Land cone.

The techno ghetto had its last year in 1996. Regardless, the spark of music had ignited, and other sound camps followed.

1997 edit

In 1997 Burning Man was relocated off of the Playa to the Hualapai Flat, due to political problems with Washoe County. Black Rock City truly became a city in 1997, with formal, labeled streets, zoning, and registration for vehicles and theme camps. Rod Garret was brought on board as the lead designer of Black Rock City from then on.[195] In his design, Center Camp remained the starting point, with two angular arms reaching out on either side to form a shallow "V" shape around the Man. These main arms consisted of six annular roads, and two outlying plazas. 1997 was the first year of a Ranger-patrolled perimeter, and the first year of one entry gate.

1998 edit

Burning Man returned to the playa in 1998, and the basis of the modern layout was implemented. The idea was to "recreate some of the intimacy of our original camping circle, but on a much larger civic scale". Rod Garret's design smoothed out the angular "V" from 1997 and implemented the arc. In 1998, it stretched less than half-way around the circle. The radial streets were numbered North 1–20 and South 1–20, instead of the modern clock face system of names such as 11:30 or 5:15. There were four large plazas, each occupied by a major theme camp.

1999–2010 edit

In 1999, for the Wheel of Time theme, the great arc of the city was expanded to the full 240° (23 of a circle) that it is today. The streets were renumbered to correspond to a clock face. The Man was in the center, Center Camp at 6:00, and streets every 30 minutes (15°) 2:00 through 10:00.

2000 saw the introduction of the Temple as a fixture on the playa, and it has grown to be easily as important as the Man. It was placed at 12:00 out in the deep playa in the open third of the circle. 2000 introduced the concept of a loud side. A quiet side was replaced by the rule that large scale sound camps would be placed at the 10:00 and 2:00 edges, facing out into the deep playa.[196]

Extra annular streets have been added, as need has increased.

2011–present edit

In 2011, extra radial streets were added, from G street out, to make outer-city navigation easier. These streets were added at intervals of fifteen minutes.

Transportation edit

Road access edit

Highway 34 provides access to the main entrance to Black Rock City. The highway connects to Highway 447 north of Gerlach, which then runs south to Highway 427 in Wadsworth near Interstate 80.[197]

Vehicles then proceed from the Highway 34 entrance north to the main gate via Gate Road, a desert dirt road with a speed limit of 10 mph. All vehicles driving into the city must have the appropriate vehicle pass. All occupants are required to have valid tickets in order to get in. Vehicles are searched for any items that are prohibited in the city. For those who have their tickets held at Will Call, the booths are located between the Highway 34 entrance and the main gate.[198]

All tickets and vehicle passes must be bought in advance. They are not directly sold outside the gate or at the Will Call booths.[198][199] Unless they have a valid early arrival pass for the pre-event set up, any vehicle who arrives before the gate opens is turned away and told to go back to Reno, and not to wait along the side of the road on either Highways 34 or 447, which would be a safety hazard, nor stay in Gerlach, and overcrowd the small town.[198]

When the Burning Man ends, and the mass exodus from Black Rock City begins, a road traffic control procedure called "Pulsing" is used to direct vehicles out of the city. At regular intervals, usually an hour during the peak periods, all vehicles are "pulsed" forward all at once for about a mile along Gate Road. This allows vehicles to stop and turn off their engines, while those at the southernmost mile of the multi-lane Gate Road slowly merge and then turn onto the two-lane Highway 34.[200]

Commercial airports edit

The airport with regular commercial service closest to the event is the Reno–Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, over two hours' drive away. In 2018 an estimated 18,000 burners arrived and departed through Reno's airport for the event, giving the airport an $11 million boost. Inside the airport that year, a Burning Man-specific information table was created and placed near the baggage claim area.[201]

San Francisco International Airport, nearly six hours away by car, is the nearest airport with a high volume of international service. Other prominent airports, albeit with less international passenger traffic and more domestic services, are Sacramento International Airport, a 4.5 hour drive from Black Rock City, as well as other Bay Area airports such as Oakland International Airport and San Jose International Airport.

Salt Lake City International Airport, serving Salt Lake City, Utah, and Harry Reid International Airport, serving Las Vegas, Nevada, are both an 8.5 hour drive to Black Rock City.

Temporary airport edit

A section of the Playa is used for a temporary airport, which is set up before each event and completely erased afterward.[202] It serves both general aviation and charter flights. Pilots began camping there about 1995. Once compelled to add structure, in 1999, it was established in a form acceptable to the BLM through the efforts of Tiger Tiger (Lissa Shoun) and LLC board member Mr. Klean (Will Roger). In 2009, it was recognized by the FAA as a private airport and designated 88NV. It is found on the Klamath Falls Sectional, using a CTAF of 122.9 MHz.[203]

Black Rock UNICOM and the airport are operational on that frequency from 6:00 am to 7:30 pm PDT each day during the event. The runway is simply a compacted strip of playa, and is not lighted.[204] Because of the unique air traffic and safety issues associated with the airport, pilots are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with published information and procedures provided by, for example, AOPA. Because of the changes in the surface of the playa each year, information about the airport is subject to change.[205]

Shuttles edit

There are prepaid shuttles originating in Reno and San Francisco that move participants to and from the event. During the event there was also a paid shuttle between the event and the nearby towns of Gerlach and Empire, but this has been discontinued. Exiting and reentering the event requires an additional fee, and is highly discouraged.

Other edit

Participants share rides[206] and hitchhike, although walking or bicycling into the event is not allowed.

"Leave No Trace" policy edit

 
A collection of MOOP (Matter Out of Place), 2013

Burning Man takes place in the middle of a large playa. While not inhabited by humans itself, the area around the playa is home to many animals and plants.[207] Supporters of Burning Man point out that participants are encouraged to leave no trace (LNT) of their visit to Black Rock City (BRC) and to not contaminate the area with litter, commonly known as MOOP (Matter Out of Place). Despite the BLM and LLC's insistence on the practice of LNT, the amount of residual trash at the site has increased over the years.[208]

While fire is a primary component of many art exhibits and events, materials must be burned on a burn platform.[29] From 1990 through 1999, burning was allowed to take place directly on the surface of the playa, but this left burn scars (fired pinkish clay-like playa surface). When it was determined in 2000 that the burn scars do not dissipate with the annual winter rains and flooding, the organization declared that fires had to be elevated from the playa surface for its protection.

When it was discovered by two of the founders of the Friends of Black Rock / High Rock (Garth Elliott and Sue Weeks) and BLM Winnemucca district director Terry Reid that burn scars from prior sites (numbering 250) still remained, they were eradicated in 2000 by the DPW clean up crew headed by Dan Miller.

On the last day of the event, public shared burn areas are prepared for participants to use. It is an ongoing educational process each year to encourage participants to protect the environment and other participants by not burning toxic materials.[209][210]

Even gray water is not to be dumped on the playa. Used shower water must be captured and either evaporated off or collected and carried home with participants or disposed of by roving septic-pumping trucks, which also service RVs. Methods used for evaporating water often include a plastic sheet with a wood frame.

The Bureau of Land Management, which maintains the desert, has very strict requirements for the event. These stipulations include trash cleanup, removal of burn scars, dust abatement, and capture of fluid drippings from participant vehicles. For four weeks after the event has ended, the Black Rock City Department of Public Works (BRC – DPW) Playa Restoration Crew remains in the desert, cleaning up after the temporary city in an effort to make sure that no evidence of the event remains.[211]

In spite of the festival's clean up policies, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen has stated that each festival "typically leaves a fair amount of detritus littered across the desert". He said that the leftover trash, including abandoned vehicles, was particularly heavy after the 2023 event.[212]

Lawsuit against geothermal energy exploration edit

In 2023, Burning Man filed a lawsuit against exploration of geothermal energy, a renewable green energy source, in the Nevada desert.[213][214] Subsequently, county commissioners rescinded a permit for the geothermal energy exploration, putting the project indefinitely on halt and potentially scuttling it all together.[215] The Burning Man organization celebrated the move.[215]

Criticism edit

Negative effects on the environment edit

 
The Man burns at Burning Man, 2014

Burning Man's carbon footprint is primarily from transportation to the remote area. The CoolingMan organization[clarification needed] has estimated that the 2006 Burning Man was responsible for the generation of 27,000 tons of carbon dioxide, with 87% being from transportation to and from the location.[216] In 2010, The Sierra Club criticized Burning Man for the "hundreds of thousands" of plastic water bottles that end up in landfills, as well as ostentatious displays of flames and explosions.[217]

Burning Man's 2007 theme, "Green Man," received criticism for the artwork Crude Awakening, a 99-foot (30 m) oil derrick that consumed 900 U.S. gallons (3,400 L) of jet fuel and 2,000 U.S. gallons (7,600 L) of liquid propane to blast a mushroom cloud 300 feet (91 m) high into the sky.[218][219][220]

In an attempt to offset some of the event's carbon footprint, 30- and 50-kilowatt solar arrays were constructed in 2007 as permanent artifacts, providing an estimated annual carbon offset of 559 tons.[221] The Burn Clean Project is a volunteer organization that has helped replace the use of fossil fuel with biodiesel.

In 2023 a group of climate activists blockaded the road into Black Rock city.[222]

Gentrification edit

Burning Man has attracted a number of billionaires and celebrities, many of them from Silicon Valley and Hollywood.[223] It has become a networking event for them,[224] with Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk once stating that Burning Man "is Silicon Valley."[223]

These billionaires have paid for more luxurious camps to be set up in recent years. Derisively nicknamed "plug-n-play" or "turnkey" camps, they in general consist of lavish RVs and luxury restroom trailers that are driven into the city and connected together to form de facto gated areas. These billionaires then fly in to the airport on private planes, are driven to their camps, served by hired help, nicknamed "sherpas", and sleep in air-conditioned beds.[223] One venture capitalist billionaire threw a $16,500-per-head party at his camp.[225] In 2017, Google employees shipped in a box of lobsters for a meal.[226]

Despite allowing the rich to participate in Burning Man per the "radical inclusion" principle, many traditional attendees have spoken out against their exclusive practices.[227] Larry Harvey wrote that they also conflict with the "radical self-reliance" and other principles,[228] but has also said that permitting the wealthy to attend is beneficial to Burning Man.[229] Vandalism that occurred at the White Ocean sound camp in 2016 was said to have been a "revolution" against these attendees, describing them as a "parasite class" or "rich parasites".[227][230][231][232]

Meanwhile, the regular admission price has increased over the years. In addition, Nevada lawmakers have modified the state's entertainment and sales tax code to include nonprofit organizations like Burning Man that sell more than 15,000 tickets. As a result, an individual ticket, including taxes, cost $424 in 2016. Even tickets sold under Burning Man's low-income program are subject to these taxes.[233] Including transportation, food, camp fees, clothing and costumes, and gifts, CNBC estimated in 2016 that the total cost of attending could range from $1,300 up to $20,000.[234] In 2017, Money magazine estimated an average total cost of $2,348 to attend.[235]

According to the racial makeup of Burning Man attendees in 2014, 87% of them identified themselves as White, 6% as Hispanic / Latino, 6% as Asian, 2% as Native American, and 1% as Black (figures rounded). (Nevada's population, per the 2022 census, is 51% White, 29% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 2% Native, 11% Black).[236] When interviewed by The Guardian about these figures, Harvey replied, "I don't think Black folks like to camp as much as White folks... . We're not going to set racial quotas.... This has never been, imagined by us, as a utopian society."[237]

While there has been criticism that Burning Man has "jumped the shark," this proposition was criticized by cultural anthropologist Graham St John in 2020, who said that Burning Man was never a utopia in the first place.[238]

Photography restrictions edit

Video of The Man sculpture burning, 2011

The terms of the Burning Man ticket require that participants wishing to use photo and video-recording equipment share a joint copyright of their images of Black Rock City with Burning Man and forbid them from using their images for commercial purposes. This has been criticized by many,[who?] including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).[239][240] The amount of casual nudity at the event has significantly decreased over the years, due to the rise of ubiquitous cell phone cameras and the ability to easily upload photos to the Internet.

A Burning Man spokeswoman replied that the policies are not new, were written by a former head of the EFF, were used when suing to block pornographic videos, and ultimately arose from participant concerns: "We're proud that Black Rock City (a private event held on public land) is widely acknowledged as a bastion of creative freedom. [B]ut that protection [of participants' freedoms] does necessitate the acceptance of some general terms of engagement when it comes to cameras.... EFF seems to think that anyone attending any event somehow has an absolute right to take photographs, and then to do whatever they want with those images without any effective restriction or manner of enforcement. While we believe that such rights do make sense for any of us taking pictures in purely public spaces, this is not true in the private space of Burning Man – if it were, it would mean that Burning Man couldn't protect participant privacy or prevent commercialization of imagery."[241]

The Burning Man organization has since worked with the EFF and with Creative Commons and other parties and has revised and clarified the photography policies.[242]

Regional events edit

 
A camp at a regional burn in South Africa

Burning Man's popularity has encouraged other groups and organizations to hold similar events, some of which serve as an epilogue for participants.

Burners have created smaller regional events modeled on Burning Man, such as Burning Flipside in Texas; Apogaea in Colorado; Playa del Fuego in Delaware; Firefly in New England; Kiwiburn in New Zealand; Blazing Swan in Australia; Transformus in West Virginia; AfrikaBurn in South Africa; NoWhere near Zaragoza in Spain; Midburn in Israel; and many others.[243]

Some of the events are officially affiliated with the Burning Man organization via the Burning Man Regional Network.[244] This official affiliation usually requires the event to conform to the 10 principles and certain standards outlined by the Burning Man organization and to be accompanied by a "Burning Man Regional Contact," a volunteer with an official relationship to the Burning Man Project via a legal Letter of Agreement. The Netherlands was the first country outside the United States to have an event officially associated with Burning Man named Where the Sheep Sleep since 2016.[245]

In exchange for conforming to these standards, the event is granted permission to officially communicate itself as a Burning Man Regional Event. The regional event organizers are enabled to exchange best practices with each other on a global level via online platforms and in-person conferences, which are partly sponsored by the Burning Man Project.

