This just isn’t the form of “jam” session they were hoping for at Burning Man.
The primary Burning Man festival after three years of COVID pandemic delays ended slightly unceremoniously as exhausted revelers endured an apocalyptic eight-hour traffic jam within the sweltering desert to depart the location. Twitter posts depicting the post-revelry congestion — and a bizarre “Thunderdome”-style fight — are going viral online.
“Exodus wait time is currently around 8 hours,” Burning Man’s official travel account confirmed regarding the bash, which saw 80,000 Burners descend on the Black Rock Desert in Gerlach, Nevada, for nine days ending Monday. “Consider delaying your departure until conditions improve.”
It added, “If it’s essential to leave now, drive on L Street to forestall traffic jams. Drive slowly, look ahead to road debris, follow directions from Gate staff, and hearken to BMIR 94.5FM.”
Meanwhile, one burned-out reveler posted photos depicting 15 lanes of traffic that were clogged bumper to bumper for miles like something out of a classic disaster movie.
“Tho people love to match the #Burningman aesthetic to Mad Max…..the Exodus from camp is essentially the most Mad Max I’ve felt all week…5 hours in, two more till I reach the exit gate,” they lamented while describing the dystopian scene.
Some Burners reportedly had to attend so long as 12 hours to depart the pyrotechnic event with one beleaguered attendee claiming: “Once we left at 8:38 p.m. last night, the estimate was 6 hours, but half of our group took 10 hours and the opposite half of our group took 12 hours to get to the gate.”
“Definitely would love some improvement on the exit system + estimates + communication,” they added.
“Took me twelve last night leaving at temple burn,” seconded one other.
This wasn’t the one disaster to plague the Burning Man, which was also beset by a Dust Bowl-esque sandstorm Saturday, allegedly obscuring the sun and carpeting revelers with dust, the Each day Mail reported. It also caused a “white out” that forced organizes to shutter entrances and exits to the location.
Meanwhile, temperatures topped out at 105 degrees throughout the week, forcing flamboyantly-attired attendees to strip all the way down to their skivvies.
Fortunately, the traffic and inclement weather was not enough to dampen the much-awaited art festival, which marked the event’s first hurrah following a two-year hiatus as a result of the COVID pandemic.
Burning Man, which evokes the lovechild of “Mad Max” and Woodstock, saw a smorgasbord of pyrotechnic activities transpire on the “temporary metropolis” also often known as “the playa.” Highlights included fire-breathing octopus and rhino contraptions, revelers dancing to “Bohemian Rhapsody” while decked out in flamboyant costumes befitting of Brazil’s Carnival celebrations, and a staged brawl in a “Mad Max III”-inspired Thunderdome.
Accompanying footage, posted to Twitter, shows Burners duking it out with foam swords while suspended by ropes from the world’s ceiling like high-flying larpers.
“Fought contained in the Thunderdome at Burning Man,” wrote a satisfied participant. “Few scratches but not as bad because it looks – foam sticks. Just got drained really fast. It was fun.”
As in years past, the “fire” festival culminated within the the lighting of an enormous “Wicker Man”-esque effigy, often known as the Burning Man, marking the customary way of closing the show because the event’s inauguration in 1989.
One stoked Burner summed up the festival on Twitter: “Burning Man was magical and brutal and hot and dusty and epic. Exactly because it’s alleged to be.”
Began by a bunch of San Francisco artists in 1986, Burning Man moved to the desert in 1991, where it’s develop into a destination for bohemians and other free spirits excited by an autonomous social experiment.
Lately, Silicon Valley elites and celebrities have turned the desert party right into a yearly pilgrimage, with many traveling there by private jet. Satellite images show the airstrip where the monied Burners park their flying whips.
The last official Burning Man took place in 2019 and drew about 80,000 people, but in 2021 revelers staged an unofficial version with about 20,000 participating.
Beyond the art and freedom, the event is guided by “radical self-expression,” which in years past has meant loads of sex and nudity.
Since 2003, it has housed “The Orgy Dome” where “all couples and moresomes can escape the dust and warmth of Black Rock City,” in line with organizers. The air-conditioned space has been an integral a part of the festivities and a spot for attendees to experience the free-love ethos of Burning Man.
