Tens of thousands of “burners” at the Burning Man festival have been told to stay in the camps, conserve food and water and are being blocked from leaving Nevada’s Black Rock desert after a slow-moving rainstorm turned the event into a mud bath.
Organizers responding to the unusual weather indicated the closures could endure, as local reports described the conditions at the festival as “treacherous” with “thick, slimy mud that clung to shoes and anything else it touched”.
“No driving is permitted on playa except for emergency vehicles,” event organizers said in a 5am statement on Saturday. “If you are in [Black Rock City], please shelter in place and stay safe.”
Burning Man hit by heavy rains, now mud soaked.
— scott budman (@scottbudman) September 2, 2023
People there told to conserve food and water as they shelter in place.
(Video: Josh Keppel) pic.twitter.com/DuBj0Ejtb8
In a separate communication, they warned burners – as festival-goers are known – to “conserve food and water, shelter in a warm space” as temperatures in the desert dipped into the 50s.
The Pershing county sheriff’s office said an investigation had been launched into the death of a person at the festival, though no details have been given about the circumstances. The person’s family has been notified, the sheriff’s office added.
As of noon Saturday, Nevada’s bureau of land management declared the entrance to Burning Man shut down for good. “Rain over the last 24 hours has created a situation that required a full stop of vehicle movement on the playa. More rain is expected over the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter the playa,” read a BLM statement.
There was no estimated time for reopening. The event is officially over on Monday, but many attendees begin leaving Saturday night or Sunday. However the wet weather showed no signs of easing.
Although there was less rain on Saturday, “the rain’s not over”, Mark Deutschendorf, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Reno, told the Los Angeles Times.
“We have a higher chance of another round of steady rain later tonight into Sunday morning that could bring another tenth to a third of an inch, possibly even up to half an inch if it persists,” he said.
Flooding in Nevada was widespread over the weekend with reports of flash floods in Las Vegas and street closures announced across Clark county. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for north-eastern Clark county.
MAJOR FLASH FLOODING happening in NE Las Vegas, NV RIGHT NOW - Intersection of Lake Mead and Mt. Hood #nvwx @ReedTimmerAccu @NWSVegas pic.twitter.com/gCSLj6ORz4
— Storm Chaser DL Scales (@DLScalesWX) September 2, 2023
The weather-related disruptions have caused suspension of the cleaning and emptying of thousands of portable toilets. Event organizers have said more rain was expected through Sunday before the festivals ends on Monday.
The rains have already forced the cancellation of multiple large-scale art burns, the Reno Gazette Journal reported and the festival centerpieces – in which a huge human effigy is set alight followed by the burning of a “Temple of the Heart” – are in doubt.
The festival this year was already taking place under unusual circumstances with the desert floor flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Hilary as the event was being set up.
Callout
Tara Saylor, an attendee from Ojai, California, faced the threat of the hurricane as well as a 5.1-magnitude earthquake that shook her city before she left, reported the Los Angeles Times. Saylor told the newspaper she’s seen the founders of two different companies at Burning Man this year, but added, “it doesn’t matter how much money you have, nobody can do anything about it. There’s no planes, there’s no buses.”
“Money does not solve disasters like this.”
Alongside anti-capitalist environmental protesters who briefly blocked entrance to the festival, there were also reports that thousands of regular attendees were trying to get rid of their tickets before it started.
Last year, Burning Man drew approximately 80,000 people. This year, only about 60,000 were expected – with many citing the usual heat and dust and eight-hour traffic jams when they tried to leave.
Burning Man attendee Bonnie Bliess told the New York Post: “It’s really hot during the day and it’s cold at night and the dust is really intense,” she said.
But this year the story is not about heat, cold and dust, but about rain, cold and mud. The Reno Gazette reported that conditions were drawing comparisons to the 2017 Fyre Festival during which partiers in the Bahamas were stranded without food or shelter.
But there may be other comparisons, too, including the ill-fated Woodstock ’94 when rain caused the event to be renamed Mudstock ’94.
