Burning Man Festival

Piers Moore Ede celebrates the colourful and costumed desert crowd at the Burning Man which kicks off next week
  
  


Burning Man Festival
Welcome to the Burning Man - be prepared to participate and practise some radical self-expression. From a beginning of 20 people on a small beach in San Francisco in 1986, it has evolved into a one-week experimental festival attracting 48,000 people to the Nevada desert Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
The first rule is: 'there are no rules' Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
The second rule is: 'nobody at Burning Man is a spectator' Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Dress up Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Or dress down Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
You could even accessorise with a bike - and 'ride in expanse of nothingness' that is the Black Rock Desert Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Art is an essential ingredient of the festival: 'Innovative sculpture, installations, performance, theme camps, art cars and costumes all flower' Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Each year is based around a different theme, last year was The Green Man Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
The Burning Man
The theme for 2008 will be The American Dream Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Festival goers are encouraged to participate through art - be it by wearing an elaborate costume or creating a piece of public art Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Interactive displays add to the festival experience Photograph: Piers Moore Ede
Burning Man Festival
Artist Marc Ricketts of Portland, Oregon, poses under his art piece named Flight of Future Seed, 2006. That year's theme was Hope and Fear, The Future Photograph: Andy Barron/Reno Gazette/AP
Burning Man Festival
But most impressive of all is the setting: a 100-mile lakebed known as the playa on which a temporary city, Black Rock City, is constructed complete with roads, street signs, cafes etc Photograph: Piers Moore ede
Burning Man Festival
Scorching days that nudge 110°F and clear nights add a surreal quality to proceedings Photograph: Piers Moore ede
Burning Man Festival
Because the festival takes place in one of the harshest environments on the planet, there is plenty of advice on survival tactics: 'You'll want to reconsider drinking that alcohol (or taking those other substances) - the mind-altering experience of Burning Man is its own drug,' says the website Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/Corbis
Burning Man Festival
And then there is the Burning Man, which has grown from a mere 8ft in 1986 to last year's towering 40ft man standing on a 32ft art-deco pavilion. He is set ablaze on the Saturday night and follows a tradition started when Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James burned a wooden man upon the beach in San Francisco on June 21, 1986, which brought a crowd of onlookers - the birth of a festival Photograph: Lyttle/zefa/Corbis
Burning Man Festival
The crowd gathers around the fiery remains of the Burning Man at the close of the festival 2004 Photograph: Scott Sady/Reno Gazette/AP
Burning Man Festival
Two muddy men, 2005 Photograph: C Lyttle/zefa/Corbis
Burning Man Festival
The people are the stars: a man with a painted face going by the name ‘Shaman Cat’ watches the sunset, 2003.



Burning Man 2008, August 25- September 1, Black Rock Desert, Nevada, burningman.com Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/Corbis
 

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