Burning Man: Inside the world's WILDEST festival

dailystar.co.uk ^ | 8/25/2018 | Tom Fish

[rktman]

Tens of thousands have gathered for the deranged nine-day festival of excess, which is unique among others in frowning at any hint of commercialism.

Incredible photos show attendees donning outrageous Mad Max-style outfits, or even forgoing clothes at all, under the relentless sun.

Some are seen traveling around the temporary city in post-apocalyptic "art cars" and bicycles.

And the ritualistic burning of a giant human-shaped effigy is seen sending smoke and flames billowing into the empty skyline.

[rktman]

They're backkkkk! But, a lot of them are headed out to the playa starting today and they'll be gone for a week. Then we'll be visited by dusty patchoulli oil soaked folks for another probably two weeks post burning man. We already have the skunk weed smell wafting around. Oddly, the supposed anti establishment counter culture festival brings in hundreds of RVs from all over the place and mostly empties a lot of shelves at local wal marts. If I recall, the least expensive access pass was around $800. And that's if you were lucky enough to get in line early. Then at the culmination the participants "Burn THE Man". Yeah, capitalism sure does suck. Art festival. Well, there are some pretty clever pieces put together. As long as no one gets hurt........

[Steely Tom]

Burning man... who cares?

Hedonism and excess... how is that different than everyday life in San Francisco or Los Angeles?

[rktman]

More on the finances and demographics of the event. Weird that at the end of the piece it says the gap between the haves and have not is growing. Hmmmm. I wonder if that has anything to do with those that can fly into the makeshift airport on the playa.

https://qz.com/1367064/who-goes-to-burning-man-four-charts-tell-a-changing-story/

[dfwgator]

Sounds like a good place to test some nukes.

[rktman]

Hmmm. More grime less crime?

[rexthecat]

A couple of years ago someone lit the burning man on fire two days before it was supposed to go up. So funny! The party was ruined.

[Jack Hammer]

Gee, used to be you had to let your hair grow out and drop acid, then hitch hike to the Haight if you wanted to get mentally dislocated and transmit STDs to strangers while f***ing like a stoat. Now you can live in any American suburb and do the same things without the inconvenience.

[Berlin_Freeper]

I want the credit for adding burningstd keyword.

[LostInBayport]

I know very little about this event, but every headline or photo I happen to see gives me a creepy vibe.

[\/\/ayne]

I like phone booths and payphones and found a funny story about how at Burning Man some telephony geeks set up a landline phone though a satellite connection and VOIP. They ran a line under the sand to a little distance away from their vehicle and set up a free payphone just sitting there mysteriously in the desert. It was hilarious to think how people would use and perhaps wonder how a payphone got to be planted in the desert with no visible connection. Of course, some would be too "toasted" to figure it out and just assume "the phone company" put it there.

[dfwgator]

Didn’t somebody run into the fire?

[vette6387]

We've had this nonsense going on here at our place in CA for a number of years. Our youngest ( and single) daughter and her friends left early Friday with a U-haul van ( they are a sponsor) and a Suburban with enough $hit to stay a month. Two of the males in the group are Nuclear Physicists at Lawrence Berkeley lab, three others are Engineering Students at UC Berkeley. And a couple of fathers and uncles are going as well. Two years ago, I had to go to Gerlach and rescue them when the guy who was towing our trailer left because of some kind of disagreement. To their credit. the promoters got us to 12 mile road ( the service entrance to the Playa thus avoiding the literally ten thousand cars that were leaving via 8 Mile road). We were "led" to the campsite by a BM "Ranger" ( i.e. a bearded old coot in a clapped out Toyota land cruiser who went by the name "Ranger Coyote"). He managed to get lost, but while we were "refreshing" or directions, he was joined by "The Girl with the Golden Breasts" ( a more than amply endowed gal clad only in short shorts, who needed "help" finding her lost bicycle). Coyote came back when we were finally ready to leave and took us back out via 12 mile road, thus avoiding the 15 hour wait to leave the Playa. Everyone should probably put Burning Man on their bucket list. And you are right about the "wealthy" showing up. Lots of trailers and motor homes and they also set up a runway for light planes.

[rktman]

Nudity, drugs, alcohol, dust, heat, costs............ Which of course most attendees say isn’t so, that much. Wonder if there will be any “#metoo” claims made?

[Leep]

Isn’t how Sodom and Gomorrah got its start?

[Disambiguator]

It’s a giant pagan ritual. The creepy vibe is real.

[Shady]

Every time I read a story and see pics or video from Burning Man I want to take a shower.

[VanDeKoik]

Back in the early 90s as a teen, I absolutely wanted to go to Burning Man.

Maybe it was a bit more true to something, but that went out the window real fast, and it became just some overpriced, rave-hipster corporate event cesspit.

I’m actually surprised that it is still going on.

[rktman]

You flyin’ in? LOL! If so, dip your wings as you fly over my house.

I have a buddy that goes (20th year) and sets up his camp early. He says his camp now has a YUGE generator so no one that visits his and his pals camp will be uncomfortable. Yeah, capitalism sucks. He is a big time bernie type supporter. Hates Trump etc.

[trisham]

Not my kind of event at all.

[rktman]

You could have fooled a lot of us FReepers. LOL!