The Burning Man Festival
The Burning Man festival is an annual gathering between the 27th of August and the 4th of September in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It displays some of the art and community within Nevada, bringing everyone together for a fun-filled few days of self-expression, community cooperation and decommodification. It is one of the biggest art festivals in the US.
The site is based on a simple navigation system, if you study a map before you go then you should be able to find different events going on around the festival easily. In 2015, around 70,000 people attended the festival, with smaller regional events inspired by the festival happening throughout the year.
The name of the festival comes from the symbolic ritual burning of a large wooden effigy that occurs on the Saturday evening of the event. All the proceeds raised by the festival that don’t go on the festival itself go towards the Burning Man Project, a non-profit organisation that supports the work of like-minded organisations and educates burners involved with the festival.
If you attend the festival you will have to be open to smiling and speaking to strangers, so make sure you look after yourself and those who are around you. The Burning Man festival is all about coming together and being one human race – such a beautiful vision. The ‘leave no trace’ policy also means that wherever the festival is, whatever the time, there is always no trace of anyone being there when they leave. If it’s possible the festival goers often try to leave the place in a better state than they found it.
This year’s art theme is Radical Ritual with past themes being topics like out space, the body, hope and fear, fertility, and carnival of mirrors.
The highlights
There is so much to do whilst at the festival, since it is over 5 and a half square miles of desert there is anything from workshops, events to meeting weird and wonderful people from all over the country.
Characters are individuals or groups at the festival who choose to dress in different trends or as tribes. The different characters have been developed over the years since the festival became popular and some of the tribes now have their own language. You can spot characters like the ‘sparkle ponies’ with their rainbow dreads or the ‘yoga-bunnies’ who hang out in the main village and have toned, tanned bodies or the ‘shirt-cockers’ who often sport a shirt but nothing else (crazy, I know!).
An endless number of characters and people you will meet whilst there means the experience is never the same year in, year out. Luckily it will always be unique to the year you go. If you’re going, see if you can spot any of the beautiful characters that surround the festival. They really do encapsulate the meaning of the festival, despite everyone’s individuality, they can all come together and get along.
Another unique thing you will see throughout your time at the festival is the art cars, these are one of the most exciting pieces of art at Burning Man. Hundreds of pimped out vehicles roam the desert, picking up strangers, flashing their lights then taking everyone on a journey. From giant polar bears to mechanical snails. The festival doesn’t single out anything, anything is possible. Perhaps this is one of the craziest things to ever happen at public gatherings but it goes down a treat with the visitors!
The people
Diversity is Burning Man’s speciality so no one can say they feel left out. However, there are certain people that will feel it’s their thing. Burners are likely to have their dinner at Alamo Draft house whilst research has also shown that Burners are six times more likely to work out of a WeWork location. People who attend the festival aren’t always from Nevada either, the most popular places that people live who attend the festival, are those from New York and San Francisco.
Women's clothing
Most of the women who attend the Burning Man have a unique sense of style. It’s all about being creative and going with the theme of the year. Many women choose to go for the old, classic cowboy look. Whilst others funk up their looks with modern twists. Burning Man is far from Coachella so you won’t see any glittery, gold temporary tattoos here. It’s about peacock feathers and the best hats.
The Burner is dressed in all silver. This unique outfit has obviously been hand-made by the burner themselves or they have had it made. The head piece is very futuristic and alien-like whilst the jewellery and sunglasses modernise the look and make it very 21st century.
Next (middle) is a burner who is going for another fashion route with a slightly western look, spiced up with country jewellery and a beautiful, coloured top hat. The brown, snake skin crop-top a great addition to her style as well as her makeup. That red star on her eye is just stunning!
Finally, this woman (below right) is rocking a gem, style crop top with a thick black belt skirt. Her head piece is simply gorgeous whilst her makeup is glittering with gems and sparkles matching her style. Each of the individual outfits shows how different everyone at the festival looks whilst looking just beautiful at the same time.
The male outfits
The men never fail to rock their handsome, rock outfits at The Burning Man. From topless celebrities to rocking fully-clothed pony costumes. There is no limit to the outfits men can wear to this festival!
This burner (below left) has chosen to go for a cowboy look, styling a textured waistcoat with a summer hat and some pale jeans. Outfits like this are always great for Burning Man festival as it’s in the desert in the height of summer, these clothes would be cool (in terms of heat!)
Another outfit that always proves a hit at Burning Man is this one (middle!) Although this look is very different from anything you would probably see in daily life, at Burning Man this is just about their normal. The man is sporting a wolf skin hat whilst just wearing a crochet pull over and some authentic jewellery, a classic Burning Man look.
