burning man what is it

Burning Man is an annual, week-long arts and cultural festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. It originated in 1986 when Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned a wooden effigy of a man on a San Francisco beach as an act of radical self-expression. Since 1990, the event has been held in the desert, where tens of thousands of participants create a temporary city known as Black Rock City. The festival centers around community, art, radical self- expression, and self-reliance. The climax of the event is the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy called "The Man" on the Saturday evening before Labor Day. The event operates on 10 core principles, including radical inclusion (everyone is welcome), gifting (no buying or selling, only gifting), decommodification (no commercial transactions or advertising), communal effort, leaving no trace (cleaning up after oneself), and immediacy (being fully present in the experience). Participants build art installations, live performances, and camps, creating a vibrant and collaborative temporary society. No money is exchanged on-site except for coffee and ice; everything else is based on bartering, gifting, or sharing. The event celebrates creativity, participation, and community while promoting environmental responsibility by ensuring no lasting impact on the desert.