The History of Burning Man
Tens of thousands of free-spirited revelers (and tech bros) are making the trek to Burning Man this weekend. Here's how the festival has changed since its inception.
Burning Man Controversy
8 nights, 10 principles, tens of thousands of attendees. Burning Man is an annual event held in Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It was started in 1986 by Larry Harvey, John Law, Jerry James — three friends who built the first "Man." The 10 principles of Burning Man were written by co-founder Harvey in 2004. They include radical self-expression, radical self-reliance, communal effort. Some of the technology elite who have attended Burning Man: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin.
But in recent years, Silicon Valley’s elite have been accused of ruining Burning Man. Bloomberg reported anyone that paid for the camp, they had to pay about $16,500 for the week. Reno’s KTVN interviewed artists from the festival about the change. In 2019, organizers decided to make changes to “support economic diversity” and reduce “convenience culture” according the Burning Man Journal. In principle the annual Burning Man festival sounds a bit like a socialist utopia: bring thousands of people to an empty desert to create an alternative society. Ban money and advertisements and make it a gift economy. Encourage members to bring the necessary ingredients of this new world with them, according to their ability. he weeklong
Burning Man festival takes place once a year over Labor Day weekend in a remote alkali flat in northwestern Nevada. Two hours north of Reno, the inhospitable Black Rock Desert seems a poor place to create a temporary sixty-thousand-person city — and yet that’s entirely the point. On the desert playa, an alien world is created and then dismantled within the span of a month. The festival culminates with the deliberate burning of a symbolic effigy, the titular “man,” a wooden sculpture around a hundred feet tall. Burning Man will be remembered more as the model for Google CEO Larry Page’s dream of a libertarian state, than as the revolutionary Situationist space that it could have been.
Brut.
122 comments
Morgan L.
02/11/2020 17:55we WILL go one day!!
John F.
09/29/2019 04:04They trash the rd leading into an out of there been once an never going bk there's trash every where never mind the oil that leaks from all the cars an trucks
Dawn L.
09/28/2019 16:28Nah no thanks
Warren T.
09/27/2019 01:02Been there Done that 60 years ago . . Love and peace is a timeless message!
Mark D.
09/26/2019 22:52Wish I had gone early on, now?
Hannah V.
09/25/2019 19:14*adds to bucket list*
Deann S.
09/25/2019 02:22One huge Satanic Festival
Cody D.
09/24/2019 21:13burning man is nothing more than a giant satanic ceremony. pagan worship of the wicker man which is a replacement for human sacrifice. if you are christian or believe in good pay attention to the symbolism in this festival and be warned.
Josh K.
09/20/2019 00:43Good drugs are gone so is the fun of burning man .....
Shyan N.
09/18/2019 21:53Why nevada??... we don't want you here...
Ron S.
09/17/2019 05:33And just like Woodstock it's filled with date rape.
T.W. Z.
09/16/2019 11:49Always awesome!
Kody W.
09/13/2019 15:19Bet $100 bucks at least 3 over doses and 5 deaths lol any takers
Daniel M.
09/12/2019 23:46Yeah I saw the news they were talking about how many people came up positive for herpes out there
Daniel M.
09/12/2019 23:46Herpes Fest
Joni S.
09/11/2019 04:06Its all about satan !!
Slam E.
09/10/2019 19:12Hippies
Colin C.
09/10/2019 03:02litter bugs!
Gary S.
09/10/2019 00:44The downfall of America
Doug K.
09/08/2019 02:15Get a life losers haha haha haha haha haha what a bunch of burnouts!