Every year on the first week of September, a barren area of desert about a 3 hour drive from Reno Nevada becomes a camping city of 70,000 people. So unlike any other city in the world it can only be described as another dimension.
Like living in a Dr. Seuss book, burning man is a combination of Alice in Wonderland, Halloween, art, music and partying. It’s a place where you are encouraged to express and be yourself without ridicule. So bizarre, it stimulates the mind beyond social and cultural limits. Most people that have heard of Burning Man but never been, know it only for the stigma of nudity and drugs attended only by hippies and freaks. The fact is, “burners” the name given the people that attend, are in general, intelligent regular people that come for variety of reasons. At my recent attendance in 2015, I was surprised to meet people from all over the world and all walks of life from teenagers, doctors and teachers to great grandparents. Anyone with an open mind that attends is guaranteed a powerful, personal experience that can’t fully be explained. You don’t have to be an artist or consider yourself different to go. You will however leave a different person.
WHAT IS BURNING MAN?
A circle with an area of 7 square miles is temporarily fenced off in the Red Rock Desert Playa. The bottom half of the circle is the city complete with streets that quickly become lined with motorhomes and tents. The other half of the circle is empty desert doted with scores of art displays, most of which are burned at some point during the week. In the middle of the circle is the symbol of the event, a giant wooden man. The highlight comes at the end of the week when the man is set on fire.
Aside from some basic rules for respecting other peoples rights and the environment almost anything goes. If you don’t feel like wearing clothes or want to wear something you would never dream of wearing anywhere else, no problem. Burning man is unconditional acceptance, and encourages you to discover and be your true self. This is a place where people dress and act the way they feel and not to impress anyone else.
The atmosphere inside Burning Man begins at the front gate. People that have been before are warmly welcomed home. For first timers or “virgins” as they are called there is an initiation, they are encouraged to get out of the car and asked to lye down and make snow angels on the ground. The fine desert sand is ground into their clothes and deep in the pores of their skin. The result is an immediate loss in the value for self looks, and a skin tone that soon matches that of the entire city.
Perhaps the biggest part of the atmosphere is that nothing is for sale, it can only be given away as a gift. Ice and coffee, sold by the event organizers are the only exception. I met one man that brought in $3,000.00 worth of soft drinks and water to give away in exchange only for conversation and the opportunity to meet other people. Many people join one of hundreds of theme camps that hosts a free activity or gives a product or service away for free. Food, alcohol, souvenirs, all free. The giving and goodwill becomes contagious, creating a constant need for you to always look for ways to give back in return. The friendly, excepting atmosphere created allows you drop your social guards, including some you never new you had. Feeling as comfortable talking to complete strangers as you are with your closest friend. A chance to totally be yourself with people that are totally being their self’s.
The harsh environment also brings the people together. When going, you must bring everything you need for the week with you including water. At night the temperature drops to the low teens and by 10:00am soars to over 100 degrees Celsius. When the wind picks up sandstorms are created reducing visibility to near 0. There are no showers or running water. Washing in the morning and evening for me was with several wet naps. After a few days dust had worked its way into my tent, sleeping bag and everything else that wasn’t sealed air tight. It is these extreme conditions that help bond the city, similar to what happened during the ice storm in Quebec in 1999 or the more recent flooding in Calgary a couple of years ago. There is something about going through hardship that unites people.
Once parked at your campsite you can no longer drive your car until you leave. Burning man is a city of bicycles and almost a necessity to get around. The exception to driving rule is the hundreds of Mutant vehicles (art cars) that cruise up and down the streets and open areas. Everything from a 50 foot yacht on wheels, complete with sound system, dance floor and bar, to a replica of Fred Flintstones car. The Imagination and creativity in the art cars is a reflection of everything at Burning Man.
WHAT IS THERE TO DO?
WHAT ISN’T THERE TO DO?
When entering you are given a book listing over 1000 free activities and events put on by different theme camps. Everything imaginable and a lot of things unimaginable. From “The Naked Pub Crawl”, open to anyone, where thousands of people strip naked and travel around on bikes to different theme camp pubs, to viewing endless interactive works of art. How about a game of pool on a giant pool table where billiard balls are substituted with bowling balls or shooting off a flame thrower. Live DJs attract thousands of people in an area called the Deep End. The list goes on and on making it impossible to see or do even a fraction of what’s available. There is something for everyone and somethings definitely not for everyone.
At night time the city lights up like Las Vegas and goes all night. Mutant vehicles lit up and with powerful sound systems crisscross the open area amongst a sea of lighted bikes.
Flames and fire shoot from some of the vehicles, another has a topless women hanging from a long pole extended out the back doing tricks on a trapeze. Fire dancers and marching bands travel up and down the streets. The art too is lit up, some with moving lights set to music. In another area, an open steel frame dome that viewers climb on to watch 2 people battle it out on swinging harnesses with foam bats in a Mad Max type atmosphere.
Despite all this Burning Man is a safe place. All levels of US police patrol the event. Most enjoy it and look forward to working it every year. Burning man even has their own volunteer rangers that try to help out should there be a dispute.
ORIGIN
In 1986 Larry Harvey, Jerry James and a few friends got together on a beach in San Francisco on the summer solstice. In a spontaneous act of self expression they set fire to a 9 foot wooden man they had put together.
The event continued every year, and continued to grow. Eventually so many people showed up it had to be moved to the Black Rock Desert where it is held now. Still based on 10 main principles it has grown into so much more, evolving every year it continues to take on it’s own form. Run as a non profit organization, each year the 70,0000 tickets sell out in seconds.
SUM UP
Burning Man can best be described as a 7 square mile petri dish for the mind to grow. As one person having attended over a dozen times in the past said “You don’t come here with expectations, you just get out and wonder through the city and let it happen. Every time you come it’s different experience.”
Still confused what Burning Man is all about after reading this? You’re supposed to be. Burning Man is different for everyone, and remains an enigma even for those that have been. The potential for someone to learn and study unique human behavior is limitless here.
At the end of the week, the desert is restored to its natural barren condition. No trace remains that 70,000 people had just been there or this portal to another dimension ever existed.
Dave Lister
“Interstellar”
listerlogic.com