In popular culture edit

  • In an episode of The Office [S06E16] Jim comments that he and his wife, Pam, conceived their child at Burning Man.[246]
  • The Man Burns Tonight: A Black Rock City Mystery, a 2005 novel by Donn Cortez [Don DeBrandt], is set at Burning Man 2003.
  • The 2010 South Park episode "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" features Cartman manipulating the Dark Lord Cthulhu to do his bidding, which includes destroying Burning Man.[247]
  • Cory Doctorow's 2013 novel Homeland opens at a near-future Burning Man.[248]
  • The 2016 video game Watch Dogs 2 features the characters visiting a Burning Man-themed event.[249]
  • The Simpsons 2014 episode "Blazed and Confused" features "Blazing Guy", an event based on Burning Man, with one character even referencing "Burning Man" before correcting herself to "Blazing Guy".[250]
  • The first Google Doodle, a playful adaptation of the Google logo, announced the founders' attendance at Burning Man in 1998.[251][252]
  • The plot of the 2005 Malcolm in the Middle episode "Burning Man" takes place during the event.[253]
  • The 2007 Xavier: Renegade Angel episode "Escape from Squatopian Freedom" features protagonist Xavier going to an event known as "Burning Person".[254]
  • The 2020 song "Burningman" by Jeff Wittek, Simon Rex and Jonah.
  • The festival is one of the major settings of the 2011 French-language novel Tuer le père (literally: Killing the Father) by Belgian writer Amélie Nothomb.
  • The ninth and final novel of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series ends with many of the characters from the saga assembling at Burning Man.

Films edit

  • Dust & Illusions, a 2009 documentary about 30 years of Burning Man history from the perspective of 20 interviewees.
  • Taking My Parents to Burning Man, a 2014 film documenting the adventures and misadventures as Bryant Boesen takes his parents on their first Burn.
  • Spark: A Burning Man Story, a 2013 documentary about Burning Man, which includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the founders.

See also edit

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Further reading edit

  • Bőnner, Bertine 2005. Das Burning Man Projekt – Religiosität und Spiritualität in Black Rock City? Eine ethnologische Perspektive. Magisterarbeit. Grin Verlag
  • Bowditch, Rachel. 2010. On the edge of utopia: Performance and ritual at Burning Man. Seagull books.
  • Chen, Katherine K. 2009. "Authenticity at Burning Man." Contexts 8(3): 65–67.
  • Chen, Katherine K. (2009). Enabling Creative Chaos: The Organization Behind the Burning Man Event. University of Chicago Press. p. 242. ISBN 9780226102399. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  • Chen, Katherine K. 2012. "Artistic Prosumption: Cocreative Destruction at Burning Man." American Behavioral Scientist 56(4): 570–595.
  • Cortez, Donn 2005. The Man Burns Tonight: A Black Rock City Mystery.
  • Doherty, Brian. 2004. This is Burning Man. The Rise of a New American Underground. Boston/New York: Little, Brown and Company.
  • Diehl, Ronny. 2010. The American Frontier in Acoustic Space. MA Thesis. Humboldt-University of Berlin. Grin Verlag.
  • Gauthier, François. 2013. "The Enchantments of Consumer Capitalism: Beyond Belief at the Burning Man Festival" in , ed. François Gauthier. Ashgate, 143–158.
  • Gilmore, Lee and Mark Van Proyen, eds. 2005. AfterBurn: Reflections on Burning Man. New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.
  • Hockett, Jeremy 2004. Reckoning Ritual and Counterculture in the Burning Man Community: Communication, Ethnography, and the Self in Reflexive Modernism. Dissertation. Albuquerque, New Mexico: The University of New Mexico.
  • Kreuter, Holly. 2002. Drama in the Desert: The Sights and Sounds of Burning Man. San Francisco: Raised Barn Press.
  • Kristen, Christine. "Reconnecting art and life at Burning Man" in: Raw Vision, Nr. 57 (Winter 2006), S. 28–35.
  • Morehead, John W. 2007. Burning Man Festival as Life-Enhancing, Post-Christendom 'Middle Way'. MA Thesis. Salt Lake City, Utah: Salt Lake Theological Seminary.
  • Nash, A. Leo. 2007. Burning Man: Art in the Desert, Introduction by Daniel Pinchbeck. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
  • Pike, Sarah M. 2001. Desert Goddesses and Apocalyptic Art. Making Sacred Space at the Burning Man Festival. In: Mazur, Eric Michael/McCarthy, Kate (Hrsg.): God in the Details. American Religion in Popular Culture. London/New York: Routledge, 155–176.
  • Post, George P. 2012. Dancing with the Playa Messiah: A 21-Year Burning Man Photo Album. Richmond, CA: Dragon Fotografix.
  • Roberts, Adrian, ed. "Burning Man Live: 13 years of Piss Clear, Black Rock City's alternative newspaper" San Francisco: RE/Search Publications.
  • St John, Graham. 2017. Blazing Grace: The Gifted Culture of Burning ManNANO: New American Notes Online, 11.
  • St John, Graham. 2018. The Big Empty Aeon, 10 September.
  • White, Carolyn L. 2020. The Archaeology of Burning Man: The Rise and Fall of Black Rock City. University of New Mexico Press. online review

