The Untold Truth Of Burning Man

Burning Man is a well-known music event that has gained immense popularity over the years. The festival is widely described as unconventional and very different from its peers, but what can you expect at the event? An eclectic mix of artists and musicians, a vibrant atmosphere, the promise of a temporary escape, and an opportunity to meet other like-minded music enthusiasts.  

While the festival is way more popular than it used to be, there are several tidbits about the festival that are worth delving into. For example, the space around Burning Man is known for being rather dusty and is basically not what you'd expect. It's not sand or dust, but it's actually leftover residue from a lakebed.

Another interesting fact? You're in luck if you're into astronomy, because the festival offers its attendees a chance to be a part of an observatory and catch glimpses of Saturn, Jupiter, and other fascinating sights. Tom Varden, who runs the initiative at Burning Man, said that you can have a major impact on someone if you treat them to a rare view like Saturn's rings. He added that it goes beyond just observing a remarkable sight. Varden said, "[When you show someone Saturn's views], they say things, they move, they get uncomfortable. It is exactly Burning Man."

After the first get-together, the event continued to become popular. In fact, by the time the fourth year rolled around, the festival was so popular that cops decided to pay a visit and interrupt the event. At that point, the wooden figure was massive — around 40 feet tall, at least. 

Larry Harvey and his pals weren't discouraged in the least, and simply decided to change their location in order to continue with what they had planned. They went directly to the Black Rock Desert in Reno, Nevada, accompanied by a group called the Cacophonist Society. They continued the event in the middle of the desert and even ended up carrying out their signature burning ritual, coupled with other shenanigans — like racing in the desert at crazy speeds. Things were about to get crazier with the subsequent editions of the festival.

Burning Man has a list of ten principles that its loyalists tend to follow religiously. According to the festival's website, its principles include ideas like embracing the concept of giving gifts to other attendees at the event. It's an unconditional act that's performed without any expectations. Additionally, the festival has a strict policy that rejects commercialization.

Furthermore, Burning Man doesn't rely on things like advertising. As far as the festival is concerned, it's crucial to keep the true essence and spirit of Burning Man alive. Plus, the event relies heavily on its people and the sense of community they carry with them to keep the fire burning. 

Participants are also heavily encouraged to respect rules and not violate any laws while attending the festival. Another principle is dedicated to the environment and the importance of safeguarding its beauty. As the site explains, "Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather."  They add that they make it a point to leave the area clean and spotless after the festival.

Despite good intentions, Burning Man has run into controversies in the past and has been unable to ward off accusations that it has strayed away from what it originally stood for. As illustrated by The Guardian back in 2019, the festival was starting to suffer on account of the fact that many social media influencers were flocking to Burning Man and promoting brands at the festival, an act that definitely goes against its true spirit. 

Complaints started to pour in from old Burning Man attendees, who pointed out that the festival was suffering from many setbacks, such as influencers taking over the event. Additionally, it was alleged that certain unfavorable camping groups had started making their presence felt at Burning Man, corrupting the event.

Burning Man took the complaints seriously and decided to ban a camp that promoted things like "yoga retreats" and "meditation and energy healing sessions." Burning Man's CEO Marian Goodell said, "Burning Man strives to stand in technicolor contrast to the typical consumerist, status-driven, brand-saturated, optimized-for-your-convenience world." He added that the team truly believes in the festival's original spirit and what it stands for, implying that the organization wouldn't ignore transgressions.

Burning Man ended up being involved in the controversial #MeToo movement. According to a 2018 Vogue piece, the story gets a bit complicated when it comes to sexual assault allegations at Burning Man. Turns out, a few attendees wanted to suggest a few changes to the way things worked at Burning Man even before the #MeToo movement took off. They wanted the founders to tweak the festival's principles to include consent. 

A project was started in 2012 by those who'd been a part of the festival. One of the members from the project, Jaime Chandra, said, "We had some issues at our Burn ... and that same year, there were a ton of sexual assault reports from Black Rock City." As per Chandra, many attendees have sadly misused what Burning Man stands for to "take advantage of this culture of radical expression and inclusion" and act inappropriately with other attendees. 

As reported by The New York Times, Burning Man has chosen to step up and address consent. The Burning Man website has several pieces that focus on ways to tackle sexual assault at the event. Participants at the festival are encouraged to turn to the services available at the event to seek help and report incidents. The website further states that the festival does not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Make no mistake — Burning Man fully lives up to its image when it's supposed to. As The Guardian pointed out, it's possible to actually make a phone call to God at the event and pour out your heart. Volunteers pick up and allow you to share whatever is on your mind. 

A Redditor recounted the experience and wrote about what it was like to talk about their feelings. They wrote, "I stumbled upon the talk to God phone booth and it made me smile." They couldn't help but feel curious and picked up the phone, crying when they heard someone talking to them on the line. The conversation moved to the Redditor's late brother and left them feeling understood and at peace. They added, "That was the most cathartic and healing experience I've ever had ... I look back on it all the time and smile." A commentator shared their encounter with the booth and wrote that they were struggling and couldn't make up their mind about shifting base to a different city. The conversation ultimately helped them make the difficult decision.

