From the Reno gazette journal:
“Tens of thousands of dusty revelers cheered with wild abandon Saturday night as the Burning Man festival reached a high point with the fiery destruction of the 40-foot-tall man.
Drummers and electronic dance music filled the air with a cacophony of sound as fire dancers, fireworks and flames sent the structure flaring into the desert night.
The Man towered over this temporary city of 70,000 for a week as participants danced, partied and admired fantastical art and sculptures.
The Man burn is a traditionally rowdy event, and will be followed Sunday night by the subdued burning of the Temple, another wooden structure stuffed with notes, remembrances and memories consigned to the flames.
The annual event is held in an otherwise featureless ancient dry lake bed two hours north of Reno. Participants are encouraged to arrive for the weeklong event totally self-sufficient but also to “gift” to each other food, drinks and trinkets.
After the debris from the burns cools, volunteers will clear or away, returning the desert to its pristine condition, as required by the organization’s federal land-use permit.”
From what I’ve read and heard, someone does do a good job of policing the area.
I am sure the BM has morphed into something other than what started as.
Some guy who decided to have a bon fire cause his lady friend wouldn’t marry.
But let’s not get carried away with the BM is evil incarnate.
Fifteen seconds late!
But THIS year...Burning man could have been different. All the promotional, admissions, and operating fees could have been donated to the relief efforts of Hurricane Harvey. All the Food vendors could have rushed to Texas to feed the hungry, and the participants could have flocked there to help distribute food. But did they? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The people with the strongest opinions on BM, and the surety of what it’s about, have never been.