Everything You Want to Know About Burning Man: Commonly Asked Questions and Answers

Burning Man is an annual experimental community and arts festival held in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. It attracts tens of thousands of participants who gather to create a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. 

Burning Man attracts an eclectic mix of people from all walks of life and all around the world. Participants include free spirits, artists, musicians, dancers, actors, designers, entrepreneurs, engineers, and people just looking to experience the event's iconic principles of radical self-expression and radical self-reliance. The Burning Man community is known for being radically inclusive. 

Burning Man takes place in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, about two hours north of Reno. This remote desert landscape, called the playa, provides the perfect blank canvas for the event's artistic displays and massive, intricate art installations. The harsh desert environment also adds to the event's emphasis on self-reliance. 

Burning Man started in 1986 when Larry Harvey and Jerry James built and burned an 8-foot-tall wooden effigy on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a solstice celebration. As word spread the next year, the event attracted a crowd on the beach and soon the authorities no longer allowed the burning of structures on the beach. So in 1990, they relocated the burn to Nevada's Black Rock Desert. 

More than anything, Burning Man is an experience of radical self-expression, self-reliance, inclusiveness and artistic experimentation. Attendees focus on community, art, equality and music while living in an extreme desert environment where they must carry their own water, food, and shelter. Vibrant costumes, interactive camps, art cars, dust storms and scheduled burns of large sculptures all contribute to the surreal atmosphere. 

While live music performances have always been a part of Burning Man, music and dancing are not the main focus of the event. The pervasive electronic dance music culture creates a continuous soundtrack to the interactive artistic environment. But Burning Man is not billed specifically as a music festival, with no big headlining acts or main stages. Rather it facilitates participants to provide their own music everywhere as part of the collective community experience. 

While some people do attend Burning Man without being part of an established theme camp, joining a camp can greatly enhance the experience. Camps provide basics like extra shelter and community, while also offering fun interactive environments, events, and support so attendees can participate fully without having to worry about all the logistics. Going solo takes extreme preparation and self-reliance, but also rewarding.

You can find many many resources online, starting with the Burning Man website and the First-Timer's Guide. Also Reddit and Facebook groups and my preparation videos on TikTok and Instagram.