Flames shoot out as the Man burns at Burning Man 2014. Fireworks continue to light up the sky.
I introduced the Man in my last blog. Now it is time to join him for his fiery end, the quintessential event Larry Harvey created in 1986 that gives Burning Man its name. Think show. Think ritual. Think party. Think three-ring circus. It’s the one event at Burning Man that pulls everyone together at the same time. Saturday night is Burn Night.
Preparations for the 2014 burn began hours earlier. The market surrounding the Man was closed down and packed away, the area was roped off, and the Man was prepared to burn. Firewood was stacked around his feet. Fireworks were stuffed everywhere else.
Firewood stacked around the base of the Man helps assure he will eventually fall over. Massive support beams for his hundred foot height were reluctant to burn through, however. (Photo By Don Green.)
Sometime around six, the residents of Black Rock City begin their preparations. Dinner is eaten; costumes are donned; people and bikes are decked out in lights. (I’d love to have a concession that sells glow sticks to Burners.) The dozens, even hundreds of venues that provide free entertainment are shut down. Large and small camps provide final instructions. Are their members traveling by mutant vehicle, bike or foot? Will the bikers and hikers stay together? How? It is ever so easy to get lost in a rowdy crowd of 65,000 people.
And then the parade (or is pilgrimage a better word?) begins. Large mutant vehicles that hold dozens of dancing, gyrating Burners move out early, eager to find prime locations and begin blasting out ear-splitting, industrial-grade music. Hundreds of performers also head for the Man to find their assigned places inside the huge circle surrounding the Man. Next come the folks who hope to sit close to the circle and have the best views of the fire dancers and burn.
And finally, everyone else. Dark streets become clogged with gaily decorated, lit-up bikes and Burners journeying out into the Playa. Somehow they avoid running into each other. By 8 pm Black Rock City has become vacant, a ghost town.
For the past several years I’ve chosen to walk around the perimeter of the circle. My body has lost its sense of humor for sitting in the dirt for hours. Even now, my tailbone screams at the idea. Plus, there is a lot to see. Burners, dressed up in their finest costumes, stroll and dance around the circle. It’s prime time for people watching. But what really captures my imagination are the mutant vehicles stretching for two miles around the Man. Every vehicle is lit up for the night and many belch fire. Dozens form large viewing and dancing platforms. There are ships and trains and dragons and bugs and almost everything else the human imagination can create. Or at least it seems that way to me.
Great imagination goes into creating the mutant vehicles of Burning Man. I am not sure what this guy was called but I nicknamed him Mighty Mouse. The people on his back provide a size perspective.
Many of the mutant vehicles spout fire. This is one of my favorites, El Pulpo Mechanico. I’ll be doing a whole blog on El Pulpo.
This photo provides an idea of how bright the fire from a mutant vehicle can be.
As for the burning of the Man, it follows a ritualized pattern. The fire dancers twirl fire, drummers drum, the Man raises his arms, fireworks go off, the Man burns, and finally he falls to his fiery grave as 65,000 people first go quiet and then shout in celebration.
Fire dancing/art is an important part of Burn night as hundreds of fire dancers perform in the circle before the Man is burned. I took this photo a couple of years ago.
When the Man raises his arms, the fireworks are about to begin!
And they do.
Few fourth of July events are capable of matching the fireworks display at Burning Man, which goes on and on. (Photo by Don Green.)
The fireworks continued as the Man burned quickly. We could definitely feel the heat.
Soon, his basic structure was apparent.
Don caught this photo of the Man’s head. (Photo by Don Green.)
I waited patiently, along with 60,000 other people for the Man to fall as fires licked away at his feet. But he was stubborn. Finally I headed off to Center Camp.
Normally we return home sometime in the night after the Man has burned. But this year we stayed around and visited the site the next morning. Much to our amusement, people were cooking meals over the remaining flames and heat.
Burners were gathered around the remains of the Man the next morning. The size of the leg support beams suggests why it took so long for the Man to fall. (Photo by Tom Lovering.)
We were amused to find people cooking bacon, eggs, coffee and pancakes. Some one had even roasted a lamb. Nice tongue.
A burner was working hard cutting off small pieces of the Man’s ‘leg’ for souvenirs.He smiled up at me and gifted me my own piece of the Man.
I will close with this excellent close up of the Man burning. (Photo by Don Green.) On my next blog I will visit another Burning Man icon: Center Camp.
A great event. It sure beats doing the vacuming. A feast for the eyes.
Or dishes for that matter, Gerard. 🙂 –Curt
He looks like a macabre gingerbread man. One who went out in a rather painful fashion…
Ah, but he always comes back, Carrie. More like Frosty the Snowman. 🙂
A snowman on fire who comes back. Now that’s some restorative power!
Melting is melting. LOL I guess that the Phoenix would be a more apt description.
Thank you for sharing your BM experiences. We’ll probably never get there, but this way I get an idea of what it’s like. Fantastic!
Alison
Never say never Alison. 🙂 With you guys, who knows? –Curt
The size of BM and the Mutant vehicles boggles my mind. How many hours must go into designing, creating them is immense I’m sure.. I love the guy cooking breakfast, and I assume that is Turkey bacon, yes? 😉
Great post and photos as always!
