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A look at the temporary metropolis dedicated to art, freedom and self expression
On Baker Beach in 1986, Larry Harvey and a group of nine friends built an eight feet tall wooden man and burned him in honor of the Summer Solstice. The spectacle attracted a crowd of bystanders, maybe twenty or so in total and as the figure burned in front of them, they held hands and the first Burning Man festival was born.
Each year since, during the first week of September, the festival has grown in numbers and the height of the burning man has increased. Now up to forty-eight thousand people gather 120 miles north of Reno in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, also known as 'the playa' to create Black Rock City under the shadow of an eighty feet high Burning Man who has evolved over the years to stand on top of a maze, a pyramid and a pavilion. Black Rock City is a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They leave within a month of arrival, though the festival itself lasts a week and they leave no trace whatsoever of either themselves or the festival having been there.
Burning Man is a festival in its own league. Not for the faint hearted, it is an experience never to be forgotten. One visit gives you entry to the Burning Man community that is active throughout the year all around the world, establishing a culture that hold the values of the community true and keeps them alive long after the fire has gone out.
So if you're thinking about making the trip to the festival where do you start? Jack Rabbit Speaks is an email newsletter giving updates and important information about the event throughout the year. It's also good to consult the Burning Man Survival Guide and list of Recommended Reading, on the official website to see how you might contribute to a theme camp or art project.
Once at the metropolis you can get involved as much or as little as you feel comfortable, but it's only really by throwing yourself into the experience that you feel truly part of it and inspired to keep alive what you get out of it throughout the year.
Burning Man is a festival with no rules other than to preserve the wellbeing of the individuals and the wider group. Each year is given a theme to create a common bond and make individual contributions more meaningful. Past themes have included Fertility, Time, Hell, Outer Space, The Floating World, Beyond Belief, Vault of Heaven and The American Dream.
Art is the foundation of the experience and the festival has spawned the Black Rock Arts Foundation to enable members of the community to promote their own Burning Man events and help instil the feeling that is created by being part of this community throughout the world in people that haven’t yet been to Black Rock City. Strangers are welcomed and respected and everybody is accepted into the community. Gifts are a huge element of the festival too, though members are not obliged to reciprocate and if they do, cash value is meaningless.
The festival is not about commercial gain and takes no money from sponsorship or advertising, instead the onus is on people to look within themselves for self reliance and honesty and cooperation. Only coffee and ice are sold, festival goers need to bring everything else that they would rely on to survive in Black Rock City for a week. This is not a festival that can be taken lightly but promises to be journey of enlightenment and self discovery that attracts increasingly large numbers of people to take part each year.
Tags: reno nevada black rock city burning man art festival environment self expression desert community metropolis black rock arts foundation themes larry harvey
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