External links edit

burning, other, uses, disambiguation, week, long, large, scale, desert, event, focused, community, self, expression, self, reliance, held, annually, western, united, states, event, name, comes, from, culminating, ceremony, symbolic, burning, large, wooden, eff. For other uses see Burning Man disambiguation Burning Man is a week long large scale desert event focused on community art self expression and self reliance held annually in the western United States 1 2 The event s name comes from its culminating ceremony the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy referred to as the Man that occurs on the penultimate night the Saturday evening before Labor Day 3 Since 1991 the event has been at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles 160 km north northeast of Reno According to Burning Man co founder Larry Harvey in 2004 the event is guided by ten stated principles radical inclusion gifting decommodification radical self reliance radical self expression communal effort civic responsibility leaving no trace participation and immediacy 4 Burning ManThe Temple Burning Man 2016BeginsAugust 25 2024EndsSeptember 2 2024VenueBlack Rock CityLocation s Black Rock Desert Pershing County Nevada USCoordinates40 47 6 N 119 12 18 W 40 78500 N 119 20500 W 40 78500 119 20500Years active37InauguratedJune 22 1986 1986 06 22 FoundersCacophony SocietyLarry HarveyJohn LawJerry JamesParticipants2019 official 78 8502021 unofficial 20 000Organised byBurning Man ProjectWebsiteburningman wbr orgAt Burning Man there are no headliners or scheduled performers Instead the participants design and build all the art activities and events 5 Artwork includes experimental and interactive sculptures buildings performances and art cars among other media These contributions are inspired by a theme chosen annually by the Burning Man Project 6 The event has been called countercultural revelry and described by its organizers as an excuse to party in the desert 7 However NPR said of Burning Man in 2019 Once considered an underground gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes Burning Man has since evolved into a destination for social media influencers celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite 8 Black Rock Cityclass notpageimage Location in Nevada Burning Man originated on June 22 1986 on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a small function organized by Larry Harvey and Jerry James the builders of the first Man It has since been held annually spanning the nine days leading up to and including Labor Day Over the event s history attendance has generally increased In 2019 78 850 people participated 9 Burning Man is organized by the Burning Man Project a nonprofit organization that in 2013 succeeded Black Rock City LLC a for profit limited liability company Black Rock City LLC was formed in 1999 to represent the event s organizers and is now considered a subsidiary of the nonprofit organization The Burning Man Project endorses multiple smaller regional events guided by the Burning Man principles in the United States and internationally Contents 1 History 1 1 1980s 1 2 1990 to 1996 1 3 1997 to 2013 1 4 2013 to 2019 1 5 2020 to 2021 1 6 2023 2 Event timeline 2 1 Population counts 3 Principles 3 1 Radical inclusion 3 2 Gifting 3 3 Decommodification 3 4 Radical self reliance 3 5 Radical self expression 3 6 Communal effort 3 7 Civic responsibility 3 8 Leave no trace 3 9 Participation 3 10 Immediacy 4 The Temple 4 1 Timeline 5 Art 5 1 No Spectators The Art of Burning Man 6 Mutant vehicles 7 Bicycles 8 Theme camps 8 1 Electronic music 9 Black Rock City 9 1 City planning 9 2 Center Camp 9 3 Villages and theme camps 9 4 Volunteers 9 5 Safety policing and regulations 10 Black Rock City design evolution 10 1 1986 1991 10 2 1992 1995 10 3 1996 10 4 1997 10 5 1998 10 6 1999 2010 10 7 2011 present 11 Transportation 11 1 Road access 11 2 Commercial airports 11 3 Temporary airport 11 4 Shuttles 11 5 Other 12 Leave No Trace policy 13 Lawsuit against geothermal energy exploration 14 Criticism 14 1 Negative effects on the environment 14 2 Gentrification 14 3 Photography restrictions 15 Regional events 16 In popular culture 17 Films 18 See also 18 1 Festival gatherings 18 2 Music festivals 18 3 Yoga festivals 18 4 Places 18 5 Others 19 References 20 Further reading 21 External linksHistory edit1980s edit nbsp Two of the founders of Burning Man John Law left and Michael Mikel right Burning Man began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice Sculptor Mary Grauberger a friend of Larry Harvey s girlfriend Janet Lohr held solstice bonfire gatherings on Baker Beach for several years before 1986 some of which Harvey attended When Grauberger stopped organizing it Harvey picked up the torch with Grauberger s permission and ran with it 10 He and Jerry James built the first wooden effigy on June 21 1986 cobbled together using scrap wood to be torched that evening On June 22 Harvey James and a few friends met on Baker Beach in San Francisco 11 12 and burned an 8 foot tall 2 4 m wooden man and a smaller wooden dog Harvey later described his inspiration for burning these effigies as a spontaneous act of radical self expression 10 In 1987 the Man grew to 15 feet 5 m tall and by 1988 it had grown to 30 feet 9 m 13 14 By 1988 Harvey formally named the summer solstice ritual Burning Man by titling flyers for the happening as such This was apparently done to ward off references to wicker man the reputed Celtic pagan practice of burning live sacrifices in human shaped wicker cages Harvey has said that he had not seen the 1973 cult filmThe Wicker Man until many years after and that it did not inspire the action 13 15 1990 to 1996 edit source source source source source source 8mm film footage of Burning Man in 1995 by Ammon HaggertyIn 1990 a separate event was planned by Kevin Evans and John Law on the remote and largely unknown playa known as the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles 180 km north of Reno Nevada 16 Evans conceived it as a dadaist temporary autonomous zone with sculptures to be burned and situationist performance art He asked John Law who also had experience on the dry lake and was a defining founder of the Cacophony Society to take on central organizing functions of the events In the Cacophony Society s newsletter it was announced as Zone Trip No 4 A Bad Day at Black Rock inspired by the 1955 film of the same name Meanwhile the solstice burn at Baker Beach was interrupted by the park police for not having a permit After striking a deal to raise the Man but not to burn it event organizers disassembled it and returned it to the vacant lot where it had been built Shortly thereafter the legs and torso of the Man were chain sawed and the pieces removed when the space was unexpectedly leased as a parking lot The Man was reconstructed led by Dan Miller Harvey s then housemate of many years just in time to take it to Zone Trip No 4 17 Michael Mikel another active Cacophonist realized that participants unfamiliar with the environment of the dry lake would benefit from knowledgeable persons helping to ensure they did not get lost in the deep dry lake and risk dehydration and death He took the name Danger Ranger and created the Black Rock Rangers to assist them Thus Black Rock City began as a fellowship organized by Law and Mikel based on Evans s and Grauberger s ideas along with Harvey s and James s symbolic man Drawing on experience in the sign business and with light sculpture Law prepared custom neon tubes for the Man starting in 1991 so it could be seen as a beacon to aid navigation at night long before there were any planned roads In its early years the community grew by word of mouth alone all were considered and generally not invited until they could be expected to be participants under their contribution to the cacophonous situationist vibe There were no paid or scheduled performers or artists no separation between art and life nor art space and living space no rules other than Don t interfere with anyone else s immediate experience and no guns in central camp 1991 marked the first year that the event had a legal permit through the BLM the Bureau of Land Management 18 It was also the year that art model and fire dancer and later Burning Man s first art director Crimson Rose attended the event 19 1992 saw the birth of a smaller intensive nearby event named Desert Siteworks conceived and directed by William Binzen and co produced in 1993 and 94 with Judy West 20 There were about 20 participants the first year and approximately 100 in the second and third year The annual several weeks long event was held over summer Solstice at various fertile hot springs surrounding the desert Participants built art and participated in self directed performances 21 Some key organizers of Burning Man were also part of Desert Siteworks Law Mikel and Binzen was a friend of Harvey Hence the two events saw much cross pollination of ideas and participants 22 The Desert Siteworks project ran for three years 1992 1994 1996 was the first year a formal partnership was created to own the name Burning Man and was also the last year that the event was held in the middle of the Black Rock Desert with no fence around it Before the event opened to the public in 1996 a worker named Michael Furey was killed in a motorcycle crash 23 while riding from Gerlach Nevada to the Burning Man camp in the Black Rock Desert Harvey insisted that the death had not occurred at Burning Man since the gates were not yet open Another couple were run over in their tent by an art car driving to the rave camp which was at that time distant from the main camp After the 1996 event Law broke with Burning Man and publicly said the event should not continue 1997 to 2013 edit nbsp The neon tubed Man at the 1999 event1997 marked another major pivotal year for the event It had to be moved because the permit for Black Rock was denied for the 1997 event A team conducting land speed trials had a conflicting permit that took precedence Fly Ranch with the smaller adjoining Hualapai dry lakebed just west of the Black Rock desert was chosen as the alternate location This moved Burning Man from Pershing County federal BLM land into the jurisdiction of Washoe County which brought a protracted list of permit requirements 24 To comply with the new requirements and manage the increased liability load the organizers formed Black Rock City LLC with the assistance of Biz Babe Dana Harrison Will Roger Peterson and Flynn Mauthe created the Department of Public Works DPW to build the city grid layout a requirement so that emergency vehicles could be directed to an address designed by Rod Garrett an architect Garrett continued as the city designer until his death in 2011 at age 76 He is also credited with the design of all of the Man bases from 2001 through 2012 the center camp cafe and first camp 25 1998 saw a return to the Black Rock desert although not to the deep playa along with a temporary perimeter fence The event has remained there since As the population of Black Rock City grew more restrictions were added by the BLM and changes were made in how people were invited to the event notably the addition of publicized online ticket sales to all comers further rules were established concerning its survival Some critics of the later phase of the event cite these rules as impinging on the original freedoms and principles diminishing the scope of the experience unacceptably while many newer attendees find the increased level of activity more than balances out the changes A grid street structure 26 A speed limit of 5 mph 8 km h 27 A ban on driving except for approved mutant vehicles and service vehicles 28 Safety standards on mutant vehicles 27 Burning of any art must be done on an approved burn platform 29 A ban on fireworks 30 A ban on animals 31 Another notable restriction to attendees is the 9 2 mile 14 8 km long 32 temporary plastic fence that surrounds the event and defines the pentagon of land used by the event on the southern edge of the Black Rock dry lake 33 This 4 foot 1 2 meter high barrier is known as the trash fence because its initial use was to catch wind blown debris that might escape from campsites during the event Since 2002 the area beyond this fence has not been accessible to Burning Man participants during the event 34 One visitor who was accidentally burned at the 2005 event unsuccessfully sued Black Rock City LLC in San Francisco County Superior Court On June 30 2009 the California Court of Appeal for the First District upheld the trial court s grant of summary judgment to Black Rock City LLC on the basis that people who deliberately walk toward The Man after it is ignited assume the risk of getting burned by such a hazardous object 35 2013 to 2019 edit In December 2013 36 Black Rock City LLC was made a subsidiary of a new nonprofit entity known as the Burning Man Project though this was a controversial move among the founders 37 On September 3 2017 38 a 41 year old man Aaron Joel Mitchell fought his way past a safety cordon of volunteers and firefighters and threw himself into the flames of the Man Mitchell died the next day due to cardiac arrest bodily shock and third degree burns to 98 of his body His death was ruled a suicide 39 40 41 2020 to 2021 edit nbsp 2021 Man built of dronesOn April 10 2020 the Burning Man Project announced that Burning Man was canceled for 2020 42 due to the COVID 19 pandemic making 2020 the first year Burning Man did not happen since its inception They then decided to offer ticket refunds despite the tickets being sold explicitly as non refundable 43 On September 7 2020 an estimated 1 000 Burners celebrated on San Francisco s Ocean Beach San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted about the event This was reckless and selfish You aren t celebrating but are putting people s lives and our progress at risk No one is immune from spreading the virus 44 Several thousand also showed up in the Black Rock desert for an unofficial event and some described it as a return to the old days 45 46 The 2021 event was canceled on April 27 2021 due to the continuation of the COVID 19 pandemic Despite progress on vaccination organizers said that uncertainties that need to be resolved are impossible to resolve in the time we have 47 On May 14 2021 the Burning Man Project released tickets on their website for online events slated between August 22 and September 7 2021 48 The unofficial event was larger than 2020 with an estimated 20 000 attending It was loosely coordinated by a variety of groups including Black Rock Plan B and Rogue Burn The Bureau of Land Management implemented restrictions including no structures other than shade structures and no fires other than campfires There was a massive illuminated drone display outlining the Man instead of the burning of a Man effigy 49 2023 edit Main article Burning Man 2023 The 2023 Burning Man had rains and subsequent flooding on Labor Day weekend with a lockdown preventing vehicle movement throughout the site 50 51 Organizers arranged for some cellular service and shared a 2023 Wet Playa Survival Guide no driving is permitted until the playa surface dries up with the exception of emergency services Participants are encouraged to conserve food water and fuel and shelter in a warm safe space and told attendees about Burning Man Information Radio BMIR 94 5 FM and Gate Information Radio Station GARS 95 1 52 One person died following the flooding with thousands more stranded 53 Event timeline editThe statistics below illustrate the growth in both the scale and scope of Burning Man in terms of location height of the central Man sculpture population ticket price and several registered camps and art After starting at 8 ft 2 4 m and growing taller each of the next three years the height of the titular Man remained at 40 ft 12 m between 1989 and 2013 During those years changes in the size and form of the base on which the wooden Man stood accounted for the differing heights of the overall structures 54 In 2014 the construction of the Man changed to a 105 ft 32 m tall figure standing directly on the ground with no base From 2015 to 2019 the Man returned to 40 ft 12 m in height Year Location Theme Man height Population Bureau of Land Management population limit Ticket price s 55 Number of theme camps mutant vehicles and placed art1986 Baker Beach None 8 ft 2 4 m 35 Not on BLM land Free NoneLarry Harvey and Jerry James burn a wooden effigy of a man at Baker Beach on the summer solstice following a tradition begun by Mary Grauberger of burning art at Baker Beach on the summer solstice 56 1987 Baker Beach None 15 ft 4 6 m 80 Not on BLM land Free NoneWhereas the previous year s effigy was assembled from scrap wood on the morning of the solstice the 1987 Man was built over several weeks from cut lumber 57 1988 Baker Beach None 30 ft 9 1 m 200 Not on BLM land Free NoneLarry Harvey first names the annual event Burning Man 58 1989 Baker Beach None 40 ft 12 m 300 Not on BLM land Free NoneFirst listing of Burning Man in the San Francisco Cacophony Society newsletter Rough Draft under sounds like cacophony 1990 Baker Beach amp Black Rock Desert None 40 ft 12 m 500 at Baker Beach120 at Black Rock Desert None 15 requested donation NoneThe Man was erected at Baker Beach on the summer solstice but not burned The Man was then invited to the San Francisco Cacophony Zone Trip No 4 on Labor Day weekend in the Black Rock Desert 1991 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft 12 m 250 None 15 requested donation NoneThe Man was decorated with neon lighting in 1991 for the first time and it has been decorated with neon every year since 1992 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft 12 m 600 None 25 requested donation Theme Camps 0Placed art 2First year amplified music appeared at Burning Man Craig Ellenwood and TerboTed set up a camp approved by Larry Harvey one mile from center camp and launched the first EDM camp 59 60 61 1993 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft 12 m 1 000 None 40 Theme Camps 1Placed art 3 Christmas Camp becomes the first theme camp with its two members dressing up as Santa Claus and giving out fruitcake and eggnog 1994 Black Rock Desert None 40 ft 12 m 2 000 None 30 Theme Camps UnknownPlaced art 5First year of wooden spires and lamp lighting 1995 Black Rock Desert 40 ft 12 m 4 000 None 35 Theme Camps UnknownPlaced art 6The Center Camp Cafe began selling coffee 1996 Black Rock Desert heLLCo 48 ft 15 m 8 000 None 35 Theme Camps UnknownPlaced art 11Theme was a satire referencing Dante s Inferno heLLCo a corporate takeover of Hell First year the Man is elevated on a straw bale pyramid First fatality in motorcycle collision Three people seriously injured in a tent run over by a car 62 10 of 16 BLM stipulations violated putting BM on probationary status for next year An injury claim drives liability coverage up by a factor of 6 Featured in an article