Thousands of attendees of the Burning Man festival in a remote stretch of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert were told Saturday to conserve food, water and fuel after heavy rain left them stuck in thick mud.
The event, which takes place in Black Rock City and started on Sunday, was interrupted by heavy rain on Friday night, and organizers ordered attendees to take shelter in the area as the rain poured down on the area.
The festival site received more than half an inch of rain overnight Friday, organizers said. Although it held off for most of Saturday, more is expected overnight and into Sunday morning, with a slight chance of thunderstorms, they said.
Except for emergency services, vehicles are also prohibited around Black Rock City.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said on platform X, formerly known as Twitter, officials have closed the entrance to Burning Man for the remainder of the event, which ends Monday.
Festivalgoers could be trapped for days, organizers said.
“The gate and airport remain closed in and out of Black Rock City,” organizers announced On Saturday morning. “Entry and exit are suspended until further notice.”
Black Rock City is a temporary community that pops up every year in the middle of a vast desert known as “the playa” for Burning Man. The temporary town hosts more than 60,000 people each year and is a three-hour drive from the nearest airport, which is more than 100 miles away in Reno.
Videos on social media showed Burning Man attendees walking through flooded fields and thick mud. Portable toilets, RV campers, and people seem to be covered in dirt. Some tied garbage bags to their shoes.
Burning Man, which has existed since the 1980s, is a self-described “community and global cultural movement” based on countercultural principles, such as radical self-expression.
The festival is known to attract crowds dressed in eclectic outfits and costumes, and it has been popularized over the years by a steady stream of celebrities and moguls in attendance.
The event features art installations and ends with the burning of a giant sculpture of a man, who gave it its name.
said Tara Saylor, who attended this year’s festival The Los Angeles Times“Burning Man is radical self-reliance and we are put to the test.”
Despite the weather, Burning Man attendees said they were prepared and trained for such conditions. The event is “hugely different than going to a music festival like Coachella,” said Kaz Qamruddin, who is attending his sixth “burn.”
“We have very talented people here,” he said in a phone interview Saturday.
People have medical supplies and warm clothes and are helping to keep others safe and dry, he said.
Attendees also opened their RV campers to those who stayed in tents, which were most vulnerable to the water, Mr. Qamruddin said.
This year’s Burning Man had to contend with many obstacles. On the opening day of the festival, environmental activists blocked the entrance, creating a logjam, NBC News reported.
And with incredibly muddy conditions, ankle-deep water and more rain expected tonight, attendees are unlikely to leave until early next week.
Mr Qamruddin has since changed his departing flights to next Friday — after initially planning to leave on Sunday.
“It’s a very kind, open, sharing, giving community,” he said. “We are safe. I feel good.”
Colby Edmonds contributed reporting.
