Attendees walk through a muddy desert plain on September 2, 2023, after heavy rains turned the annual Burning Man festival site in Nevada’s Black Rock desert into a mud pit.Photo:JULIE JAMMOT/AFP via Getty
JULIE JAMMOT/AFP via Getty
Thousands of people attending theBurning Man festivalin the Black Rock Desert are expected to be able to leave Monday afternoon, organizers said Monday, after heavy rains began flooding the area in northern Nevada and a death was reported.
Festival organizers told partygoers onX, formerly known as Twitter, Monday morning that “Gate Road remains too wet & muddy for most vehicles to safely navigate out of BRC this morning, but is drying,” adding that “Exodus likely to begin around noon today, Monday 9/4.”
The update comes after attendees were advised on Saturday to “conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space,” with access to and from the Black Rock Desert event closed due to the rainstorms that began on Friday.
CNNreported the area received two to three months' worth of rain — up to 0.8 inches — in just 24 hours between Friday and Saturday morning.
Then a death reported at the event led organizers to decide to close the festival to vehicles, according to theAssociated Press.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fatality with PEOPLE on Monday, but there is no additional information at this time. An investigation is ongoing.
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TheBurning Man websitedescribes the city as “a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance” that thousands of festivalgoers form every year.Travel Nevadanotes that more than 70,000 people attend Burning Man annually.
Gale, 28, shared images to herInstagram Storyof her crew walking through the mud with protective bags over their shoes as they trekked on out. “Getting to safety,” she wrote alongside one image before adding, “Every year this place is interesting.”
After getting back home, Gale explained why she left the event early. “Half of us stayed and half of us left,” she wrote of her camp. “Felt so difficult leaving but the good thing was making sure there would be enough food and water for those who stayed. Paying for everyone to stay safe and get out safe.”
A few celebrities, includingDiploandChris Rock, faced the same challenges at the festival. The 44-year-old DJtweetedthat he “walked 5 miles in the mud out of burning man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up.” He also shared a clip of himself and the comedian, 58, riding with him and others in the back of a truck on their way out.
Sunday evening,The New York Timesreported the mood at the festival had become calmer than Saturday, and event-goers were walking around the site and using plastic bags over their shoes to protect them from the thick mud.
The annual burning of a towering wooden effigy shaped like a man, which had been postponed twice due to inclement weather, would happen Monday night,theTimesreported.
source: people.com