in Wired magazine 63 1997 Hualapai Playa Fertility 50 ft 15 m 10 000 Not on BLM land Advance sale 65At gate 75Day visit 20 Theme Camps 51Placed art 21Burning Man s founders form a management structure and created the DPW to meet strict permit requirements newly imposed The first year the city has grid streets and a driving ban Washoe County officials impounded gate receipts to ensure payment after the fire and protection fees along with more than 100 new fire and safety conditions are imposed before the event 64 1998 Black Rock Desert Nebulous Entity 52 ft 16 m 15 000 None Early sale 65Advance sale 80At gate 100 Theme Camps 348Placed art 20Burning Man returned to the Black Rock Desert although much closer to Gerlach than before The Nebulous Entity was Harvey s satirical concept of alien beings who thrive on information who consume it but do not understand it The First Doodle from Google to Celebrate 1999 Black Rock Desert Wheel of Time 54 ft 16 m 23 000 None Until April 15 65Until July 31 80Until August 29 100August 30 105August 31 110September 1 115September 2 120 Theme Camps 320Placed art 30Listed in the AAA s RV guide under Great Destinations 2000 Black Rock Desert The Body 54 ft 16 m 25 400 None Until April 30 145Until June 30 165Until July 31 185Until August 27 200August 28 29 220August 30 31 250 Theme Camps 460Placed art 80First active law enforcement activity 60 Bureau of Land Management BLM and police arrests and citations Most are for minor drug charges following surveillance and searches 2001 Black Rock Desert Seven Ages 70 ft 21 m 25 659 None Early sale 145Next 4 000 tickets 165Next 4 000 tickets 185Remaining advance sale 200At gate 250 Theme Camps 466Placed art 150See Seven Ages of Man Over 100 BLM citations and 5 arrests 2002 Black Rock Desert The Floating World 80 ft 24 m 28 979 None Early sale 145Next 4 000 tickets 165Next 4 000 tickets 175Next 4 000 tickets 185Remaining advance sale 200At gate 250 Theme Camps 487Placed art 120First year for FAA approved airport 135 BLM citations and 4 Sheriff citations 2003 Black Rock Desert Beyond Belief 79 ft 24 m 30 586 None Early sale 145Next 2 500 tickets 165Next 2 500 tickets 175Next 2 500 tickets 185Next 2 500 tickets 200Remaining advance sale 225At gate 250 Theme Camps 504Placed art 261Dogs are banned for the first time 177 BLM citations 9 police citations 10 arrests and 1 fatality 65 2004 Black Rock Desert The Vault of Heaven 80 ft 24 m 35 664 None Low income tickets 145First 6 000 tickets 165Next 6 000 tickets 185Next 7 000 tickets 200Next 7 000 tickets 225Remaining advance sale and at gate 250 Theme Camps 503Placed art 220218 BLM citations some issued from decoy art car Camps giving away alcohol subject to state law compliance examinations and 1 arrest Pershing County Sheriff s office 27 cases 4 arrests 2 citations Nevada Highway Patrol 2 DUI arrests 217 citations and 246 warnings were issued 2005 Black Rock Desert Psyche 72 ft 22 m 35 567 None Low income tickets 145First 10 000 tickets 175Next 5 000 tickets 200Next 5 000 tickets 225Remaining advance sale and at gate 250 Theme Camps 485Placed art 275The Man perched atop a funhouse maze could be turned by participants confusing those at a distance who use it to navigate Dream related artwork 218 BLM citations 6 arrests and 1 fatality 2006 Black Rock Desert Hope and Fear 72 ft 22 m 38 989 6 gt previous highest 66 1 37 803 Low income tickets 145First 7 000 tickets 185Next 7 000 tickets 200Next 6 000 tickets 225Remaining advance sale until August 13 250After August 13 and at gate 280 Theme Camps 570Placed art 300The Man goes up and down reflecting a hope fear meter Voting stations were set up around the playa allowing residents to cast a Hopeful or Fearful vote for the future of Man If the vote was hopeful he would burn with his hands in the air otherwise with hands down They voted hopeful and his arms were raised until the end 155 BLM citations and 1 arrest Pershing County Sheriff s office 1 citation and 7 arrests Nevada Highway Patrol 234 citations 17 arrests and 213 warnings 2007 Black Rock Desert The Green Man 72 ft 22 m 47 097 67 6 gt previous highest 66 1 41 328 Low income tickets 145First 10 000 tickets 195Next 10 000 tickets 225Next 10 000 tickets 250Remaining advance sale amp At gate 280 Theme Camps 681Placed art 300The Man was prematurely set on fire around 2 58 am Tuesday August 28 during a full lunar eclipse A repeat Burning Man prankster Paul Addis was arrested and charged with arson 68 and the Man was rebuilt for regular Saturday burn Addis pleaded guilty in May 2008 to one felony count of injury to property was sentenced to up to four years in Nevada state prison and was ordered to pay 30 000 in restitution 69 331 BLM citations 2008 Black Rock Desert American Dream 90 ft 27 m 49 599 70 6 gt previous highest 66 1 50 207 Low income tickets 145First 10 000 tickets 210Next 10 000 tickets 225Next 10 000 tickets 250Remaining advance sale 295 Theme Camps 746Placed art 285First year that tickets are not sold at the gate 71 The size and layout of the city is enlarged to accommodate a larger central playa and a longer Esplanade Because of excessively high winds and whiteout conditions on Saturday the burning of the Man was delayed for over an hour and a half and the fire conclave was canceled Many longtime contributors opted out allegedly due to the chosen theme The American Dream the jailing of dissenter Addis and the founders rift The perimeter of BRC extended to 9 miles The BLM made 6 arrests and issued 129 citations 2009 Black Rock Desert Evolution 75 ft 23 m 43 558 72 6 gt previous highest 66 1 52 575 Low income tickets 160Pre sale tickets 260Next 9 000 tickets 210Next 9 000 tickets 240Next 9 000 tickets 260Next 9 000 tickets 280Remaining advance sale 300 Theme Camps 618Placed art 215As the result of some criticism the size and layout of the city were returned to roughly the same as the 2007 event The BLM officials said that as of noon Saturday 41 059 people were at Burning Man and the crowd peaked at 43 435 at noon Friday a noted decline after years of steady attendance growth due mainly to the 2007 2008 financial crisis BLM issued 287 citations and 9 arrests 2010 Black Rock Desert Metropolis 73 104 ft 32 m 51 525 74 6 gt previous highest 66 1 52 575 Low income tickets 160Pre sale tickets 280Next 9 000 tickets 210Next 9 000 tickets 240Next 9 000 tickets 260Next 9 000 tickets 280Remaining advance sale 300 Theme Camps 700Placed art 275Attendance over 50 000 mark for the first time The gate opened early at 6 pm Sunday for the first time Coincided with the inaugural Black Rock City Film Festival BLM issued 293 citations and 8 arrests 2011 Black Rock Desert Rites of Passage 75 90 ft 27 m 53 963 76 50 000 77 1 Low income tickets 160Pre sale tickets 360Next 9 000 tickets 210Next 9 000 tickets 240Next 9 000 tickets 280Remaining advance sale 320 Theme Camps 920Placed art 309According to Black Rock LLC 27 000 tickets all discounted tiers were sold by midday the day following the opening of ticket sales 78 For the first time in Burning Man history tickets sold out before the event on July 24 2011 78 2012 Black Rock Desert Fertility 2 0 79 85 ft 26 m 56 149 80 60 900 81 1 Low income tickets 160Pre sale tickets 420Lottery 1st draw 240Lottery 2nd draw 320Lottery 3rd draw and Directed Group Sales DGS 390 Theme Camps 978Placed art 360Due to the sellout of the event in 2011 Burning Man Project opted for a complex multi round random selection system of ticket sales with a separate low income program On January 27 Burning Man Project announced that the number of tickets requested in the Main Sale was around 120 000 vis a vis the 40 000 that were available In consequence a significant number of registrants would not be awarded tickets in the Main Sale The Main Sale was originally planned to be followed by a secondary open sale of 10 000 tickets However as the huge demand from the Main Sale left many veteran burners and theme camps without tickets Burning Man Project opted for a directed ticket distribution DGS instead i e manually redirect them to some of the vital groups and collaborations that make up Black Rock City rather than an open sale 2013 Black Rock Desert Cargo Cult 82 85 ft 26 m 69 613 83 68 000 84 1 Low income tickets 190Pre sale tickets 650DGS Individual Sale and OMG Sale 380 Theme Camps 1056Placed art 382The year s theme was based on John Frum and Cargo Cults 85 Ticket tiers were eliminated and a flat rate price structure was adopted except for low income ticket program 86 2014 Black Rock Desert Caravansary 87 105 ft 32 m 65 922 88 68 000 89 1 Low income tickets 190Pre sale tickets 650DGS Individual Sale and OMG Sale 380Vehicle passes 40 Theme Camps Placed art 350This year the Burning Man Traffic Mitigation Plan went into effect All vehicles entering Black Rock City needed a 40 vehicle pass Only 35 000 passes were available 90 A woman is killed in a vehicle collision 91 2015 Black Rock Desert Carnival of Mirrors 92 69 ft 21 m 67 564 93 70 000 94 1 Low income tickets 190Pre sale tickets 800DGS Individual Sale and OMG Sale 390Vehicle passes 50 Theme Camps Placed art 326First time in nearly 10 years that the Man base is on the ground vis a vis a raised base Only 27 000 vehicle passes were made available this year 95 2016 Black Rock Desert Da Vinci s Workshop 96 70 ft 21 m 67 290 97 70 000 98 1 Low income tickets 190Pre sale tickets 990Pre sale Art Tickets 1200DGS Individual Sale and OMG Sale 390Vehicle passes 80 Theme Camps Placed art 316Tying in with the 2016 theme the works of Leonardo da Vinci the Man was a large scale interpretation of the Vitruvian Man on a circular frame contained within its base was a wheel and gear system that was to allow groups of visitors to manually rotate the Man 99 The gear system was damaged during setup however and was not functional during the event 100 2017 Black Rock Desert Radical Ritual 101 105 ft 32 m 69 493 102 70 000 103 1 Low income tickets 190Pre sale tickets 990Pre sale Art Tickets 1200DGS Main Sale and OMG Sale 425Vehicle passes 80 Theme Camps 1395 104 Mutant Vehicles unknownPlaced art 317 104 A 41 year old man Aaron Joel Mitchell died after running through the security cordon into the already ignited Man 105 2018 Black Rock Desert I Robot 106 85 ft 26 m 70 248 107 70 000 108 5 Low income tickets 190Pre sale tickets 990Pre sale Art Tickets 1200DGS Main Sale and OMG Sale 425Vehicle passes 80 Theme Camps 1472 109 Mutant Vehicles 618 109 Placed art 383 109 Due to ticket overselling the population of Black Rock City exceeded the 70 000 participant limit and on Thursday of event week the BLM requested that the gate be closed New participants were only let in once another had left 110 2019 Black Rock Desert Metamorphoses 111 61 ft 19 m 78 850 112 80 000 113 1 Low income tickets 190FOMO Sale 1400DGS amp Main Sale 425OMG Sale 550Vehicle passes 100 Theme camps 1545 114 Mutant vehicles 632 114 Placed art 415 114 The BLM s definition of population was changed to include BRC staff and volunteers in addition to paid participants 113 1 The maximum population limit was increased by 10 000 to accommodate accordingly 115 2 2020 Black Rock Desert The Multiverse 116 N A 5 000 117 N A N A UnknownBurning Man was canceled in 2020 due to the global COVID 19 pandemic 118 On July 2 2020 the eight virtual Universes were announced as The Infinite Playa Multiverse SparkleVerse MysticVerse BRCvr BURN2 Build A Burn and The Bridge Experience 119 Approximately 5 000 people showed up in the Black Rock desert for a ticketless unofficial burn 117 2021 Black Rock Desert The Great Unknown 120 drone display 20 000 N A N A Camps 500 121 The theme was originally announced as Terra Incognita then later changed to The Great Unknown 122 The event was canceled for the second year due to the global COVID 19 pandemic 123 An estimated 20 000 showed up for a loosely organized rogue burn 49 2022 Black Rock Desert Waking Dreams 124 Not yet public information 75 069 125 87 000 126 2 Ticket Aid Program 225FOMO Sale 2500 or 1500Stewards Sale formerly DGS 475Main Sale and OMG Sale 575Vehicle passes 140 Not yet public informationOn December 15 2021 the Burning Man Project announced that the 2022 event would take place in person 127 2023 Black Rock Desert Animalia 128 Not yet public information Not yet public information 87 000 129 3 Ticket Aid Program 225FOMO Sale 2750 or 1500Stewards Sale 575Main Sale and OMG Sale 575Vehicle passes 150 Not yet public informationThe event experienced inclement weather and flooding for the first time forcing the gates and the roads leading to Black Rock City to be closed for a period of time A death was also reported 130 Population counts edit The population count is a stipulation of the Special Recreation Permit SRP granted to the Burning Man Project formerly Black Rock City LLC BRC by the BLM for the event each year Originally used to calculate fees it s now used to ensure that the event does not exceed the maximum authorized population as specified in the SRP Not everyone at the event is included in the population count Exempted from the count are government personnel and government contractors however this has changed over time The population count was originally used to calculate fees owed to the BLM It was not long until the BLM began considering putting a limit on the number of people that would be allowed to attend the event This became a point of contention as early as 1998 when the BLM proposed a complicated usage formula effectively limiting the size of the event to that of the previous year 131 132 Starting in 2006 the SRP stipulated that BRC manage ticket sales in a manner to keep the maximum population of the event from increasing more than 6 above the highest population recorded in a previous year 66 1 Fees were based on the daily population counts of Black Rock City at noon 66 12 This was the first year where fees were explicitly exempted for BRC staff 66 12 In 2011 the fee structure changed to be based on adjusted gross income and was no longer tied to daily population counts 133 5 The 2012 SRP further defined who was to be counted in population counts The term participant was introduced as defined in that year s Environmental Assessment EA to include all attendees of the event including paid participants and volunteers The population does not include government personnel Humboldt General Hospital emergency service providers vendors and contractors 134 2 1 The maximum authorized population now applied to participants 81 1 In 2014 volunteers were explicitly exempted from the population count and the population cap was further refined to now apply to paid participants 89 1 In 2019 the definition of population changed again this time to include BRC staff and volunteers now collectively referred to as attendees 113 1 This coincided with the necessity of a new Environmental Impact Statement EIS for the 2019 2028 SRP application which introduced this change in definition 135 ES 1 The Burning Man Project reported a population of 78 850 for that year an increase of about 8 600 people from the previous year noting that everyone was now being counted in the maximum population count 136 This roughly correlates with the Burning Man Project s 2019 Form 990 disclosure which states it employs 986 people and has 10 000 volunteers 137 1 In 2022 an additional restriction on the total number of attendees for the entirety of the event was introduced The cumulative maximum authorized population for the 2022 event is 87 000 total attendees The maximum number of attendees on the playa at any one time remained as it was in 2019 at 80 000 126 1 Principles editThis section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations Please help summarize the quotations Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote or excerpts to Wikisource September 2023 nbsp The man effigy with fireworks before being burned in 2011Because of the variety of goals fostered by participatory attendees known as Burners Burning Man does not have a single focus Features of the event are subject to the participants and include community artwork absurdity decommodification and revelry Participation is encouraged 138 139 The Burning Man event and its affiliated communities are guided by 10 principles meant to evoke the cultural ethos that has emerged from the event They were originally written by Larry Harvey in 2004 140 as guidelines for regional organizing then later became universal criteria of the general culture of the multifaceted movement The 10 Principles are 141 radical inclusion gifting decommodification radical self reliance radical self expression communal effort civic responsibility leaving no trace participation immediacyThe descriptions in quotes are the actual text Radical inclusion edit Anyone may be a part of Burning Man We welcome and respect the stranger No prerequisites exist for participation in our community This was written with a broad stroke for general organizing meaning anyone is welcome to the Burning Man culture Prerequisites for the Burning Man 141 event are participants are expected to provide for their own basic needs follow the guidelines in the annually updated event survival guide and purchase a 475 ticket to get in 142 Gifting edit Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving The value of a gift is unconditional Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value Instead of cash burners are encouraged to rely on a gift economy a sort of potlatch In the earliest days of the event an underground barter economy also existed in which burners exchanged favors with each other While this was originally supported by the Burning Man organization it is now largely discouraged Instead burners are encouraged to give one another gifts unconditionally Decommodification edit To preserve the spirit of gifting our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships transactions or advertising We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience No cash transactions are permitted between burners Cash can be used for a select few charity fuel and sanitation vendors as follows 143 Cafe beverages such as coffee chai lemonade etc which are sold at Center Camp Cafe operated by the organizers of the event 144 Citing cost decreased need environmental impact and decommodification beverage sales were halted in 2022 145 Ice sales benefit the local Gerlach Empire school system 146 Tickets for the shuttle bus to the nearest Nevada communities of Gerlach and Empire which is operated by a contractor not participating in the event Green Tortoise 147 A reentry wristband which allows a person to leave and reenter the event and may be purchased at the gate upon exit 148 An airport use fee payable at the airport upon first entry 149 Diesel and biodiesel sold by third party contractors RV dump service and camp graywater disposal service 150 Private portable toilets and servicing which can be arranged with the official contractor Radical self reliance edit nbsp Dust storms are common at