[ad_1]
BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev. — An unusual late-summer storm turned a week-long counterculture fest into a sloppy mess with tens of thousands of partygoers stuck in foot-deep mud and with no working toilets in the northern Nevada desert, But some Burning Man revelers said Sunday that their spirits remained unbroken.
“We are a little bit dirty and muddy but spirits are high. The party still going,” said Scott London, a Southern California photographer, adding that the travel limitations offered “a view of Burning Man that a lot of us don’t get to see.”
The annual gathering in the Black Rock Desert about 110 miles north of Reno attracts nearly 80,000 artists, musicians and activists for a mix of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Disruptions are part of the event’s recent history: Organizers had to temporarily close entrances to the festival in 2018 due to dust storms, and the event was twice canceled altogether during the pandemic.
More than a half-inch of rain fell at the festival site on Friday, the National Weather Service in Reno said, with more coming Saturday and Sunday, and organizers closed the festival to vehicles after one death was reported. Officials provided no details of the fatality.
The closures came just before a large wooden effigy was supposed to have been burned Saturday night. Organizers said that all burning had been postponed, and authorities were working to open exit routes by the end of the Labor Day weekend.
Officials said late Saturday they didn’t yet know when the roads would “be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely,” but they were hopeful vehicles could depart by late Monday if weather conditions improved.
President Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he is aware of the situation, including the death, and the White House is in touch with local officials. He doesn’t know the cause of the death, Biden said.
With their party closed to motorized traffic, attendees trudged through mud, many barefoot or with plastic bags on their feet. Revelers were urged to conserve supplies of food and water and most remained hunkered down at the site.
A few, however, managed to walk several miles to the nearest town or catch a ride there.
Celebrity DJ Diplo posted a video to Instagram on Saturday evening showing him and comedian Chris Rock riding in the back of a fan’s pickup truck. He said they had walked six miles through the mud before hitching a ride.
“I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out,” wrote Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz.
The event is remote on the best of days and emphasizes self-sufficiency — meaning most people bring in their own food, water and other supplies.
Those who remained Sunday described a resilient community making the most of the mucky conditions: Many posted selfies of themselves covered in mud, dancing or splashing in the makeshift lakes.
“We have not witnessed any negativity, any rough times,” organizer Theresa Galeani said. “Some people … were supposed to leave a few days ago so they’re out of water or food. But I am an organizer so I went around and found more water and food. There is more than enough here for people. We just have to get it to everyone.”
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office did not release the identity of the deceased person or the suspected cause of death but said it is being investigated.
On their website, organizers encouraged participants to remain calm and suggested that the festival is built to endure conditions like the flooding.
The event began on Aug. 27 and had been scheduled to end Monday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the Black Rock Desert, where the festival was held.
John Asselin, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, said he had seen “a steady stream” of vehicles leaving the festival site.
“People are getting out,” he said.
[ad_2]
