Last week my husband and I pedaled our rusty bikes into the center of Burning Man’s Black Rock City, a temporary, intentional gathering of 80,000 people in the middle of Nevada’s desert. It felt like entering another planet.
Colorful lights zoomed through the dark, attached to bikes, backpacks, hats and coats. Music thumped from all sides. People paraded by in costumes ranging from Star Wars look-a-likes to Gothic motorcycle gangs to mostly nude rave-goers. Illuminated art installations teemed with people who climbed, spun or swung from them. Vehicles converted into fire-breathing giraffes, giant sneakers, two-story-high baby strollers or chrome-plated DJ platforms trundled willy-nilly across the dusty playa.
Above it all, the Milky Way splayed out in celestial glory and lightning zagged down to kiss the mountains.
Burning Man, especially at night, is nothing short of mind-bending.
An Epic Experience Of Art And Culture At Burning Man
I just returned from my first trip to this renowned, week-long counterculture event. As firsts go, it was pretty epic.
We watched in jaw-dropping wonder as an entire city of tents and RVs sprang up out of parched sand and human ingenuity. We experienced the magic and mayhem of living with, giving to, and receiving from total strangers. We had dozens of profound conversations, several spontaneous dance parties, and many hilarious double-takes.
The art was my favorite part. Sculptures big and small radiated out in a mile-wide fan from the iconic five-story-tall wooden man (burned at the end of the week). Each time I biked through the wide-open playa, I stopped at different art projects.
An elk made of mosaic tiles and stained glass, built by a village of people in Mexico. A red-tailed hawk that circled above hand-woven hammocks, riding the thermals from a fire below it burning between a ball of metal redwoods. A wooden gazebo with a jukebox and dance floor just big enough for two. A free-standing granite arch that framed the moonrise.
The type of art at Burning Man “is an aesthetic of continuous reinvention”, writes Neil Shister in his book Radical Ritual: How Burning Man Changed the World. Temporary art is integral to the event, which began in 1986. “Objects are not sacrosanct, there are no DO NOT TOUCH signs. Things are conceived to be interacted with.”
Surviving The Elements At Burning Man
It wasn’t all light shows and wondrous art. We also endured a dust storm that nearly ripped our tent apart, thunderstorms that relegated us to take cover all night, and a rain event that turned the roads to unnavigable gumbo.
But the weather adversity made us that much more appreciative of the moments we got to engage fully in the community events—all of them free. Between storms, we built our own time capsules and volunteered to help build one of the art installations. We got our hair braided and helped fix broken bikes. We took a workshop on knot-tying and learned how to sail across the desert aboard a retrofitted boat.
The wild weather also made us more self-reliant (one of the ten principles of Burning Man) and spurred us to help any neighbors in need.
Would I go again? In a heartbeat. But as a newbie, I wish I’d known a few tricks for making my week in Black Rock City a little smoother.
Tips For Thriving At Burning Man
Here are 10 tips for first-timers heading to Burning Man, accumulated from discussions with long-time volunteers, campers and other Black Rock devotees:
1. Decorate yourself and your camp.
Not only is it fun to express yourself with colorful hair yarn, flashing spokes or rainbow-hued coats, it also helps you find your friends and your belongings amidst the masses.
Solar- or battery-powered lights are essential at night on your bike and your body to avoid getting run over. It’s also helpful to light up or flag your tent/camper/RV to find it when you return. Tens of thousands of people pack into a few square-miles, which means it’s easy to get lost on your way home.
In addition to decorating your camp, make sure to write your address on your bike, backpack, phone or other belongings you take out often. The city is circular, with radial streets running from 10:00 to 2:00 (picture a clock) intersected by streets A to K. Our tent address was 8:15 & J, for instance.
2. Bring extra supplies
When the wind ratcheted up to 60 miles per hour, I really wished we’d thrown in the extra stakes to keep our canvas tent in place. Instead, one wall wrenched free and we had a full-on beach inside our temporary home post-storm. (I shook two inches of dust out of my coffee mug and just about everything else we brought.)
