Burning Man is the ultimate celebration of art and creativity! A bucket list for anyone who appreciates a unique travel experience. This festival takes place August 26 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Participants join in the effort to co-create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to art and community.
Burning Man isn’t your usual festival. It’s a city wherein almost everything that happens is created entirely by its citizens, who are active participants in the experience. Attending the Burning Man festival in Nevada is like landing on another planet: a vast desert populated by a peaceful, friendly, out-there people, with a culture all its own. There are over 5½ square miles of desert turned over as a blank canvas and filled with all manner of incredible art, weird and wonderful people to watch and events and workshops to try.
Fancy a ride on a giant mechanical snail? How about a duck or unicorn? Just smile and ask if you can climb on board. “Art cars” are one of the most exciting parts of Burning Man. Hundreds of huge pimped-up vehicles roam the site, lights flashing, picking up strangers and taking them on a journey, often offering free drinks and a sound system. We went on a 3am trip to the loos and ended up dancing on a huge “Dancesaurus” bus and watching the sun come up as hundreds of revellers raised their hands up below. Another memorable art car was the giant polar bear, seemingly populated by dozens of off-duty models all dressed in white.
Of course, everyone at Burning Man is an individual, but dressing trends and tribes have developed over the years. The place has its own characters and lingo, which you soon pick up thanks to chatting and reading the festival’s daily newspaper. You can spot a “Sparkle pony” by her rainbow dreads, platforms and preening, while you will certainly have the dubious opportunity to see several “shirtcockers”, men who sport a shirt and nothing else. “Yoga bunnies” (often Californian) hang out in the main village, their impossibly toned and tanned bodies silently contorting into ever more impossible shapes.
Burning Man attracts a huge number of creative people who are willing to put months of work into temporary installations. Some can really take your breath away: not just because of the talent on show but also the commitment to constructions that will often only exist for a week. We saw everything from pirate ships to huge mechanical hyenas – this year Burners can feast their eyes on a camel train of giant tea pots and play on musical swings.
