7 Things I Found Unique to Burning Man
ShareJust because I found things that were familiar doesn’t mean much of Burning Man was. The one thing I learned to expect there was the you never knew what you would see next. Here are seven examples of this.
The Playa Provides
I know I said this was familiar yesterday, but it goes further in my opinion. Not only does it provide, but it gives you what you need even if you didn’t realize you needed it. Everytime I was on my way to one place and ended up somewhere else there was a point that I stopped and realized that I wouldn’t have been having this exact experience if I’d gotten to where I planned. And that the new experience was one that didn’t want to have missed. Trust me, it makes sense when you’re there…
Size
50,000 people and I never saw troubles of any sort. The distances between places are big also. Over two miles across the camping area and a 5 mile diameter for the outer perimeter.
Esplanade
Energy and entertainment go 24/7 here. The complexity of the structures shocked me. Cranes and man lifts are used to construct 6 story tall buildings. None of them are the same either.
Conditions
Dust, hot and cold, rain, and the most vivid double rainbow of my life. The terrain is stark but beautiful throughout with mountains rising on all horizons.
Art Cars and Sculptures
The amount of effort and size of these was shocking to me. I don’t even see how some of them got there and how no one fell off them during the festivities.
Time
Extremely fluid and only as relative as you make. Even like this the days fly by and the weekend is approaching even when you feel like you just got there.
Events
Again, full of variety and covering ALL subject matters. Several that I tried for weren’t held as scheduled. Here are a few that I picked as samples:
- 1940s tea dance
- Make your own dildo
- Cheezy 80s Porn Movie Night
- Sangria Soiree
- Past Life Exploration Dig
Like I said at the start, you never know what you’re going to see next, so go see it for yourself!
Burning Man is something I have to see at least once. I’ve heard that you really can’t describe it, you have to experience it. I can tell from your photos that the whole event is just an amazing thing to see. Very cool.
I gave up trying to describe and just picked interesting items. As you said, it must be seen.
I am absolutely loving your photos and descriptions – you have done a great job capturing the magic and the essence of Burning Man!
Thanks Chris! Great to hear from a 4 timer that I’m on the right track
Cherie is a 4-timer. This was my 10th.
:O
Awesome photos Brian! The playa provides and that it does! Deserved the number one spot!
Thanks mate, sorry we missed each other. Maybe another year…
Great post mate, I enjoyed the pictures and your general thought son the Festival. A coworker of mine recently got back and is still in that “coming back to reality” state. Really keen to go next year.
Do it! You’ll find what you need to there and have a great time. Glad you liked the post
Burning man looks amazing, I saw it on TV a few years ago and have always wanted to go!
Awesome Post! That is something I have always wanted to do. Thank you for bringing it to life through you pictures and writing.
My friend has been twice now.. so im very jealous!
The amazing thing about burning man is that they have done absolutely no publicity for this event at all. Its all through word of mouth.
The problem is now – everybody and their dog wants to go, so it will probably lose alot of its interesting/quirkiness!
Duncan
Brian, Your Burning Man post is captivating! Might I suggest that the marketing folks at Apple might be interested in buying photo #22 in your slideshow. I can see the ad now: “No matter where you go, Apple is there!”
Anyone have any resources for food on the playa? I thought I’d share a great one: http://bit.ly/OM5jxQ – pre-cooked, restaurant quality, playa specific food that is frozen into bags and comes in a cooler DELIVERED TO THE PLAYA! They can accomodate everything from a single person to camps of hundreds of people. The only thing you need to take care of is re-heating it. Their menu looks DELICIOUS: http://bit.ly/OEco1x
wooow! This looks awesome…It looks just like in movies…and this dancing sculpture is just amazing! One question…this Thunderdome is real…or is it picture from the movie? If its real…whats going on in there?
Thx…awesome blog!
The thunderdome is a real one they constructed on the playa. At night people go in and get hooked up to bungees to do battle just like in the movie, well except for having weapons and fighting to the death.