Burning Man

Burning Man, August 2004

Amazing creativity and wackiness! So much effort and money goes into the art. There are lots of theme camps where people set up bars and give away drinks, massages, clothes, and whatever else they think would be fun for giver and taker. There is no merchandise and nothing to buy except coffee and ice. We had to drag all our water, food and survival gear out to the middle of the Nevada Black Rock Desert. A city is built for the week long festival, complete with streets and lights to accommodate 35,000 people. The culmination is the burning of the Man on Saturday night which starts with fire dancers and music. The only down side is the dust storms that whip across the playa and attack in all directions! We definitely want to go back but will plan to build an art bike that we can ride across the desert - we saw some really clever designs. The art cars (or buses) range from Mad Max futuristic designs to simply a sofa mounted on a golf cart frame (complete with side tables and lights!). For more info go to the burningman site.