It’s worth bringing extra of a few key items into northern Nevada’s desert wilderness. This includes:
- Water jugs
- Duct tape
- Shade tarps
- Stakes for tents or tarps (preferably heavy duty ones like lag bolts, nails or rebar)
- Batteries
- Wet wipes/paper towels
- Flashlight/lanterns
- Rope to tie down tents and tarps
- Bucket or jugs to catch and carry out grey water
3. Everything (yes, everything) will be dusty.
Don’t bring your best stuff to Burning Man. Even in perfect weather, your clothes and shoes and skin will be coated in layers of playa dust. The fine alkaline dirt in this ancient lakebed wreaks havoc on electronics, and worms its way into the tiniest cracks or crevices.
Consider bringing an electric leaf blower to periodically clean off gear and to blow out the inside of your vehicle once you leave Black Rock City. A small broom and plenty of wet rags are essential for maintaining your living space. Wet wipes are great for wiping down your body in lieu of showers.
If you bring a camper or RV to sleep in, throw in painter’s tape (not duct tape) to seal the seams of windows and doors in order to keep out dust. If you choose a tent, take one that seals tightly without a lot of mesh.
The best advice: surrender to the dust. Embrace the dirt. It’s all part of the experience.
4. Pitch in early and often.
Much of the magic of Burning Man comes from its unique culture of gifting. This doesn’t necessarily mean handing out a sticker in exchange for a cup of coffee (in fact, the event cautions against bringing “matter out of place”, nicknamed MOOP, that might pollute the desert and go against its leave no trace principle).
Instead it means giving your time, attention and skills to the community in Black Rock City. It means participating rather than just watching.
For instance, my husband and I visited the volunteer center on our first day and found an art project in need of extra hands. We spent a few days helping artists construct a decorative 40-foot-tall tower that generated power with solar panels and windmills.
Shister sums it up well in his book: “‘It’s not your job,’ goes a playa adage about jumping in when work needs doing, ‘it’s your turn.’ This state of mind, the linchpin to Burning Man culture, is the ultimate gift: feeling responsible and empowered to act on behalf of the greater good.”
5. Sleep when you can.
It’s loud at Burning Man. And very stimulating. There’s always a party happening, but it’s integral to pace yourself, and to take time and space to rest.
Some seasoned Burners recommend sleeping from 2-5 p.m. in the afternoon during the heat of the day and again from 2-5 a.m. Others prefer to alternate sleeping at night during the first few days and then transitioning to sleeping during the day towards the end of the week. This allows you to experience the different vibes of diurnal versus nocturnal events on the playa.
For those without generators to power air conditioning, daytime sleeping is likely not an option in the heat. Several camps provide cooling tents or misting stations, which offer awesome respites to chill out midday.
6. Pack plenty of snacks and drinks.
Many camps give away food on the playa, but lines can be long and the ramen runs out early. Bring lots of easy snack options, like jerky, bars, yogurt, nuts or fruit. Cooking isn’t usually high on the priority list when there’s so much fun going on outside, and heavy meals aren’t appealing in the heat.
What does beat the heat are ice-cold beverages. Pack a couple coolers full of your favorite sparkling waters and other drinks to stave off dehydration and recharge. Ice is the only thing you can buy in Black Rock City, so you’ll be able to keep them chilled all week long.
7. Watch the horizon.
Dust storms and thunder clouds are part and parcel of living in the desert. But the good news is you can see them coming. Pay attention to the sky so you aren’t caught off guard. Play it safe and head back to your camp if you see black clouds, lightning or a wall of brown dust on the horizon.
Getting stuck two miles from your shelter in the midst of pelting sand or driving rain is not only a downer, it can also be dangerous. Mud gunks up shoes and bike tires instantly, and it’s easy to become lost or disoriented when the dust is blowing.
8. Keep essentials handy in a daypack.
Take a hip pack or backpack with you when you head out from your camp to explore. You never know if you’ll be gone for one hour or 12, so might as well be prepared. Long-time Burners recommend stocking a day bag with:
- reusable cup, plate and utensil (required for most gifted food and drinks)
- snacks
- water bottle
- goggles
- dust mask or handkerchief
- sun protection like a hat or sunblock
- headlamp/light
9. Be open. Be present. Be yourself.
Burning Man is not just a party or an art show or a camping trip. It’s about learning a different way to interact with each other and with the world around us.
Adjusting to this different view isn’t always comfortable. It requires stretching a few boundaries, accepting new truths, and sorting through what resonates with—or repulses—you.
The best way to show up for Burning Man is as you, nothing more and definitely nothing less.