Burning Man so many come prepared with appropriate protection such as goggles and masks to reduce dust inhalation Burning Man encourages the individual to discover exercise and rely on his or her inner resources The event s harsh environment and remote location require participants to be responsible for their subsistence Since the LLC forbids most commerce participants must be prepared and bring all their own supplies with the exception of the items stated in Decommodification 151 Public portable toilets are also available throughout the city some of these are like art cars decorated in imaginative ways by volunteers 152 Radical self expression edit source source source source source source Trojan Horse Pull Burning Man 2011 Radical self expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content It is offered as a gift to others In this spirit the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient Burners are encouraged to express themselves in a number of ways through various art forms and projects The event is clothing optional and public nudity is common though not practiced by the majority 153 154 155 Communal effort edit Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration We strive to produce promote and protect social networks public spaces works of art and methods of communication that support such interaction Burners are encouraged to work with and help one another 156 Civic responsibility edit We value civil society Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local state and federal laws Leave no trace edit nbsp Burning Man Playa Restoration 2015 attendees carry sticks and buckets to clean the desert of MOOP matter out of place as part of the leave no trace policy Our community respects the environment We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather We clean up after ourselves and endeavor whenever possible to leave such places in a better state than when we found them Participation edit Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic We believe that transformative change whether in the individual or in society can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation We achieve being through doing Everyone is invited to work Everyone is invited to play We make the world real through actions that open the heart People are encouraged to participate rather than observe Immediacy edit Immediate experience is in many ways the most important touchstone of value in our culture We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves the reality of those around us participation in society and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers No idea can substitute for this experience The Temple edit nbsp Temple of Joy by David Best and crew 2002 nbsp Temple of Stars burning 2004 nbsp Temple of Juno 2012 nbsp Temple of Grace burning 2014 nbsp Temple of Promise 2015 nbsp Temple of Direction 2019 nbsp Temple of Constraints 2021The Temple is the secondary major recurring art installation at Burning Man after the Man and is considered just as important to the event culture According to the Burning Man Project The Temple is a community shared space that is an important part of Black Rock City It is not a temple in recognition of any religion it s a neutral non denominational spiritual space where everyone can gather to share in the experience of remembering the past honoring or cursing the present and pondering the future to come 157 The prime function of the Temple is to be a canvas upon which people can leave words and objects behind to be burned and to serve as a place of contemplation a place to rest a place of reflection a place of rituals weddings reunions etc 158 During the event 400 volunteer Temple Guardians monitor the Temple 24 hours a day 159 The Temple is burned on the eighth and final night of the festival following the Man burn on the previous night 157 Timeline edit Source 160 Year Name Designer s Notes2000 Temple of the Mind David Best Jack Haye Temple of the Mind was dedicated to Michael Hefflin a Temple builder who died in a motorcycle accident Other people left remembrances over the course of the festival week and the tradition of the Temple at Burning Man was born 161 2001 Temple of Tears Mausoleum David Best Jack Haye2002 Temple of Joy David Best Temple of Joy was 100 ft 30 m tall 162 2003 Temple of Honor David Best2004 Temple of Stars David Best Temple of Stars was the first temple that allowed participants to walk on 2005 Temples of Dreams Mark Grieve2006 Temple of Hope Mark Grieve2007 Temple of Forgiveness David Best Tim Dawson2008 Basura Sagrada Brent Allen Spears Tucker Teutsch Basura Sagrada is Spanish for Sacred Trash and was constructed largely from burnable trash and recycled materials 163 2009 Fire of Fires David Umlas Marrilee Ratcliffe Fire of Fires was built in Austin Texas 164 2010 Temple of Flux Rebecca Anders Jess HobbsPeter Kimelman This temple s artists formed The Flux Foundation 165 Temple of Flux was a major departure from previous Temple design at Burning Man and was highly abstract in nature consisting of five double curved walls that formed cave like spaces 166 2011 Temple of Transition Chris Hankins Diarmaid HorkanIan Beaverstock Temple of Transition took the form of a central 120 ft 37 m hexagonal tower surrounded by five 58 ft 18 m hexagonal towers 167 2012 Temple of Juno David Best Temple of Juno incorporated a large central building within a 200 ft 61 m square walled courtyard Both the central building and the courtyard walls were made of intricately carved wood panels 168 2013 Temple of Whollyness Gregg Fleishman Terry GrossMelissa Barron This was the first Temple built without nails bolts adhesives or fasteners of any kind As its centerpiece Temple of Whollyness incorporated a 200 short tons 180 000 kg black basalt Inuksuk created by artist James LaFemina 169 2014 Temple of Grace David Best Originally Ross Asselstine was going to build Temple of Descendants but he backed out due to contract disagreements with the Burning Man Project 170 2015 Temple of Promise Jazz Tigan Temple of Promise featured a 97 ft 30 m archway as its entrance 171 The structure of the Temple tapered in and curled around to form a small courtyard containing wireframe tree sculptures 172 2016 The Temple David Best The wooden components of the Temple were cut by hand without the use of a CNC machine 173 2017 The Temple Marisha Farnsworth Steve BrummondMark Sinclair The Temple was 80 ft 24 m tall and 120 ft 37 m across The Temple was mostly constructed at a sawmill in Sonora California 174 2018 Galaxia Arthur Mamou Mani Galaxia s structure consisted of 20 wood trusses converging in an elevated spiral A large 3D printed chandelier of lanterns formed the centerpiece 175 2019 Temple of Direction Geordie Van Der Bosch Temple of Direction was 200 ft 61 m long 60 ft 18 m wide and 45 ft 14 m tall The temple s design takes inspiration from Torii at Fushimi Inari taisha a shrine in Japan 176 2020 Bamboo temple Unknown Unofficial 46 2021 Temple of Constraints Shipwreck Kelsey FaeryCasey SphinxMonera Mason The Temple of Constraints was inspired by family members friends and artists who had recently died It was designed specifically to fit into the constraints issued by the BLM The design consisted of a large colorful shade structure that was surrounded by small altars with burn barrels 177 2022 Empyrean Laurence Renzo Verbeck Sylvia Adrienne Lisse Empyrean was originally selected for 2020 and again for 2021 178 Both years however the event was canceled and Empyrean was not built in the Black Rock Desert In 2021 Empyrean Temple Crew built a prototype in Santa Rosa CA 179 2023 Temple of the Heart Ela Madej Reed FinlayArt editA hallmark of Burning Man is large scale interactive installation art inspired by the intersection of maker culture technology and nature Many works invite participation through climbing touch technological interfaces or motion At night much of the artwork is illuminated by fire or LEDs Creative expression through art is encouraged at Burning Man in many forms Music performance art and guerrilla theatre are art forms commonly presented within the camps and developed areas of the city Artwork is placed in the open playa beyond the streets of the city Each year hundreds of works of art ranging from small to very large scale are brought to Black Rock City Art on the playa is assisted by a department of the Burning Man Project called the Artery which helps artists place their art in the desert and ensures lighting to prevent collisions burn platform to protect the integrity of the dry lake bed and that fire safety requirements are met 180 Art grants are available to participants via a system of curation and oversight with application deadlines early in the year Grants are intended to help artists produce work beyond the scope of their own means and are generally intended to cover only a portion of the costs associated with creation of the pieces usually requiring considerable reliance on an artist s community resources Aggregate funding for all grants varies depending on the number and quality of the submissions usually well over 100 but amounts to several percent in the order of 500 000 in recent years of the gross receipts from ticket sales In 2006 29 pieces were funded Various standards regarding the nature of the artworks eligible for grants are set by the Art Department but compliance with the theme and interactivity are important considerations This funding has fostered artistic communities most notably in the Bay Area of California the region that has historically provided a majority of the event s participants There are active and successful outreach efforts to enlarge the regional scope of the event and the grant program No Spectators The Art of Burning Man edit In 2018 the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D C brought art from Burning Man to the nation s capital 181 The exhibition took over the entire Renwick Gallery building and surrounding neighborhood The exhibit featured room sized installations costumes and jewelry while photographs and archival materials from the Nevada Museum of Art trace Burning Man s growth and its bohemian roots 181 Large scale installations form the core of the exhibition Individual artists and collectives featured in the exhibit include David Best Candy Chang Marco Cochrane Duane Flatmo Michael Garlington and Natalia Bertotti Five Ton Crane Arts Collective FoldHaus Art Collective Scott Froschauer HYBYCOZO Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu Android Jones Aaron Taylor Kuffner Christopher Schardt Richard Wilks and Leo Villareal In addition multiple large scale public Burning Man art installations were exhibited throughout the neighborhood surrounding the museum for an extension of the show No Spectators Beyond the Renwick which included works by Jack Champion Mr and Mrs Ferguson HYBYCOZO Laura Kimpton Kate Raudenbush and Mischell Riley All outdoor works had been installed as honorarium artwork at Burning Man in years past except for the artwork by Hybycozo This outdoor exhibition was co produced by a first ever collaboration with the Golden Triangle BID Business Improvement District in Washington DC curated by Karyn Miller Mutant vehicles edit nbsp Boeing 747 mobile disco 2012 nbsp Praying Mantis truck 2010Mutant Vehicles are purpose built or creatively altered motorized vehicles The term Mutant Vehicle was coined by organizers of the Burning Man event to delineate a type of Art Car that was more dramatically modified than simply decorating an existing vehicle Burning Man participants who wish to bring motorized mutant vehicles must submit their designs in advance to the event s own DMV or Department of Mutant Vehicles 182 for consideration If a vehicle design meets the Mutant Vehicle Criteria 183 the vehicle is invited to the event for a final physical inspection and licensing at the event Not all designs and proposals are accepted The event organizers and the DMV have set the bar high for what it deems an acceptable MV each year in effect capping the number of Mutant Vehicles This is in response to constraints imposed by the U S Bureau of Land Management which grants permits to hold the event on federal property and to participants who want to maintain a pedestrian friendly environment Vehicles that are minimally altered and or whose primary function is to transport participants are discouraged and not invited One of the criteria the DMV employs to determine whether an application for a proposed Mutant Vehicle is approved is can you recognize the base vehicle For example if a 1967 VW van covered with glitter dolls heads and old cooking utensils can still be recognized as a VW van the DMV would consider it an Art Car but it would not be sufficiently altered to meet the Mutant Vehicle Criteria There were over six hundred approved Mutant Vehicles at the event in 2010 Bicycles edit nbsp Cyclists at Burning Man 2010Bicycles and tricycles are popular for getting around on the dry lake Mountain bikes are generally preferred over road bikes for riding on the dried silt which is normally hard but becomes loose with traffic Participants often decorate their bikes to make them unique Since lighting on the bikes is critically important for safety at night many participants incorporate the lighting into their decorations using electroluminescent wire a thin flexible tube that glows with a neon like effect when energized with electricity also known as el wire to create intricate patterns over the frame of the bike Every night during Burning Man thousands of people on their bikes and art cars illuminated sculptures and stages create a unique visual effect 184 Theme camps editElectronic music edit Camps focusing on electronic music often played by live DJs began to appear in 1992 an influence of the rave culture of the San Francisco area Terbo Ted was identified as the first ever DJ in Burning Man history opening with a Jean Michel Jarre song played off a vinyl record citation needed DJs typically occupied an area on the outskirts of the Playa nicknamed the Techno Ghetto In later years certain spokes of the main camp were designated for sound camps with limits on volume and speaker positioning angled away from the center of Black Rock City To work around the rules mutant vehicles with live DJs and large sound systems began to appear as well A number of major electronic music camps have been well known returnees at Burning Man including Opulent Temple and Robot Heart Major producers and DJs representing various eras and genres have performed at Burning Man however DJ events or lineups are discouraged from being publicized in the spirit of decommdification and immediacy In recent years concerns began to surface among attendees that a growing number of mainstream electronic dance music acts had begun to appear In 2015 organizers established a new area known as the Deep Playa Music Zone or DMZ to serve as a new host for art cars featuring live DJs 185 Black Rock City edit nbsp Satellite image of Black Rock City taken from the TerraSAR X satellite 2011 source source source source source source source Aerial views of Black Rock City 2012 source source source source source source source Aerial night views of Black Rock City 2014 Black Rock City redirects here For the company that organizes Burning Man see Black Rock City LLC Black Rock City often abbreviated to BRC is the temporary city created by Burning Man participants Much of the layout and general city infrastructure is constructed by Department of Public Works DPW volunteers who often reside in Black Rock City for several weeks before and after the event 186 187 The remainder of the city including theme camps villages art installations and individual camping are all created by participants City planning edit The developed part of the city is arranged as a series of concentric streets in an arc composing since 1999 two thirds of a 1 5 mile 2 4 km diameter circle with the Man at the center Radial streets sometimes called Avenues extend from the Man to the outermost circle The outlines of these streets are visible on aerial photographs The missing third of the circle along with the open interior is used for art installations nbsp Oblique aerial photo of Black Rock City showing the familiar C pattern 2010The innermost street is named the Esplanade The remaining streets are given names to coincide with the overall theme of the burn and ordered in ways such as alphabetical order or stem to stern to make them easier to recall For example in 1999 for the Wheel of Time theme and again in 2004 for The Vault of Heaven theme the streets were named after the planets of the solar system The radial streets are usually given a clock designation for example 6 00 or 6 15 in which the Man is at the center of the clock face 12 00 is in the middle of the third of the arc lacking streets usually at a bearing of 60 true from the Man These avenues have been identified in other ways notably in 2002 in accordance with The Floating World theme as the degrees of a compass For example 175 degrees and in 2003 as part of the Beyond Belief theme as adjectives Rational Absurd that caused every intersection with a concentric street named after concepts of belief such as Authority Creed to form a phrase such as Absurd Authority or Rational Creed These proved unpopular with participants due to difficulty in navigating the city without the familiar clock layout The Black Rock City Airport is constructed adjacent to the city typically on its southern side See Transportation section below 188 Center Camp edit nbsp Bureau of Land Management officials with a civilian liaison at Burning ManCenter Camp is along the midline of Black Rock City facing the Man at the 6 00 position on the Esplanade This area serves as a central meeting place for the city and contains the Center Camp Cafe and a number of other city operations such as camps supporting public radio BMIR 94 5 FM Earth Guardians Recycling Camp Ranger Outposts BLM and ESD Emergency Response and Arctica ice Villages and theme camps edit Villages and theme camps are along the innermost streets of Black Rock City often offering entertainment or gifts to participants 189 Theme camps are a collective of anywhere between several to several hundred participants representing theirselves under a unique value offering To qualify as a theme camp and therefore be granted placement in BRC you must apply through official Burning Man placement channels and remain in good standing to be placed for future years Furthermore Villages exist in Black Rock City and are collections of theme camps which share common values and coordinate resources between their village of individual theme camps Theme camps and villages as well as open campers who are free to camp outside of Placement boundaries form to create an atmosphere in Black Rock City that they have collectively envisioned As Burning Man grows it attracts an ever more diverse crowd Subcultures form