burning man
In September 2007 more than 47,000 people from around the world descended upon the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada for a week-long art festival called Burning Man. For “burners,” the playa, an ancient lake bed where the event is held, turns into Black Rock City.
The event’s origins go back to a small group of artists on a beach in San Francisco who first burned an effigy of a man in 1987. Now 20-years later, organizers describe the massive event as an experiment in community, radical self-expression and radical self-reliance. This year was no exception.
For the first time, in 2007 organizers chose an overtly political art-theme for the week, ‘The Green Man,’ making Burning Man a green event and encouraging the community to adopt the same standard for their sustainability and art for the week.