Burning Man is one of the very best examples of man-kinds astonishing potential for creativity and one of the top events in the world. Burning Man is in itself a completely unique event, a gathering of people who do not only create art, but who live it, breathe it and embrace it. It is a radical exercise in self expressionism and community living.

Each year thousands of people make the trip to the heart of the Black Rock Dessert in Nevada to join the bustling community known as Black Rock City. The top event takes place in a dried out lake bed known as the Playa and there, for a brief time only the most populated town in the county blossoms briefly. The Burning Man Event challenges people to become part of an experimental community that is unlike any other in the entire world. There, individuals learn to express themselves in unprecedented manners and to rely on themselves in ways they never could in their daily lives.

One of the most important aspects of this top event is that there are no rules. Everything goes, the whole purpose is to push the limits of your imagination to new levels. Naturally there are strict rules concerning safety, health and the experience of the entire community, but those concerning taboos or accepted norms are completely non existent.

Art is the corner stone of the event and each year a general theme is issued to create a common bond or focal point between the people attending. This process was created because the intention of this top event is for people to learn to share and communicate, to grow and learn as a community. There are no limits or confinement to the medium used by individuals to express themselves. This can vary from large scale art installations, fantastic costumes, theme camps and even gifts created by individuals to share with each other.

The Burning Man project is something that grew spontaneously over the years from a small gathering of people with common interests to the thriving community that atthe last count reached over 48 000 participants. The origins of the event are somewhat mysterious and the founding myth has been over the years embellished however at the core, the story is still the same.

In San Francisco on June 21st 1986 the founder of the Burning Man Project Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James burned a wooden man on the beach. It was one of those spontaneous events, when the flames began to consume the statue, people along the beach flocked to the light, it was not long before someone produced a guitar and so the event was born. Agreements and promises were made to meet again each year for the same purpose, news spread, people spoke and more and more people began to pay attention. By 1990 a change of venue became necessary as the top event also attracted the attention of the authorities.

Black Rock City is now a small city by itself with its own airfield, newspaper, radio station and districts. Each year though it disappears, the organizers are very adamant on their No Trace policy and that nothing is left behind. All in all there are many ways to describe the event but none of them will ever capture the mystical, primal sensation that is the soul of the event and the only way to understand it is to experience it yourself. The Man burns in a few weeks!

Sean Hagerty | Image Courtesy Of Philippe Glade