around theme camps at Black Rock City similar to what can be found in other cities Volunteers edit The Burning Man event is heavily dependent on a large number of volunteers 190 Safety policing and regulations edit Black Rock City is patrolled by various local and state law enforcement agencies as well as the Bureau of Land Management Rangers The local police issue 1 500 fines for drug use and serving alcohol to minors Burning Man also has its own in house group of volunteers the Black Rock Rangers 191 who act as informal mediators when disputes arise Firefighting emergency medical services EMS mental health and communications support is provided by the volunteer Black Rock City Emergency Services Department ESD Three MASH like stations are set up in the city station 3 6 and 9 Station 6 is staffed by physicians and nurses working with a contracted state licensed ALS Medical provider Stations 3 and 9 are staffed by Black Rock City ESD personnel While Station 3 and 9 provide emergency services and basic life support the volunteers are generally doctors nurses EMTs paramedics and firefighters Both station 3 and 9 have a small fire engine available in addition to a Hazardous material Rescue truck and quick response vehicle for medical emergencies In documents from February 2013 first made public in August 2015 it was revealed that in August 2010 the Federal Bureau of Investigation had sent a memo to its field offices in Nevada stating that it would patrol Burning Man to aid in the prevention of terrorist activities and intelligence collection Although a threat assessment performed by the FBI determined that drug usage and crowd control were the only major threats to Burning Man the Bureau still sent an unspecified number of undercover agents to the event with no adverse threats or reactions citation needed Black Rock City design evolution edit1986 1991 edit From the very beginning on Baker Beach to 1991 when Burning Man was set into its desert home there was no real organizational structure to the city According to Rod Garrett designer of Black Rock City The original form of the camp was a circle This was not particularly planned but formed instinctively from the traditional campfire circle and the urge to circle the wagons against the nearly boundless space This didn t work much longer as attendance was reaching into the hundreds and such a large gathering required some planning 14 192 1992 1995 edit The Bureau of Land Management took notice of the event and required that plans be drawn up to maintain safety They required the Burn to be registered as an official event In response four cardinal roads were added emanating from center camp The Man was located 100 yd 91 m west of Center camp due to the camp being oriented with the path of the sun across the sky as opposed to north to south The center circle from the birth of the event was maintained In 1993 the first sound camp was opened It was known as the Techno Ghetto and it was located two miles north of Center Camp It was not a usual theme camp but was instead a mini hub on its own There was a small center camp with a message board and Port a potties The center was surrounded by a circle of camping area 1 200 ft 370 m across Six massive sound systems faced out from the circle 193 The Techno Ghetto was placed separately to keep the rave out of the main event As time has progressed music has become more and more closely tied into the core culture of Burning Man even spawning a unique genre known as Playa Tech 194 1996 edit With the population growing to 8 000 in 1996 more structure was essential to both appease the Bureau of Land Management and to maintain safety A ring around Center Camp named Ring Road was added to provide for a second circle of theme camps The eastern section of the circle around Center Camp in a cone shape was declared a No Man s Land devoid of all art installations and campsites The goal was to provide a picturesque view from Center Camp of the Man in the distance In addition to the camps circling the center there were camps lining the outside of the No Man s Land cone The techno ghetto had its last year in 1996 Regardless the spark of music had ignited and other sound camps followed 1997 edit In 1997 Burning Man was relocated off of the Playa to the Hualapai Flat due to political problems with Washoe County Black Rock City truly became a city in 1997 with formal labeled streets zoning and registration for vehicles and theme camps Rod Garret was brought on board as the lead designer of Black Rock City from then on 195 In his design Center Camp remained the starting point with two angular arms reaching out on either side to form a shallow V shape around the Man These main arms consisted of six annular roads and two outlying plazas 1997 was the first year of a Ranger patrolled perimeter and the first year of one entry gate 1998 edit Burning Man returned to the playa in 1998 and the basis of the modern layout was implemented The idea was to recreate some of the intimacy of our original camping circle but on a much larger civic scale Rod Garret s design smoothed out the angular V from 1997 and implemented the arc In 1998 it stretched less than half way around the circle The radial streets were numbered North 1 20 and South 1 20 instead of the modern clock face system of names such as 11 30 or 5 15 There were four large plazas each occupied by a major theme camp 1999 2010 edit In 1999 for the Wheel of Time theme the great arc of the city was expanded to the full 240 2 3 of a circle that it is today The streets were renumbered to correspond to a clock face The Man was in the center Center Camp at 6 00 and streets every 30 minutes 15 2 00 through 10 00 2000 saw the introduction of the Temple as a fixture on the playa and it has grown to be easily as important as the Man It was placed at 12 00 out in the deep playa in the open third of the circle 2000 introduced the concept of a loud side A quiet side was replaced by the rule that large scale sound camps would be placed at the 10 00 and 2 00 edges facing out into the deep playa 196 Extra annular streets have been added as need has increased 2011 present edit In 2011 extra radial streets were added from G street out to make outer city navigation easier These streets were added at intervals of fifteen minutes Transportation editSee also Black Rock Desert Transportation Road access edit Highway 34 provides access to the main entrance to Black Rock City The highway connects to Highway 447 north of Gerlach which then runs south to Highway 427 in Wadsworth near Interstate 80 197 Vehicles then proceed from the Highway 34 entrance north to the main gate via Gate Road a desert dirt road with a speed limit of 10 mph All vehicles driving into the city must have the appropriate vehicle pass All occupants are required to have valid tickets in order to get in Vehicles are searched for any items that are prohibited in the city For those who have their tickets held at Will Call the booths are located between the Highway 34 entrance and the main gate 198 All tickets and vehicle passes must be bought in advance They are not directly sold outside the gate or at the Will Call booths 198 199 Unless they have a valid early arrival pass for the pre event set up any vehicle who arrives before the gate opens is turned away and told to go back to Reno and not to wait along the side of the road on either Highways 34 or 447 which would be a safety hazard nor stay in Gerlach and overcrowd the small town 198 When the Burning Man ends and the mass exodus from Black Rock City begins a road traffic control procedure called Pulsing is used to direct vehicles out of the city At regular intervals usually an hour during the peak periods all vehicles are pulsed forward all at once for about a mile along Gate Road This allows vehicles to stop and turn off their engines while those at the southernmost mile of the multi lane Gate Road slowly merge and then turn onto the two lane Highway 34 200 Commercial airports edit The airport with regular commercial service closest to the event is the Reno Tahoe International Airport in Reno Nevada over two hours drive away In 2018 an estimated 18 000 burners arrived and departed through Reno s airport for the event giving the airport an 11 million boost Inside the airport that year a Burning Man specific information table was created and placed near the baggage claim area 201 San Francisco International Airport nearly six hours away by car is the nearest airport with a high volume of international service Other prominent airports albeit with less international passenger traffic and more domestic services are Sacramento International Airport a 4 5 hour drive from Black Rock City as well as other Bay Area airports such as Oakland International Airport and San Jose International Airport Salt Lake City International Airport serving Salt Lake City Utah and Harry Reid International Airport serving Las Vegas Nevada are both an 8 5 hour drive to Black Rock City Temporary airport edit A section of the Playa is used for a temporary airport which is set up before each event and completely erased afterward 202 It serves both general aviation and charter flights Pilots began camping there about 1995 Once compelled to add structure in 1999 it was established in a form acceptable to the BLM through the efforts of Tiger Tiger Lissa Shoun and LLC board member Mr Klean Will Roger In 2009 it was recognized by the FAA as a private airport and designated 88NV It is found on the Klamath Falls Sectional using a CTAF of 122 9 MHz 203 Black Rock UNICOM and the airport are operational on that frequency from 6 00 am to 7 30 pm PDT each day during the event The runway is simply a compacted strip of playa and is not lighted 204 Because of the unique air traffic and safety issues associated with the airport pilots are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with published information and procedures provided by for example AOPA Because of the changes in the surface of the playa each year information about the airport is subject to change 205 Shuttles edit There are prepaid shuttles originating in Reno and San Francisco that move participants to and from the event During the event there was also a paid shuttle between the event and the nearby towns of Gerlach and Empire but this has been discontinued Exiting and reentering the event requires an additional fee and is highly discouraged Other edit Participants share rides 206 and hitchhike although walking or bicycling into the event is not allowed Leave No Trace policy edit nbsp A collection of MOOP Matter Out of Place 2013Burning Man takes place in the middle of a large playa While not inhabited by humans itself the area around the playa is home to many animals and plants 207 Supporters of Burning Man point out that participants are encouraged to leave no trace LNT of their visit to Black Rock City BRC and to not contaminate the area with litter commonly known as MOOP Matter Out of Place Despite the BLM and LLC s insistence on the practice of LNT the amount of residual trash at the site has increased over the years 208 While fire is a primary component of many art exhibits and events materials must be burned on a burn platform 29 From 1990 through 1999 burning was allowed to take place directly on the surface of the playa but this left burn scars fired pinkish clay like playa surface When it was determined in 2000 that the burn scars do not dissipate with the annual winter rains and flooding the organization declared that fires had to be elevated from the playa surface for its protection When it was discovered by two of the founders of the Friends of Black Rock High Rock Garth Elliott and Sue Weeks and BLM Winnemucca district director Terry Reid that burn scars from prior sites numbering 250 still remained they were eradicated in 2000 by the DPW clean up crew headed by Dan Miller On the last day of the event public shared burn areas are prepared for participants to use It is an ongoing educational process each year to encourage participants to protect the environment and other participants by not burning toxic materials 209 210 Even gray water is not to be dumped on the playa Used shower water must be captured and either evaporated off or collected and carried home with participants or disposed of by roving septic pumping trucks which also service RVs Methods used for evaporating water often include a plastic sheet with a wood frame The Bureau of Land Management which maintains the desert has very strict requirements for the event These stipulations include trash cleanup removal of burn scars dust abatement and capture of fluid drippings from participant vehicles For four weeks after the event has ended the Black Rock City Department of Public Works BRC DPW Playa Restoration Crew remains in the desert cleaning up after the temporary city in an effort to make sure that no evidence of the event remains 211 In spite of the festival s clean up policies Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen has stated that each festival typically leaves a fair amount of detritus littered across the desert He said that the leftover trash including abandoned vehicles was particularly heavy after the 2023 event 212 Lawsuit against geothermal energy exploration editIn 2023 Burning Man filed a lawsuit against exploration of geothermal energy a renewable green energy source in the Nevada desert 213 214 Subsequently county commissioners rescinded a permit for the geothermal energy exploration putting the project indefinitely on halt and potentially scuttling it all together 215 The Burning Man organization celebrated the move 215 Criticism editNegative effects on the environment edit nbsp The Man burns at Burning Man 2014Burning Man s carbon footprint is primarily from transportation to the remote area The CoolingMan organization clarification needed has estimated that the 2006 Burning Man was responsible for the generation of 27 000 tons of carbon dioxide with 87 being from transportation to and from the location 216 In 2010 The Sierra Club criticized Burning Man for the hundreds of thousands of plastic water bottles that end up in landfills as well as ostentatious displays of flames and explosions 217 Burning Man s 2007 theme Green Man received criticism for the artwork Crude Awakening a 99 foot 30 m oil derrick that consumed 900 U S gallons 3 400 L of jet fuel and 2 000 U S gallons 7 600 L of liquid propane to blast a mushroom cloud 300 feet 91 m high into the sky 218 219 220 In an attempt to offset some of the event s carbon footprint 30 and 50 kilowatt solar arrays were constructed in 2007 as permanent artifacts providing an estimated annual carbon offset of 559 tons 221 The Burn Clean Project is a volunteer organization that has helped replace the use of fossil fuel with biodiesel In 2023 a group of climate activists blockaded the road into Black Rock city 222 Gentrification edit Burning Man has attracted a number of billionaires and celebrities many of them from Silicon Valley and Hollywood 223 It has become a networking event for them 224 with Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk once stating that Burning Man is Silicon Valley 223 These billionaires have paid for more luxurious camps to be set up in recent years Derisively nicknamed plug n play or turnkey camps they in general consist of lavish RVs and luxury restroom trailers that are driven into the city and connected together to form de facto gated areas These billionaires then fly in to the airport on private planes are driven to their camps served by hired help nicknamed sherpas and sleep in air conditioned beds 223 One venture capitalist billionaire threw a 16 500 per head party at his camp 225 In 2017 Google employees shipped in a box of lobsters for a meal 226 Despite allowing the rich to participate in Burning Man per the radical inclusion principle many traditional attendees have spoken out against their exclusive practices 227 Larry Harvey wrote that they also conflict with the radical self reliance and other principles 228 but has also said that permitting the wealthy to attend is beneficial to Burning Man 229 Vandalism that occurred at the White Ocean sound camp in 2016 was said to have been a revolution against these attendees describing them as a parasite class or rich parasites 227 230 231 232 Meanwhile the regular admission price has increased over the years In addition Nevada lawmakers have modified the state s entertainment and sales tax code to include nonprofit organizations like Burning Man that sell more than 15 000 tickets As a result an individual ticket including taxes cost 424 in 2016 Even tickets sold under Burning Man s low income program are subject to these taxes 233 Including transportation food camp fees clothing and costumes and gifts CNBC estimated in 2016 that the total cost of attending could range from 1 300 up to 20 000 234 In 2017 Money magazine estimated an average total cost of 2 348 to attend 235 According to the racial makeup of Burning Man attendees in 2014 87 of them identified themselves as White 6 as Hispanic Latino 6 as Asian 2 as Native American and 1 as Black figures rounded Nevada s population per the 2022 census is 51 White 29 Hispanic 11 Asian 2 Native 11 Black 236 When interviewed by The Guardian about these figures Harvey replied I don t think Black folks like to camp as much as White folks We re not going to set racial quotas This has never been imagined by us as a utopian society 237 While there has been criticism that Burning Man has jumped the shark this proposition was criticized by cultural anthropologist Graham St John in 2020 who said that Burning Man was never a utopia in the first place 238 Photography restrictions edit source source source source source source source Video of The Man sculpture burning 2011The terms of the Burning Man ticket require that participants wishing to use photo and video recording equipment share a joint copyright of their images of Black Rock City with Burning Man and forbid them from using their images for commercial purposes This has been criticized by many who including the Electronic Frontier Foundation EFF 239 240 The amount of casual nudity at the event has significantly decreased over the years due to the rise of ubiquitous cell phone cameras and the ability to easily upload photos to the Internet A Burning Man spokeswoman replied that the policies are not new were written by a former head of the EFF were used when suing to block pornographic videos and ultimately arose from participant concerns We re proud that Black Rock City a private event held on public land is widely acknowledged as a bastion of creative freedom B ut that protection of participants freedoms does necessitate the acceptance of some general terms of engagement when it comes to cameras EFF seems to think that anyone attending any event somehow has an absolute right to take photographs and then to do whatever they want with those images without any effective