Burning Man festival-goers trapped in desert as rain turns site to mud
theguardian.com
You have to laugh … I remember Glastonbury, up to my knees in mud - it’s all part of the fun. Having said that, it’s unlikely turn into a survival situation in a field in Somerset, so not really that comparable …
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What is burning Man? I know it's a festival of some sorts that's done in a desert, but that's about all I know.
What happens there?
Rich people travel 1000+ kilometres to gather around and pretend to be not rich and just like common folks! This is my understanding as someone who isn't american.
Also drugs. Lots of drugs.
Also sex. dusty, dusty sex
My mother in law took us a few times and the most we did was pot. Also I was unemployed both times as I was laid off and got a cheap ticket. The original burners still go and they're definitely not rich.
Burning Man was an amazing event when I stumbled across it on the internet in the late 90's. I must have been 14 or 15, it used to be a real "go experience, experiment and find yourself" setting. It's since gone the way of SXSW. It totally goes against what it was intended for.
That's what it is today. Use to be more underground and subversive, even if it took money to be involved.
Id say for the past ten years, it's been a rich person's fantasy of poor hippy lifestyle
It's trying to recreate the glorified vision of Woodstock but with more drugs and more money
Except, it's not really about a lifestyle because nobody's lifestyle involves living permanently or even semi-permanently in a dry lake bed. A hippy lifestyle might be living on a self-sufficient communally managed farm, or something. But, strip it down to its core and burning man still involves people traveling in from elsewhere, depending on limited supplies they brought in from elsewhere to spend a week in a place they couldn't possibly live.
So, maybe it's a temporary art exhibit in the middle of nowhere so people can feel more free to express ideas and perform activities that they can't in their boring 9-5 lifestyles. Which is fine, I guess... but it only makes it seem even more like cosplay. If you really want to live that way, then be that person the rest of the year. Don't be yourself for a week and then hide your true self the other 51 weeks of the year.
Burning Man is a festival celebrating creative expression. No one there is pretending to not be rich
Yeah a lot of them stopped pretending.
Lol this thread is so weird. I have several friends who attend. Exactly zero of them could be considered "rich." Artsy hippie types, sure, but lmao not rich.
Lots of know-it-alls commenting on something they've never been to and know nothing about. Just hop on the bandwagon for internet clout.
They read an article about some tech guy enjoying burning Man, once. Just kinda the way the site works
idk people here think being rich means you need to own a yatch...
Nah people here think being part of the lower-middle class makes you rich.
Watch Malcolm In The Middle, season 7 episode 1 "Burning Man". It'll give you a fair approximation.
Love that episode, my personal highlight, cracks me up every time.
Good stuff. Thanks
That winnebago has seen some shit.
It started as a bunch of hippies in California decided to travel to the desert and do a week long festival (party) that was for expressing art, living care free, and being self-reliant. You brought everything with you when you came, and you took everything out when you left, leave nothing behind. Over time it has grown bigger and bigger, there are other smaller instances all over the country. The smaller ones still have a lot of the original vibe. The main one still has it, but now a lot of tourists go just to party, do drugs, and have sex. Yes, a lot of the artists have a lot of money, people talking about rich people, it was never about money or not having it. It was about living carefree.
I like the bring everything with you and leave nothing behind sentiment.
I've heard the recent ones leave a lot of trash.
Which is cleaned up by the organizers, so, as a whole the organization doesn't leave trash behind. But, a lot of individual people do. But, in a group of tens of thousands of people, you're always going to get some assholes. There are probably plenty of people who not only make sure to clean up their own stuff, but also clean up other people's trash too.
I dunno though, the whole thing seems so fake to me. Like "radical self reliance" is merely bringing your own supplies in and then bringing your trash out? That's called "camping" in a lot of the world.
Plus, there's the absurdity of a private airstrip for the ultra-wealthy burning man people, the massive environmental cost of everybody driving in and driving out, the idea of "radical self reliance" but also porta-potties.
"lets go and play being poor for a while" said no poor person ever.
I don't know about "play being poor". It sounds like it's more "do lots of drugs without getting arrested or without dealing with the disapproval of people around me", or "(try to) have sex with strangers" or "indulge in sexual kinks that I don't want to admit to having with people in the real world" or "pretend I'm a different person for a week so that my shitty reputation doesn't always make everyone I meet hate me".
Sure, for a few days it might also involve living in a tent or living in an RV instead of living in a mansion, but that's hardly living like a poor person. It's living like a middle class person on a camping trip.
i guess thats where we differ. thats a rich person. since middle class is not a thing.
Ok... so it's a "rich person" who makes under $100k but can afford to go camping.
My favorite part is that you can be naked everywhere
Not true. Only in certain parts. There are family friendly areas.
Weird. When I was there people were naked everywhere. And Im European, so "family friendly areas" allow nudity too. Nudity is different than having sex.
I think they set somebody on fire every year.
They have a lottery every year for it, it's part of the thrill. Party likes it's your last day on earth, because it might be.
Based as all hell