the Burning man of Black Rock Desert

What started out as a small event on San Francisco's Baker Beach and then migrated to the Black Rock Desert has now morphed into a vibrant global year-round culture of like-minded individuals who seek to live their lives in a more meaningful, powerful and self-expressed way. Because of the variety of goals fostered by participatory attendees, known as "Burners," Burning Man does not have a single focus. Features of the event are subject to the participants and include community, artwork, absurdity, decommodification, and revelry. Participation is encouraged.

The Burning Man event and its affiliated communities are guided by 10 principles that are meant to evoke the cultural ethos that has emerged from the event. They were originally written by Larry Harvey in 2004 as guidelines for regional organizing, then later became a universal criterion of the general culture of the multifaceted movement; these include: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. As said, they were crafted not as a dictate of how people should be and act, but as a reflection of the community's ethos and culture as it had organically developed since the event's inception. Read the principles, here. See photo galleries, here.

Burning Man is an annual event and a thriving year-round culture. The event takes place the week leading up to and including Labor Day (*1), in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. The Burning Man organization (Black Rock City LLC) creates the infrastructure of Black Rock City, wherein attendees (or "participants") dedicate themselves to the spirit of community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, leaving no trace. As simple as this may seem, trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind. In this section you will find the peripheral definitions of what the event is as a whole, but to truly understand this event, one must participate.

However, Burning Man isn't what it seems to be. Today it's a massive event, with cool arts whipped by regular giant dust storms in the Black Rock desert. But 30 years ago, it was an underground event put together by renegade artists in the middle of San Francisco. Law enforcement didn't like that, so with the help of the Cacophony Society, they moved it to an unforgiving wind-swept dry lakebed in the Nevada desert. It slowly changed to become the $20+ million event it now is. So what was once known mainly as a “hippy festival” has become a hot gig for international DJs covering the range of electronic dance music. (*2) Dust & Illusions is a 2009 documentary film about Burning Man and its founders that  looks at 30 years of Burning Man history back to the late 1970s. The film has been featured at several film festivals, and was shown at the San Francisco DocFest at The Roxie in San Francisco in October 2009.

Notes :

(1) Labor Day is annually held on the first Monday of September. It was originally organized to celebrate various labor associations' strengths of and contributions to the United States economy. It is largely a day of rest in modern times. Many people mark Labor Day as the end of the summer season and a last chance to make trips or hold outdoor events.

(2) What you must also know is that Burning Man is extensively patrolled and monitored by State and Federal US Officers. This article here, offers impressions, coverage and advice for all prospective Burners.

[Ref.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man

[Ref.] http://www.designboom.com/art/burning-man-a-brief-history-of-the-desert-festival-and-black-rock-city/

[Ref. infographic] http://ignite.me/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/sand-city.gif