restriction or manner of enforcement While we believe that such rights do make sense for any of us taking pictures in purely public spaces this is not true in the private space of Burning Man if it were it would mean that Burning Man couldn t protect participant privacy or prevent commercialization of imagery 241 The Burning Man organization has since worked with the EFF and with Creative Commons and other parties and has revised and clarified the photography policies 242 Regional events editSee also List of regional Burning Man events nbsp A camp at a regional burn in South AfricaBurning Man s popularity has encouraged other groups and organizations to hold similar events some of which serve as an epilogue for participants Burners have created smaller regional events modeled on Burning Man such as Burning Flipside in Texas Apogaea in Colorado Playa del Fuego in Delaware Firefly in New England Kiwiburn in New Zealand Blazing Swan in Australia Transformus in West Virginia AfrikaBurn in South Africa NoWhere near Zaragoza in Spain Midburn in Israel and many others 243 Some of the events are officially affiliated with the Burning Man organization via the Burning Man Regional Network 244 This official affiliation usually requires the event to conform to the 10 principles and certain standards outlined by the Burning Man organization and to be accompanied by a Burning Man Regional Contact a volunteer with an official relationship to the Burning Man Project via a legal Letter of Agreement The Netherlands was the first country outside the United States to have an event officially associated with Burning Man named Where the Sheep Sleep since 2016 245 In exchange for conforming to these standards the event is granted permission to officially communicate itself as a Burning Man Regional Event The regional event organizers are enabled to exchange best practices with each other on a global level via online platforms and in person conferences which are partly sponsored by the Burning Man Project In popular culture editIn an episode of The Office S06E16 Jim comments that he and his wife Pam conceived their child at Burning Man 246 The Man Burns Tonight A Black Rock City Mystery a 2005 novel by Donn Cortez Don DeBrandt is set at Burning Man 2003 The 2010 South Park episode Coon vs Coon and Friends features Cartman manipulating the Dark Lord Cthulhu to do his bidding which includes destroying Burning Man 247 Cory Doctorow s 2013 novel Homeland opens at a near future Burning Man 248 The 2016 video game Watch Dogs 2 features the characters visiting a Burning Man themed event 249 The Simpsons 2014 episode Blazed and Confused features Blazing Guy an event based on Burning Man with one character even referencing Burning Man before correcting herself to Blazing Guy 250 The first Google Doodle a playful adaptation of the Google logo announced the founders attendance at Burning Man in 1998 251 252 The plot of the 2005 Malcolm in the Middle episode Burning Man takes place during the event 253 The 2007 Xavier Renegade Angel episode Escape from Squatopian Freedom features protagonist Xavier going to an event known as Burning Person 254 The 2020 song Burningman by Jeff Wittek Simon Rex and Jonah The festival is one of the major settings of the 2011 French language novel Tuer le pere literally Killing the Father by Belgian writer Amelie Nothomb The ninth and final novel of Armistead Maupin s Tales of the City series ends with many of the characters from the saga assembling at Burning Man Films editDust amp Illusions a 2009 documentary about 30 years of Burning Man history from the perspective of 20 interviewees Taking My Parents to Burning Man a 2014 film documenting the adventures and misadventures as Bryant Boesen takes his parents on their first Burn Spark A Burning Man Story a 2013 documentary about Burning Man which includes behind the scenes footage and interviews with the founders See also editFestival gatherings edit Boogg Holika Dahan Lohri Rainbow Gathering Robodonien Rubber Tramp Rendezvous Saint John s Eve Vijayadashami ZozobraMusic festivals edit Boom Festival Boomtown Creamfields Fusion Festival Glastonbury Festival Mysteryland Ozora Festival Psy Fi Tomorrowland festival Transformational festivalYoga festivals edit Bhakti Fest Wanderlust FestivalPlaces edit Arcosanti Auroville Temporary Autonomous ZoneOthers edit Wicker man Folk festivals in the United States HexayurtReferences edit These Photos Prove How Wild Burning Man Really Is Travel August 7 2017 Archived from the original on January 28 2021 Retrieved February 16 2021 The Extraordinary History of Burning Man farandwide com Archived from the original on June 21 2020 Retrieved June 18 2020 Warren Katie Everything You ve Been Wanting to Know about Burning Man the Wild 9 Day Arts Event in the Nevada Desert Frequented by Celebs and Tech Moguls Business Insider Archived from the original on May 29 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 The 10 Principles of Burning Man Burning Man Archived from the original on May 27 2020 Retrieved June 18 2020 Art and Performance Burning Man Archived from the original on May 11 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Burning Man 2020 The Multiverse Burning Man Journal October 15 2019 Archived from the original on April 13 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Holtermann Callie September 4 2023 What Is Burning Man and Why Have Paris Hilton and Elon Musk Shown Up The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on September 4 2023 Retrieved September 4 2023 Bowman Emma July 14 2019 Federal Clampdown on Burning Man Imperils Festival s Free Spirit Ethos Say Burners Archived July 15 2019 at the Wayback Machine NPR com Retrieved July 14 2019 Burning Man Timeline 2019 burningman org Archived from the original on June 9 2020 Retrieved June 18 2020 a b Doherty Brian July 2006 This Is Burning Man Benbella Books p 28 ISBN 978 1 932100 86 0 StJ s Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements PDF Archived from the original PDF on February 22 2014 Retrieved September 5 2010 Morehead John W 2009 Burning Man Festival in Alternative Interpretive Analysis Sacred Tribes Journal 4 1 19 41 ISSN 1941 8167 Archived from the original on January 27 2022 Retrieved October 25 2018 a b Burning Man 1986 1990 The Early Years Archived from the original on June 17 2016 Retrieved May 24 2016 a b Timeline Burning Man Archived from the original on December 20 2014 Retrieved May 24 2016 Doherty Brian September 3 2007 This Is Burning Man Little Brown ISBN 9780316028929 Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved November 9 2020 via Google Books Bad Day at Black Rock Cacophony Society Zone Trip 4 Laughingsquid com January 18 2007 Archived from the original on September 14 2009 Retrieved March 31 2012 What is Burning Man Early Years Burning Man Archived from the original on October 14 2008 Retrieved March 31 2012 BURNING MAN RECEIVES FIVE YEAR PERMIT BLM News United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management June 8 2006 Archived from the original on September 23 2006 Meet the Woman Who Brought Fire Dancing to Burning Man Everfest Archived from the original on March 9 2018 Retrieved March 9 2018 Doherty Brian July 2006 This Is Burning Man Benbella Books ISBN 978 1 932100 86 0 Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved June 13 2014 Olivier Bonin March 2009 Dust amp Illusions Documentary on 30 Years of Burning Man history Archived from the original on May 31 2017 Retrieved July 9 2020 William Binzen was extensively interviewed for the film with cross references from Burning Man organizations co founders Olivier Bonin March 2009 Dust amp Illusions Documentary on 30 Years of Burning Man history Archived from the original on May 31 2017 Retrieved July 9 2020 William Binzen was extensively interviewed for the film with cross references from Burning Man organizations co founders Doherty Brian July 2006 This Is Burning Man Benbella Books ISBN 978 1 932100 86 0 Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved October 21 2018 Doherty Brian July 2006 This Is Burning Man BenBella Books p 124 ISBN 978 1 932100 86 0 Andrew Dalton August 29 2011 Burning Man Architect Rod Garrett Dies at Age 76 SFist Archived from the original on July 15 2014 Retrieved March 31 2012 Preparation 2007 BRC MAP Burning Man Archived from the original on January 16 2008 Retrieved March 31 2012 a b On The Playa Playa Vehicles DMV Burning Man Archived from the original on September 3 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 On 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original on July 27 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Holcombe Madeline September 7 2020 A 1 000 person gathering to celebrate Burning Man culture put people s lives at risk San Francisco mayor says Archived September 8 2020 at the Wayback Machine CNN Burning Man Goes Rogue As 20 000 Devotees Still Plan To Gather In The Black Rock Desert Forbes August 27 2020 Archived from the original on September 9 2021 Retrieved September 9 2021 a b Not Burning Man 2020 Burners at scaled down gathering say It feels like the old days September 5 2020 Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved September 9 2021 Burning Man s 2021 festival canceled due to COVID 19 DJMag com April 28 2021 Archived from the original on April 29 2021 Retrieved April 29 2021 After another canceled year in the desert Burning Man plans for a virtual event TechCrunch May 13 2021 Retrieved May 14 2021 permanent dead link a b To many Renegade Burn brought a week of good times in a hellish year September 9 2021 Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved September 9 2021 Burning Man festival goers told to conserve food and water BBC News September 2 2023 Archived from the original on September 3 2023 Retrieved September 3 2023 Miranda Shauneen September 3 2023 What we know about the flooding at Burning Man Axios Archived from the original on September 3 2023 Retrieved September 3 2023 2023 Wet Playa Survival Guide Burning Man Archived from the original on September 3 2023 Retrieved September 3 2023 Live updates Thousands stranded at Burning Man as death under investigation The Independent September 3 2023 Archived from the original on September 3 2023 Retrieved September 3 2023 Timeline Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original on September 12 2018 Retrieved April 7 2020 The Art amp History of Burning Man Tickets and Entry Fees Trippingly February 26 1999 Archived from the original on March 19 2023 Retrieved January 27 2021 Mary Grauberger Trippingly June 16 2008 Archived from the original on February 2 2021 Retrieved January 27 2021 Burning Man 1987 Trippingly June 21 1987 Archived from the original on August 14 2020 Retrieved January 27 2021 Burning Man 1986 1990 The Early Years BURN LIFE Archived from the original on January 23 2021 Retrieved January 27 2021 Burning Man 1991 1996 Life Archived from the original on August 28 2016 Retrieved August 17 2016 Death and Ecstasy The Rise and Fall of Burning Man s Original Rave Ghetto Thump August 31 2015 Archived from the original on October 2 2016 Retrieved August 17 2016 Gensler Andy September 2 2015 Desert Music Burning Man Confronts The Rising Beat NPR Archived from the original on April 30 2018 Retrieved August 17 2016 Portfolio Writing Where the Wild Things Are factoid labs September 4 1996 Archived from the original on February 25 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 Sterling Bruce November 1996 Greetings from Burning Man Wired Vol 4 no 11 Archived from the original on September 12 2011 Retrieved August 6 2011 Burning Man Festival searches for new home Las Vegas Reviewjournal com October 29 1997 Archived from the original on September 15 2006 Retrieved March 31 2012 Woman dies when run over by art car CNN August 31 2003 Archived from the original on January 1 2008 Retrieved November 16 2009 a b c d e f g h Special Recreation Permit Stipulations Burning Man 2006 2010 PDF Bureau of Land Management August 23 2010 Archived from the original PDF on September 24 2015 Retrieved August 6 2015 2007 Event Archive Burning Man Archived from the original on September 4 2017 Retrieved September 10 2017 Ohtake Miyoko August 30 2007 A Fiery Q amp A With the Prankster Accused of Burning the Man Wired Archived from the original on August 26 2014 Retrieved August 29 2011 Burningman com 2007 news Archived September 14 2007 at the Wayback Machine 2008 AfterBurn Report History Burning Man Archived from the original on September 10 2017 Retrieved September 10 2017 The hopefully All Inclusive List of Questions Regarding 2008 Tickets Burning Man Archived from the original on March 30 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 2009 AfterBurn Report History Burning Man Archived from the original on September 10 2017 Retrieved September 10 2017 2010 Art Theme Metropolis Life of Cities Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original on August 24 2015 Retrieved September 3 2015 2010 Event Archive Burning Man Archived from the original on September 4 2017 Retrieved September 10 2017 2011 Art Theme Rites of Passage Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original on August 24 2015 Retrieved September 3 2015 The Jack Rabbit Speaks Volume 16 Issue No 3 October 24 2011 Burning Man 2011 Special Recreation Permit Stipulations PDF Bureau of Land Management March 30 2011 Archived from the original PDF on September 24 2015 Retrieved August 6 2015 a b 2011 Burning Man ticket information Burning Man Archived from the original on May 25 2002 Retrieved August 6 2011 2012 Art Theme Fertility 2 0 Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original on August 24 2015 Retrieved September 3 2015 Black Rock City 2012 Population Update December 11 2012 Archived from the original on January 16 2014 Retrieved December 11 2012 a b Burning Man 2012 Special Recreation Permit Stipulations PDF Bureau of Land Management June 11 2012 Archived from the original PDF on September 11 2019 Retrieved August 6 2015 2013 Art Theme Cargo Cult Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original on August 24 2015 Retrieved September 3 2015 Black Rock City 2013 Population Burning Man Black Rock City LLC September 13 2013 Archived from the original on October 24 2014 Retrieved August 21 2014 Burning Man 2013 Special Recreation Permit Stipulations PDF Bureau of Land Management July 17 2013 Archived from the original PDF on December 5 2019 Retrieved August 6 2015 2013 Art Theme Cargo Cult Burning Man Archived from the original on December 3 2012 Retrieved November 30 2012 Chase Will January 4 2013 Burning Man 2013 Ticket Sales Burning Man Archived from the original on January 7 2013 Retrieved January 5 2013 2014 Art Theme Caravansary Burning Man Archived from the original on January 9 2014 Retrieved January 9 2014 2014 AfterBurn Report Burning Man Black Rock City LLC Archived from the original on September 4 2017 Retrieved September 10 2017 a b The population cap does not include volunteers government personnel emergency service providers vendors and contractors Burning Man 2014 Special Recreation Permit Stipulations PDF Bureau of Land Management July 31 2014 Archived from the original PDF on April 20 2020 Retrieved August 6 2015 Jackrabbit Speaks Vol 18 Burning Man Archived from the original on December 13 2014 Retrieved January 9 2014 Marcus Emerson August 28 2014 Woman killed at Burning Man had caring spirit Reno Gazette Journal Reno Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved August 28 2014 2015 Art Theme Carnival of Mirrors Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original 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Recreation Permit Burning Man Special Recreation Permit Renewal Final Environmental Impact Statement PDF Bureau of Land Management July 17 2019 Archived from the original PDF on December 5 2019 Retrieved September 14 2019 Burning Man 2020 The Multiverse Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on April 13 2020 Retrieved January 31 2020 a b Renegade Burning Man festival draws thousands to Nevada desert including Paris Hilton TheGuardian com September 7 2020 Archived from the original on November 5 2021 Retrieved September 9 2021 Kreps Daniel April 11 2020 Burning Man Cancels 2020 Festival Due to Coronavirus Rolling Stone Archived from the original on May 30 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Burning Man Project July 2 2020 New Universes Discovered in the Burning Man Multiverse Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on May 1 2021 Retrieved May 14 2021 Burning Man 2021 The Great Unknown Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on July 11 2021 Retrieved March 22 2021 Rogue Burning Man 2021 Should you go Probably not Mashable August 25 2021 Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved September 10 2021 Burning Man 2021 Terra Incognita Burning Man Journal March 9 2021 Archived from the original on March 9 2021 Retrieved March 22 2021 Lisa Respers France and Andy Rose Burning Man festival cancels in person event again because of Covid 19 CNN Archived from the original on April 28 2021 Retrieved April 28 2021 Burning Man 2022 Waking Dreams Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved December 15 2021 Leaving No Trace 2022 MOOP Maps Inspection and the New 1 MOOP burningman org Archived from the original on March 19 2023 Retrieved March 18 2023 a b Burning Man 2022 Special Recreation Permit Additional Stipulations PDF Bureau of Land Management July 28 2022 Archived PDF from the original on August 21 2022 Retrieved August 20 2022 The Long Way Home Back to Black Rock City Part 1 Winter 2021 Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved December 15 2021 Burning Man 2023 ANIMALIA Archived from the original on August 7 2023 Retrieved August 8 2023 Burning Man 2023 Special Recreation Permit Additional Stipulations PDF Bureau of Land Management July 12 2023 Archived PDF from the original on August 4 2023 Retrieved August 8 2023 Death under investigation at Burning Man as flooding strands thousands at Nevada festival site ABC News Archived from the original on September 3 2023 Retrieved September 3 2023 Larry Harvey The Numbers Game BLM Permit 1999 February 26 1999 Archived from the original on March 19 2023 Retrieved March 19 2023 Jack Rabbit Speaks On Pending Permit Issues October 30 1998 Archived from the original on June 30 2022 Retrieved August 1 2022 Burning Man 2011 Special Recreation Permit Stipulations PDF Archived from the original PDF on July 10 2012 BRC Burning Man 2012 2016 Environmental Assesment PDF Archived PDF from the original on August 1 2022 Retrieved August 1 2022 Burning Man Event Special Recreation Permit Environmental Impact Statement Volume 1 2019 PDF Archived PDF from the original on April 19 2023 Retrieved August 1 2022 Now including everyone Timeline Burning Man Archived from the original on September 12 2018 Retrieved July 4 