Clear skies expected to aid 'exodus' after rain, mud strands thousands: Burning Man updates

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev. − Thousands of people were officially allowed to begin their exodus from the Burning Man festival in the northern Nevada desert Monday after rain-soaked roads dried up and relieved a muddy mess that halted droves of people from leaving.

A favorable forecast on Monday brought clear skies and made conditions easier for festival attendees - numbering in the tens of thousands - to drive home from the remote, temporary city 90 miles north of Reno. But organizers of the annual desert event advised festivalgoers to stick around until Tuesday to ease traffic on the swamped roads.

“Please know that while conditions are improving and roads are drying, the playa is still muddy and may be difficult to navigate in some neighborhoods and down certain streets,” organizers cautioned drivers.

By 4 p.m. PDT, officials reported that was it taking departing attendees five hours to travel approximately five miles back to the nearest paved road. The Burning Man exodus has been known for its long departure times as thousands of cars and trailers leave the desert, which can take multiple hours.

On Friday, attendees of the counterculture enclave were told to shelter in place and conserve food, fuel and water amid heavy rains that made driving out of the desert venue almost impossible.

The culmination of the nine-day event - the burning of a towering sculpture called The Man - is planned for Monday evening, a day after organizers called it off. That is expected to be followed by the burn of the large-scale art piece Chapel of Babel at midnight. The event normally ends on Labor Day.

Many people are delaying their departure until the burning of the towering Man effigy. Organizers said approximately 60,000 remained as of midday Monday, down from an event high of 73,000 reported on Friday.

'We're making the most of it'

By 8:30 a.m., a growing stream of vehicles headed toward the exit. Hundreds waited in the drying mud to board buses back to Reno or San Francisco. The “burner buses” are intended to reduce vehicle trips to Burning Man and were canceled Friday when driving was banned.

First to leave were the trucks and SUVs, followed by brave two-wheel-drive sedans. Although some streets remained virtually impassible, most other roads were well-packed and mostly dry.

Sitting in her white Nissan van and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with her Burning Man-themed fingers, Emily Picart of Denver listened to the Burning Man radio station in hopes of an update.Picart and her campmates are scheduled to fly to California from Denver Thursday and they need to leave with enough time to get home first.“I’m not in a super rush. I’m kind of just rolling with it,” she said with a yawn.Like many attendees, Picart said she always anticipated Burning Man would be a challenge, as it has been every year she has gone. This year was no different.“We have enough resources. We never thought we would run out of food. But there was a time when it was raining where I worried it wouldn’t stop raining," she said. “But I always knew we eventually get out. I knew we’d be good.”

Most attendees took advantage of the improved weather to walk the desert floor one last time to admire the remaining art. Some visited still-open free bars hosted by other camps, or dismantled their elaborate shade structures and dance stages.

Sitting at a free mobile bar as people drank cocktails and coffee at 8 a.m. Monday, Paul Porras of Arizona laughed at the mainstream media’s breathless coverage of the “stranded” burners. “I feel bad for my family who are worried about me, but I’m legit having the best time of my life,” said Porras, 32. “Rain or shine we’re making the most of it.”

Burning Man 2023:What is Burning Man? What to know about its origin, name and what people do there

What is Burning Man?

The annual gathering attracts tens of thousands of people to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each summer. Attendees, known as "Burners," create a temporary city in the remote desert and participate in a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances for about nine days.

More than 700 people help build the layout and infrastructure of Black Rock City, according to the Burning Man website. The group spends several weeks setting up and tearing down the temporary city before and after the event.

"We also work with Burning Man participants, cooperating agencies, and our worldwide community to ensure that Black Rock City becomes a reality, and then vanishes without a trace," according to the festival's website.

The first event was launched on a San Francisco beach in 1986, where two men burned an eight-foot tall human-shaped sculpture as a small crowd gathered to watch. Now, nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists attend the festival.

Burning Man is guided by 10 principles, including "radical self-reliance," where attendees are encouraged to "discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources." The entire event's ethos reflects that, and there's no food or merchandise sales permitted during the event, although many camps give out free food via a published schedule.

This year's event was marred by a late-summer storm that stranded people for days in foot-deep mud. Authorities on Sunday were investigating a death out of the more than 70,000 attendees at the festival. Organizers said there had been a death on Sept. 1 unrelated to the weather.

"Our emergency services department reached a call for service extremely quickly for a male, approximately 40 years old, and could not resuscitate the patient."

In recent years, other disruptions have also stalled the festival. In 2018, dust storms forced organizers to temporarily close Burning Man entrances. And the event was canceled twice during the coronavirus pandemic.

Contributing: Francisco Guzman, USA TODAY; The Associated Press