Thousands Of Attendees Trapped At Burning Man Festival 2023
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The Man burns at Burning Man 2014, Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burning_Man_2014_(15128868536).jpg (Attribution: torroid from SF Bay Area, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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One person has died and some 70,000 people are stranded in the remote Black Rock Desert of Nevada where the annual Burning Man festival was set to take place before rain turned the retreat into a mud pit. Festival organizers say their main focus is safety and getting people out. NBC’s Dasha Burns reports for Sunday TODAY, in the video published on Sep 3, 2023, by TODAY, as “One dead, 70,000 stranded at Burning Man after massive rains“, below:
For those of you who did not know what Burning Man Festival is all about, please refer to the excerpt from wikipedia, in italics, below:
Burning Man is an event focused on “community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance” held annually in the western United States.[1][2] The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night of Burning Man, which is the Saturday evening before Labor Day.[3] The event has been located since 1991 at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. According to Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten principles. These stated principles are radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.[4]
The event originated on June 22, 1986, on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a small function organized by Larry Harvey and Jerry James, the builders of the first Man. It has since been held annually, spanning the nine days leading up to and including Labor Day. Over the event’s history, attendance has generally increased. In 2019, 78,850 people participated in the event.[5] In 2021, the unofficial event had an estimated 20,000 attendees.[6][7]
NPR said about Burning Man, “Once considered an underground gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, Burning Man has since evolved into a destination for social media influencers, celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite.”[8] At Burning Man, the participants design and build all the art, activities, and events.[9] Artwork at Burning Man includes experimental and interactive sculptures, buildings, performances and art cars, among other media. These contributions are inspired by a theme that is chosen annually by the Burning Man Project.[10] An anonymous attendee once elaborated that “Burning Man is about ‘why not’ overwhelming ‘why'”.[11] Because participation is such a key precept for the community[12] there has been some controversy within the Burning Man community surrounding attendees in recent years who are perceived as being more passive participants than active ones.[13][14] Academics have studied the social phenomena of Burning Man including its non-denominational ritual and spiritual practices.[15][16]
Burning Man is organized by the Burning Man Project, a non-profit organization that, in 2013, succeeded Black Rock City LLC, a for-profit limited liability company. Black Rock City LLC was formed in 1999 to represent the event’s organizers and is now considered a subsidiary of the non-profit organization. The Burning Man Project endorses multiple smaller regional events guided by the Burning Man principles, both in the United States and internationally. The organization provides the essential infrastructure of Black Rock City and works year-round to bring Burning Man culture to the world through programs such as Burners Without Borders,[17] Black Rock Solar,[18] and Global Arts Grants.[19]
Drone video from CNN Air shows vehicles belonging to Burning Man festival-goers stuck inside the festival grounds in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert after heavy rains swamped the area, leaving thick, ankle-deep mud, in the video published on Sep 3, 2023, by CNN, as “Drone video shows vehicles stuck and stranded at Burning Man“, below:
As thousands of people remain unable to leave the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert after heavy rains inundated their campsites with ankle-deep mud Saturday, authorities say they are investigating a death at the event, in the video published on Sep 3, 2023, by ABC7, as “1 death under investigation as thousands at Burning Man festival confined in desert, authorities say“, below:
Thousands from across the US and the Bay Area who made the trek to this year’s Burning Man Festival are now stranded in the Nevada desert, in the video published on Sep 3, 2023, by KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco, as “Thousands stranded at Burning Man Festival after heavy rain“, below:
Organizers for the Burning Man festival issued a shelter-in-place recommendation for the more than 70,000 attendees after heavy rains hit the desert region. NBC News’ Liz Kreutz talked with one attendee who managed to make it out of the area about his experience, in the video published on Sep 3, 2023, by MSNBC, as “‘Abnornally bad:’ Burning Man attendee describes escape through mud“, below:
These Burning Man attendees need to have about 10,000 tons of gravels dumped on the exit path in order to enable these people to leave…but that may not have aligned with the premises/principles behind Burning Man (in italics): radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. Perhaps simply walking out would be more aligned with the principle of radical self-reliance.
It is interesting that despite its principles of Radical inclusion, Gifting, and Decommodification, there is a requirement of purchasing a $475 ticket to get into the Burning Man festival.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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