2018 2019 Form 990 PDF Archived PDF from the original on August 1 2022 Retrieved August 1 2022 What is Burning Man Archived March 6 2012 at the Wayback Machine There are no rules about how one must behave or express oneself at this event save the rules that serve to protect the health safety and experience of the community at large rather it is up to each participant to decide how they will contribute and what they will give to this community Participants are encouraged to find a way to help make the theme come alive Schmeiser Lisa Burning Man Recession Proof SF Gate San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on August 27 2010 Retrieved March 31 2012 Larry Harvey Talk Burning Man 2010 Regional Summit Archived from the original on January 5 2016 Retrieved June 22 2012 via YouTube a b 10 principles of Burning Man Burning Man Archived from the original on February 26 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 10 Burning Man Survival Guide Burning Man Archived from the original on June 21 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 No Cash Transactions Burning Man August 29 2011 Archived from the original on February 3 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 Coffee Burning Man Archived from the original on February 3 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 Reimagining Center Camp Burning Man Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved March 8 2022 Camp Arctica Burning Man Archived from the original on February 3 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 Shuttle Service Burning Man August 29 2011 Archived from the original on February 3 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 What is Burning Man FAQ Burning Man Archived from the original on October 22 2014 Retrieved March 31 2012 On The Playa Burning Man Archived from the original on January 20 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 Preparation Burning Man Archived from the original on November 2 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 preparation Radical Self Reliance Burning Man Archived from the original on January 5 2008 Retrieved March 31 2012 The secret life of Burning Man s 1 700 Porta Potties Reno Gazette Journal Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved March 8 2022 Event Preparation Burning Man Archived from the original on April 4 2006 Retrieved March 31 2012 What I Saw at Burning Man Jewishworldreview com September 24 1999 Archived from the original on July 1 2006 Retrieved March 31 2012 Wohltmann Glenn August 29 2011 The Ultimate Festival Burning Man a 50 000 person celebration in the Nevada desert for one week each year Pleasanton Weekly Pleasanton California Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved August 27 2015 Participate Main Burning Man Archived from the original on February 7 2006 Retrieved March 31 2012 a b Black Rock City Temple Grant Burning Man Archived from the original on January 19 2021 Retrieved January 15 2021 What is The Temple Temple Guardians templeguardians burningman org Archived from the original on January 28 2021 Retrieved January 15 2021 The Temple Guardians website Archived from the original on December 12 2019 Retrieved December 12 2019 Temple History Temple Guardians templeguardians burningman org Archived from the original on January 24 2021 Retrieved January 15 2021 Black Rock City Temple Grant Burning Man Archived from the original on January 19 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 2002 Art Installations Burning Man Archived from the original on January 18 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 2008 Art Installations Burning Man Archived from the original on March 4 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 Making the Fire of Fires archived from the original on January 27 2022 retrieved January 16 2021 Burners in flux San Francisco Bay Guardian Archived from the original on February 24 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 via San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966 2014 Temple of Flux Temple2010 org Archived from the original on April 17 2010 Retrieved March 31 2012 Temple of Transition It s Big and It s Happening Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on February 25 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 The Temple of Juno 2012 thetemplecrew org Archived from the original on November 12 2020 Retrieved January 16 2021 Artist Interview with the Temple of Whollyness Builders Ignitechannel com Archived from the original on March 28 2014 Retrieved May 20 2013 Art Versus Money Burners Me Me Burners and The Man November 16 2014 Archived from the original on February 25 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 Burning Man Timeline 2015 burningman org Archived from the original on March 4 2021 Retrieved January 16 2021 2015 Art Installations Burning Man Archived from the original on November 30 2020 Retrieved January 16 2021 Why this year s Burning Man temple has no name Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved September 13 2016 Introducing the 2017 Black Rock City Honoraria Archived from the original on July 23 2017 Retrieved March 8 2017 Galaxia The 2018 Temple Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on April 29 2018 Retrieved January 16 2021 Your 2019 Temple The Temple of Direction Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on April 20 2019 Retrieved January 16 2021 Temple of Contraints September 8 2021 Archived from the original on September 10 2021 Retrieved September 10 2021 Art Is Back 2022 Honoraria Program Opening the Temple amp More Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved December 15 2021 General 2 Empyrean Temple Burning Man 2021 Archived from the original on December 15 2021 Retrieved December 15 2021 Burningman com Art Installations Archived August 30 2007 at the Wayback Machine a b No Spectators The Art of Burning Man Smithsonian American Art Museum Archived from the original on November 21 2021 Retrieved March 21 2018 Dept of Mutant Vehicles Burning Man Archived from the original on May 5 2020 Retrieved May 4 2020 Mutant Vehicle Criteria and Licensing Burning Man Archived from the original on May 3 2020 Retrieved May 4 2020 Veber Vasja October 18 2019 How much will Burning Man Cost You Plus the Ultimate Black Rock City Survival Guide Viberate com Archived from the original on November 7 2019 Retrieved November 7 2019 Gensler Andy September 2 2015 Desert Music Burning Man Confronts The Rising Beat NPR Archived from the original on September 2 2015 Retrieved September 3 2015 On The Playa Burning Man Archived from the original on December 18 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 On The Playa Burning Man Archived from the original on July 14 2005 Retrieved March 31 2012 Black Rock City Airport Burning Man Archived from the original on October 26 2007 Retrieved March 31 2012 May Meredith August 31 2005 Theme Camps San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on June 7 2006 Retrieved March 31 2012 Burningman com Volunteering page Archived August 30 2007 at the Wayback Machine Who are the Rangers Black Rock Rangers rangers burningman com May 7 2019 Archived from the original on June 16 2012 Retrieved August 16 2019 Designing Black Rock City Burning Man Journal Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 Death and Ecstasy The Rise and Fall of Burning Man s Original Rave Ghetto Thump August 31 2015 Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 14 2018 Interview with the founder of Burning Man s first sound camp Life Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 14 2018 Burning Man 1997 2000 Life Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 14 2018 History Burning Man burningman org Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 14 2018 Nevada State Maintained Highways Descriptions Index and Maps PDF Roadway Systems Division January 2008 Archived from the original PDF on November 9 2009 Retrieved May 28 2010 a b c Getting In The Gate Burning Man Archived from the original on September 4 2016 Retrieved September 2 2016 Will tickets be sold at the gate to Black Rock City Burning Man Archived from the original on September 11 2016 Retrieved September 2 2016 Getting Out Exodus Burning Man Archived from the original on September 4 2016 Retrieved September 2 2016 Gross Sam August 27 2018 Burning Man 18 000 people expected through Reno s airport on their way to the playa Reno Gazette Journal Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved November 7 2019 Hartley Brandon August 6 2011 Burning Man Airport AWB Archived from the original on April 25 2012 Retrieved October 14 2011 On The Playa Burning Man Archived from the original on May 9 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 On The Playa Burning Man Archived from the original on May 9 2012 Retrieved March 31 2012 Black Rock City Airport AOPA Archived from the original on December 9 2014 Retrieved December 5 2014 rideshare burningman com Burning Man Archived from the original on January 12 2012 Retrieved June 22 2012 Burning Man 2006 2010 Environmental Assessment PDF Archived from the original PDF on April 16 2014 Bureau of Land Management Burning Man Post Event Inspection 2009 Archived 31 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Resources Burn Effects Burning Man Archived from the original on February 20 2008 Retrieved March 31 2012 Preparation Burning Man Archived from the original on January 13 2008 Retrieved March 31 2012 Bureau of Land Management Archived from the original on May 25 2006 Merrill Monique Abandoned Vehicles Reportedly Strewn for Miles as Burning Man Revelers Finally Able to Leave Archived October 10 2023 at the Wayback Machine San Francisco Chronicle reprinted on MSN com 7 September 2023 Burning Man latest foe of green energy project in Nevada Associated Press January 12 2023 Archived from the original on April 17 2023 Retrieved April 17 2023 Paul Arielle May 17 2023 Burning Man Becomes Latest Adversary in Geothermal Feud The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on May 17 2023 Retrieved May 17 2023 a b Burning Man cheers county s overturning geothermal permit Associated Press April 14 2023 Archived from the original on April 17 2023 Retrieved April 17 2023 Cooling Man Cooling Man Archived from the original on May 14 2016 Retrieved March 31 2012 The Sierra Club The Sierra Club Archived from the original on November 12 2010 Retrieved March 31 2012 Jolia Sidona Allen May 2008 Green Party Archived June 12 2008 at the Wayback Machine Common Ground Magazine Elsa Wenzel September 17 2007 How green was Burning Man Archived July 29 2009 at the Wayback Machine Brian Doherty August 2007 Crude Awakening Arises at Burning Man Archived September 2 2007 at the Wayback Machine Wired Blog Network Underwire Scheff Jonathan September 2007 Data Points Green Burning Man Scientific American Vol 297 no 3 Black Rock City Scientific American Inc p 34 Archived from the original on January 14 2009 Retrieved August 3 2008 Estes Adam Clark August 30 2023 Burning Man s climate protesters have a point Vox Archived from the original on September 28 2023 Retrieved September 29 2023 a b c Bilton Nick August 21 2014 A Line Is Drawn in the Desert The New York Times Archived from the original on February 23 2017 Retrieved February 21 2017 Bowles Nellie August 24 2014 Burning Man becomes a hot spot for tech titans San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on September 3 2016 Retrieved September 3 2016 Spencer Keith August 27 2015 Why the rich love Burning Man Jacobin Archived from the original on September 9 2016 Retrieved September 3 2016 de Guzman Dianne August 31 2017 Google employees order 10 pound box of live lobsters for Burning Man meal San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on July 18 2019 Retrieved August 16 2019 a b Allen Nick September 5 2016 Revolution against rich parasites at utopian Burning Man Festival as hooligans attack luxury camp The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on April 13 2018 Retrieved April 5 2018 Garfield Leanna September 2 2016 Burning Man has a temporary airport for the 1 who take luxury helicopter rides to the playa Business Insider Archived from the original on September 3 2016 Retrieved September 3 2016 The Billionaires at Burning Man Bloomberg Business Week February 5 2015 Archived from the original on February 23 2017 Retrieved March 5 2017 Burning Man Camp Attacked by Vandals Over Outrage at Parasite Class Time Archived from the original on September 5 2016 Retrieved September 5 2016 Burning Man plug n play camp vandalized Reno Gazette Journal Archived from the original on October 10 2023 Retrieved September 5 2016 BAND OF HOOLIGANS VANDALISE PAUL OAKENFOLD S BURNING MAN CAMP DJMag com September 5 2016 Archived from the original on November 7 2019 Retrieved November 7 2019 Levin Sam February 9 2016 Burning Man tickets just got even more expensive thanks to new Nevada tax The Guardian Archived from the original on September 4 2016 Retrieved September 3 2016 Anderson Tom August 26 2016 How to enjoy Burning Man without burning your cash CNBC Archived from the original on August 27 2017 Retrieved September 9 2017 Leonhardt Megan August 3 2017 How Much It Really Costs to Go to Burning Man This Year Money Magazine Archived from the original on April 3 2020 Retrieved August 27 2017 QuickFacts Nevada United States 2022 Population Estimates United States Census Bureau Population Division July 1 2022 Archived from the original on April 6 2022 Retrieved January 2 2023 Thrasher Steven September 4 2015 Burning Man founder Black folks don t like to camp as much as white folks The Guardian Archived from the original on September 4 2016 Retrieved August 16 2019 John Graham St April 29 2020 Jumping the Shark The Enigma of Burning Man Beyond Burning Man Archived from the original on August 12 2021 Video DV Film Digital Camera Personal Use Agreement Burning Man 2009 PDF Archived from the original PDF on February 20 2012 Retrieved June 22 2012 Snatching Rights on the Playa Electronic Frontier Foundation Eff org August 12 2009 Archived from the original on December 28 2016 Retrieved March 31 2012 Burning Blog Blog Archive Snatching Digital Rights or Protecting Our Culture Burning Man and the EFF Burning Man August 14 2009 Archived from the original on September 18 2009 Retrieved March 31 2012 Updated Terms and Conditions for 2011 Archived January 21 2011 at the Wayback Machine Burning Man blog Regionals Welcome home regionals burningman org Archived from the original on July 14 2018 Retrieved July 14 2018 regionals burningman com Burning Man Archived from the original on October 25 2005 Retrieved June 22 2012 Le mythique festival Burning Man va s installer aux Pays Bas cet ete Metrotime in French June 17 2016 Archived from the original on November 17 2021 Retrieved September 5 2023 Yarn The Office Season 6 Episode 16 2006 O Neal Sean November 10 2010 South Park Coon vs Coon and Friends The A V Club Archived from the original on December 1 2016 Retrieved December 1 2016 About Homeland Archived from the original on June 14 2013 Retrieved June 14 2013 Watch Dogs 2 PS4 Review ZTGD November 21 2016 Archived from the original on February 2 2017 Retrieved January 23 2017 Perkins Dennis November 16 2014 The Simpsons Blazed And Confused The A V Club Archived from the original on November 18 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 Doodle 4 Google Archived from the original on February 5 2014 Retrieved April 23 2014 Burning Man Festival August 30 1998 Archived from the original on May 11 2020 Retrieved April 23 2014 Burning Man IMDb September 30 2005 Archived from the original on April 3 2017 Retrieved April 2 2017 Escape from Squatopian Freedom IMDb December 23 2007 Archived from the original on March 26 2023 Retrieved August 23 2017 unreliable source Further reading editBonner Bertine 2005 Das Burning Man Projekt Religiositat und Spiritualitat in Black Rock City Eine ethnologische Perspektive Magisterarbeit Grin Verlag Bowditch Rachel 2010 On the edge of utopia Performance and ritual at Burning Man Seagull books Chen Katherine K 2009 Authenticity at Burning Man Contexts 8 3 65 67 Chen Katherine K 2009 Enabling Creative Chaos The Organization Behind the Burning Man Event University of Chicago Press p 242 ISBN 9780226102399 Retrieved February 22 2021 Chen Katherine K 2012 Artistic Prosumption Cocreative Destruction at Burning Man American Behavioral Scientist 56 4 570 595 Cortez Donn 2005 The Man Burns Tonight A Black Rock City Mystery Doherty Brian 2004 This is Burning Man The Rise of a New American Underground Boston New York Little Brown and Company Diehl Ronny 2010 The American Frontier in Acoustic Space MA Thesis Humboldt University of Berlin Grin Verlag Gauthier Francois 2013 The Enchantments of Consumer Capitalism Beyond Belief at the Burning Man Festival in Religion in Consumer Society ed Francois Gauthier Ashgate 143 158 Gilmore Lee and Mark Van Proyen eds 2005 AfterBurn Reflections on Burning Man New Mexico University of New Mexico Press Hockett Jeremy 2004 Reckoning Ritual and Counterculture in the Burning Man Community Communication Ethnography and the Self in Reflexive Modernism Dissertation Albuquerque New Mexico The University of New Mexico Kreuter Holly 2002 Drama in the Desert The Sights and Sounds of Burning Man San Francisco Raised Barn Press Kristen Christine Reconnecting art and life at Burning Man in Raw Vision Nr 57 Winter 2006 S 28 35 Morehead John W 2007 Burning Man Festival as Life Enhancing Post Christendom Middle Way MA Thesis Salt Lake City Utah Salt Lake Theological Seminary Nash A Leo 2007 Burning Man Art in the Desert Introduction by Daniel Pinchbeck New York Harry N Abrams Pike Sarah M 2001 Desert Goddesses and Apocalyptic Art Making Sacred Space at the Burning Man Festival In Mazur Eric Michael McCarthy Kate Hrsg God in the Details American Religion in Popular Culture London New York Routledge 155 176 Post George P 2012 Dancing with the Playa Messiah A 21 Year Burning Man Photo Album Richmond CA Dragon Fotografix Roberts Adrian ed Burning Man Live 13 years of Piss Clear Black Rock City s alternative newspaper San Francisco RE Search Publications St John Graham 2017 Blazing Grace The Gifted Culture of Burning ManNANO New American Notes Online 11 St John Graham 2018 The Big Empty Aeon 10 September White Carolyn L 2020 The Archaeology of Burning Man The Rise and Fall of Black Rock City University of New Mexico Press online reviewExternal links editBurning Man at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Travel information from Wikivoyage Official website nbsp Burning Man page Annual coverage from SFGate com and the San Francisco Chronicle Burning Man at Curlie FBI file on Burning Man Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Burning Man amp oldid 1211037595, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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