Tens of thousands of “burners’” at the Burning Man festival have been told to stay in the camps, conserve food and water and are being blocked from leaving Nevada’s Black Rock desert after a slow-moving rainstorm turned the event into a mud bath.
Organizers responding to the unusual weather indicated the closures could endure, as local reports described the conditions at the festival as “treacherous” with “thick, slimy mud clung to shoes and anything else it touched”.
“No driving is permitted on playa except for emergency vehicles,” event organizers said in a 5am statement on Saturday. “If you are in [Black Rock City], please shelter in place and stay safe.”
In a separate communication, they warned burners – as festival-goers are known – to “conserve food and water, shelter in a warm space” as temperatures in the desert dipped into the 50s.
The weather-related disruptions have caused suspension of the cleaning and emptying of thousands of portable toilets. Event organizers have said more rain was expected through Sunday before the festivals ends on Monday.
The rains have already forced the cancellation of multiple large-scale art burns, the Reno Gazette Journal reported and the festival centerpieces – in which a huge human effigy is set alight followed by the burning of a “Temple of the Heart” – are in doubt.
The festival this year was already taking place under unusual circumstances with the desert floor flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Hilary as the event was being set up.
Alongside anti-capitalist environmental protesters who briefly blocked entrance to the festival, there were also reports that thousands of regular attendees were trying to get rid of their tickets before it started.
Last year, Burning Man drew approximately 80,000 people. This year, only about 60,000 were expected – with many citing the usual heat and dust and eight-hour traffic jams when they tried to leave.
Burning Man attendee Bonnie Bliess told the New York Post: “It’s really hot during the day and it’s cold at night and the dust is really intense,” she said.
But this year the story is not about heat, cold and dust, but about rain, cold and mud. The Reno Gazette reported that conditions were drawing comparisons to the 2017 Fyre Festival during which partiers in the Bahamas were stranded without food or shelter.
But there may be other comparisons, too, including the ill-fated Woodstock ’94 when rain cause the event to be renamed Mudstock ’94.