In 1986, two men burned an eight-foot tall human-shaped sculpture in San Francisco’s Baker Beach as a small crowd gathered to watch the first annual Burning Man.
Today, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each summer for about nine days to create a temporary city known for its communal living and eccentric displays of art and expression.
Here’s what to know about Burning Man as authorities investigate a death Sunday while more than 70,000 people were told to shelter in place after heavy rain made it difficult to drive out of the swampy desert venue.
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The annual gathering, which went on hiatus in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, got its name from a giant sculpture called The Man. The sculpture is burned to cap off the event.
Burning Man started in 1986 when founders Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned a human-shaped sculpture at Baker Beach in San Francisco.
During the 1990s, Burning Man grew in popularity and was moved to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Tens of thousands of people known as “Burners” travel to Nevada to create a kind of utopia. They build villages, a medical center, an airport and performance stages.
Burning Man is all about self-expression and the rejection of corporatism and capitalism. Instead of using money, attendees borrow, barter and trade for what they need.
People create a fleeting, self-sustaining community that (theoretically) leaves no trace or trash upon its completion. However, the encampment is not without its problems, including drug use, arrests and sexual assaults, The Reno Gazette Journal reported, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Every person needs a valid ticket and vehicle pass to enter Black Rock City, the temporary city at Burning Man.
Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey laid out these 10 principles of Burning Man in 2004:
Contributing: Reno Gazette Journal Staff