You can, of course, talk to other attendees at the event and engage in discussions on a variety of topics without worrying about being judged. Nothing is out of bounds, and you can choose to have heavy discussions or talk about something bizarre, if that's what your heart desires.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected many things in 2020, including Burning Man's annual celebration. While the event was officially called off on account of the pandemic, a few enthusiasts decided to go ahead with private celebrations of their own. As reported by Vulture, scores of Burning Man loyalists ended up flocking to Nevada around the end of August. Of course, it helped that the desert is vast, and attendees could practice social distancing without stressing over the logistics. 

One of the organizers said that the team tried their best to keep things as safe as possible. They said, "People made the decision to come here during a global pandemic. So we decided to keep people's camps 200 feet away from one another and to advise wearing masks when meeting others" (via NBC News 4). 

Technically, Burning Man chose to organize its events online in 2020, but of course, some festival-goers still went to the Black Rock Desert. The official team didn't organize the event, which was called "Not Burning 2020," and had at least 1,000 participants at the venue.

Burning Man-style art and technology might seem like they're at opposite ends of the creativity spectrum, but Stanford professor Fred Turner has done some fascinating work looking at how the festival's culture has had an invaluable and long-lasting impact on the tech world of Silicon Valley. His interest, he explained, was in the crossover between tech and art, sparked by the fact that Google's office walls are filled with photos from Burning Man; there was an obvious connection there.

The connection was actually pretty straightforward, and Turner says that the anything-goes, outside-the-box, collaborative creativity that's fostered in Burning Man projects is precisely what Silicon Valley tapped into to create the technology that exists today. Turner explained: "The collaborative, project-centered building and play that Burning Man supports help build social and professional networks of folks who come together back here in Silicon Valley and make things."

There were a few more layers to it, too. Both Burning Man and Silicon Valley present unique challenges with no road map, strict deadlines, difficult conditions, and force people to work together to create something that's then sent out into the world. (Or, in the case of Burning Man, celebrated by others on the playa.)

Take a look at almost any photos from Burning Man, and a few things will stand out (aside from the "Mad Max" vibe). It all looks very hot, very dry, and very dusty, and the festival even has official guidelines on how to deal with the dust. Key? It's super important to get it off all your things ASAP. Not only will it make your skin, nose, and throat painfully dry, it'll seriously damage any tech, stain anything that's stainable, corrode anything that's corrodible, and turn your bike into a creaky pile of gears and chains. And then there's Playa Foot, which is a condition that essentially leaves chemical burns on revelers' feet. Vinegar, is supposed to be one of the only things that'll really neutralize it, so what gives?

The entire area that's turned into Burning Man every year actually has a very cool history, especially going back to 2.5 million years. It was originally a lake, but then this ancient mammoth stomping ground dried up somewhere around 11,700 years ago and left dust that's so alkaline it's damaging.

But, there's good news! The Reno Gazette-Journal spoke with Northern Nevada Medical Group pulmonary specialist Dr. Aleem Surani, who confirmed that breathing the dust for the few days of Burning Man wouldn't likely cause any long-term problems. That said, those masks aren't just for looks, and anyone with pre-existing conditions should take extra precautions.

The concept of biological age is pretty interesting stuff. It's basically the idea that everyone — and all parts of everyone — ages independently of the calendar, depending on factors such as genetics and lifestyle. GQ interviewed tech guru Brian Johnson, who sold his business for millions and turned to work on prolonging his life. Years of effort have given him the heart health of someone ten years younger than his 45-year calendar age, for example. Getting there isn't easy, and is a job in itself. Mainstream medical research has confirmed that biological age is a thing, and here's where Burning Man comes in.

InsideTracker is a biometrics tracker that measures the impact that your choices — from food to sleep schedule — have on the efficiency and health of your body. In 2021, Erin Sharoni used their InnerAge algorithm to estimate her biological age before and after Burning Man ... and maybe Brian Johnson should stay away from this particular festival.

Her biological age increased by a whopping 21 years during her time at Burning Man, and when she broke things down by the numbers, she found that elements like the extreme temperatures and lack of humidity had drastically impacted things like her glucose, cortisol, and iron levels. She was also in a pretty bad bike accident that didn't help, but her takeaway? "You have one life to live, and enjoying it is as critical as anything else."

When Paul Addis condemned Burning Man for being too commercial and made his point by attempting a little 2007 arson, he told Wired that he was also mad at the year's Green Man theme: He condemned it for being anything but green in the environmentally friendly sense, saying, "Green Man is all about Burning Man getting the most green in their pockets." Was he right? Fast forward to 2023, and Wired says that he was. In spite of entire camps based around sustainability, composting, and vegan food, most of Burning Man was anything but sustainable.

Instead, it was populated by RVs burning gasoline in a big way, and there was also the biggest power drain of all: air conditioning. At the time, there was only a single solar-powered camp, and they could only do it because they had $200,000 of equipment. They were the exception, and the bottom line was that the average carbon footprint of a single Burner was twice what an average American put out.

Those behind Burning Man say they're trying to swing things back toward sustainability, but also in 2023, The Washington Post reported on an interesting lawsuit filed by the Burning Man Project. They were suing to stop a geothermal project from going ahead, claiming it would negatively impact nearby hot springs ... although the project was part of the government's clean energy initiatives.