After deep mud blocked the access roads to the “Burning Man” desert festival for days, tens of thousands of visitors have been able to leave the site in the US state of Nevada since Monday afternoon (local time). “The driving ban has been lifted,” said the organizers. In the early afternoon there were still around 64,000 people on the area in the middle of the desert. The festival, which takes place almost two hours by car from the nearest small town, was able to end after nine days as planned. The burning of the “Burning Man”, a huge wooden statue, which had been postponed twice before, was announced for Monday evening.
Heavy rains had turned the festival site into a veritable swamp of thick mud and slush on the surface of a dried-up lake. Cars threatened to get stuck on the muddy ground, and for days only emergency vehicles were allowed to enter or leave the site. The organizers provided four-wheel drive vehicles for medical emergencies. One person died over the weekend. It is still unclear how the death on the festival site, which the organizers informed about on Sunday night, came about. The investigations were still ongoing, it said.
Some visitors tried to leave earlier. Anyone who was there with the mobile home needed patience and luck. And most of the time even that wasn’t enough.
It is unclear whether a bicycle was faster or even slower.
Many of the, well, trapped festival-goers apparently accepted the situation. A certain pragmatism, as can be read on the board, certainly helped: “Burning Man” doesn’t meet your expectations? Lower your expectations.
The “Burning Man” festival is a scene happening with music and art events that attracts around 75,000 people every year – including artists, techno fans, pyrotechnicians and the curious from all over the world. In the desert, the participants build a temporary city called Black Rock City out of tents and mobile homes. In short: Anyone who comes here probably expects the extraordinary anyway and is willing to get involved with anything. And after a night of dancing, the mud was apparently just a side note for some.
For several years, however, there has also been criticism of the organizers and the massive waste of resources, because tens of thousands of visitors drive their cars into the desert for hours and have to be taken care of – and because many influencers, Internet entrepreneurs and other celebrities sometimes even come along Private jets arrive.