Thanks Lynne. 🙂 Yes I think it was turkey bacon. Good eye! It would be very interesting to determine the creative hours that go into Burning Man. They have to be in the millions. –Curt
The creativity there ceases to amaze me. I say let those artists get involved in some of our global issues.. I bet they can solve quite a few 🙂
Curt, that’s one con-flag-ration. I know it’s called Burning Man, but given this level of pyrotechnics, there must be some pretty heavy security to make sure that the burning man doesn’t burn a real man. Is there a history of burn injuries? ~James
Actually, James I was reading about a lawsuit the other day regarding a person who was burned. The court ruled that the injury was due to the person’s carelessness.
Things are quite controlled around the burn. A large circle made of a solid, lit, plastic hose-like object surrounds the Man at a safe distance. People are posted every 30 or so feet to see that participants stay behind the line. Similar precautions are practiced at all other burns. A large medical contingent is available for emergencies. The only person I have seen hurt at the Man’s burn in my ten years was a fire dancer who caught fire. People are assigned to watch fire dancers. He was immediately placed on the ground and covered by a special fire blanket. –Curt
Looks fun. Would be an amazing sight, to see something that big burn.
It’s a heck of a bonfire. 🙂
You’ve got some wonderful photos, and I enjoyed every one of them — and the commentary. I did get a bit of a jolt when I got to the last photo. I’ll not tell you what I see until you’ve given it a second look. It’s quite amazing how much it resembles something else. Do you see it?
Peggy and I both looked, Linda. We didn’t see anything too unusual. The flame coming down from the left was dramatic. We are eager to discover what you saw. –Curt
Well, this. It’s that almost identical vertical pattern that did it, I think. Whether I would have noticed it if you’d posted a month from now, I don’t know. It’s amazing how one image can trigger another.
Now I’ll go back and look again. 🙂
Here in New Mexico in Santa Fe we have the burning man plague our city in the month of September. My friend David is an Artist who builds the structure for the burning of ZoZobra. It is said he washes away the bad for the year, sadly it’s become a HUGE party with too many drunks who party their day away until they burn the snot out of him in the evening. Good post Curt…didn’t know the burning man came from San Francisco.
Burning Man can get rowdy, Slingshot. Lot’s of people see it as an excuse to party for a week. But it also generates some of the best art being created today. I also like many of the ten principles, such as gifting, no commercialization, and environmental awareness. Imagine close to 70,000 people and no thrash. –Curt
Indeed the art is AWESOME, but here the meaning is different. I like your version better. 😉
It was not until our experiences at Burning Man that I realized the artistic beauty of fire, especially in this venue. In response to some of the comments, we are hearing more and more about regional burns such as the one in Homer, AK and now Santa Fe. The difference appears to be honoring the 10 principals of BM and the uniqueness of making it a safe place….well as safe as 66,000 people together can be…grin. Peggy
I might add, as safe as it can be with 60,000 bikes interfacing with fire-breathig dragons and other fantasy creatures. 🙂 –Curt
Lol, I could ‘feel’ the heat too. Thanks for sharing Curt. I hadn’t hear about Burning Man previously.
The heat is on! 🙂
Not surprising, you haven’t heard about it Timi, although it has certainly received a lot more world wide coverage lately than it used to. The only African country i know with a presence, is South Africa. –Curt
Wild, Dude.
Definitely wild. 🙂 –Curt
wild indeed! cool photos!!!!
Yes it is. After a week, you need to rest up. 🙂 –Curt
Great shots! Since you introduced us to Burning Man, we’ve seen so many stories about it. Seen this: http://vimeo.com/105365388 ? Gives us a great idea of the scale of things.
The video is definitely worth watching! Thanks AC. Drones have become a factor at Burning Man in the last two years and obviously provide a different perspective. You actually have to have a permit to operate one. One hundred permits were given out this year. –Curt
A scary bit of airspace then 😉
They make sure that the people flying the drones are experienced. 🙂
I pressed the ‘like’ button, but this is the one part of this festival that makes me feel slightly ill. I’m something of a wuss when it comes to fire and seeing a humanoid figure burning, just makes me remember all the people who have been killed that way (by other humans). Sorry, I know I am missing the spirit of the event. I love all the other stuff and the wonderful inventive vehicles.
Understood Hilary. –Curt
I’ve been opening and re-opening this one for days and keep getting interrupted before I comment. But it’s been worth it to see these pictures over and over again. You’ve captured the pyrotechnics well, but I have to agree that El Pulpo Mechanico is a pretty special creation.
El Pulpo is up next. Would you believe he was created out of parts from a junk yard? 🙂 –Curt
That makes sense now you say it! But it’s still pretty amazing. Will look out for the special post.
The Grand Finale is certainly worth the visit. Again this event seems to happen on another planet. Great series to read, Curt.
LOL You are right— maybe it is on another planet. 🙂 –Curt
Wow! I’m obsessed with Burning Man and the whole wild event – Hope we get to experience it some day! -Ginette
It should be worth a lot of post cards, Ginette. 🙂 –Curt