Finally, the slightly older man (below left) is again, loving the hat life whilst pairing it with a nice textured blazer and some rose badges and pins. The gold and silver chains are a great addition to the look whilst the sunglasses add a modern twist.
For more inspiration and festival season outfits read on how to make fashion statement this festival season?
The site is based on a simple navigation system, if you study a map before you go then you should be able to find different events going on around the festival easily. In 2015, around 70,000 people attended the festival, with smaller regional events inspired by the festival happening throughout the year.
The name of the festival comes from the symbolic ritual burning of a large wooden effigy that occurs on the Saturday evening of the event. All the proceeds raised by the festival that don’t go on the festival itself go towards the Burning Man Project, a non-profit organisation that supports the work of like-minded organisations and educates burners involved with the festival.
If you attend the festival you will have to be open to smiling and speaking to strangers, so make sure you look after yourself and those who are around you. The Burning Man festival is all about coming together and being one human race – such a beautiful vision. The ‘leave no trace’ policy also means that wherever the festival is, whatever the time, there is always no trace of anyone being there when they leave. If it’s possible the festival goers often try to leave the place in a better state than they found it.
This year’s art theme is Radical Ritual with past themes being topics like out space, the body, hope and fear, fertility, and carnival of mirrors.
The highlights
There is so much to do whilst at the festival, since it is over 5 and a half square miles of desert there is anything from workshops, events to meeting weird and wonderful people from all over the country.
Characters are individuals or groups at the festival who choose to dress in different trends or as tribes. The different characters have been developed over the years since the festival became popular and some of the tribes now have their own language. You can spot characters like the ‘sparkle ponies’ with their rainbow dreads or the ‘yoga-bunnies’ who hang out in the main village and have toned, tanned bodies or the ‘shirt-cockers’ who often sport a shirt but nothing else (crazy, I know!).
An endless number of characters and people you will meet whilst there means the experience is never the same year in, year out. Luckily it will always be unique to the year you go. If you’re going, see if you can spot any of the beautiful characters that surround the festival. They really do encapsulate the meaning of the festival, despite everyone’s individuality, they can all come together and get along.
Another unique thing you will see throughout your time at the festival is the art cars, these are one of the most exciting pieces of art at Burning Man. Hundreds of pimped out vehicles roam the desert, picking up strangers, flashing their lights then taking everyone on a journey. From giant polar bears to mechanical snails. The festival doesn’t single out anything, anything is possible. Perhaps this is one of the craziest things to ever happen at public gatherings but it goes down a treat with the visitors!
The people
Diversity is Burning Man’s speciality so no one can say they feel left out. However, there are certain people that will feel it’s their thing. Burners are likely to have their dinner at Alamo Draft house whilst research has also shown that Burners are six times more likely to work out of a WeWork location. People who attend the festival aren’t always from Nevada either, the most popular places that people live who attend the festival, are those from New York and San Francisco.
Women's clothing
Most of the women who attend the Burning Man have a unique sense of style. It’s all about being creative and going with the theme of the year. Many women choose to go for the old, classic cowboy look. Whilst others funk up their looks with modern twists. Burning Man is far from Coachella so you won’t see any glittery, gold temporary tattoos here. It’s about peacock feathers and the best hats.
The Burner is dressed in all silver. This unique outfit has obviously been hand-made by the burner themselves or they have had it made. The head piece is very futuristic and alien-like whilst the jewellery and sunglasses modernise the look and make it very 21st century.
Next (middle) is a burner who is going for another fashion route with a slightly western look, spiced up with country jewellery and a beautiful, coloured top hat. The brown, snake skin crop-top a great addition to her style as well as her makeup. That red star on her eye is just stunning!
Finally, this woman (below right) is rocking a gem, style crop top with a thick black belt skirt. Her head piece is simply gorgeous whilst her makeup is glittering with gems and sparkles matching her style. Each of the individual outfits shows how different everyone at the festival looks whilst looking just beautiful at the same time.
The male outfits
The men never fail to rock their handsome, rock outfits at The Burning Man. From topless celebrities to rocking fully-clothed pony costumes. There is no limit to the outfits men can wear to this festival!
This burner (below left) has chosen to go for a cowboy look, styling a textured waistcoat with a summer hat and some pale jeans. Outfits like this are always great for Burning Man festival as it’s in the desert in the height of summer, these clothes would be cool (in terms of heat!)
Another outfit that always proves a hit at Burning Man is this one (middle!) Although this look is very different from anything you would probably see in daily life, at Burning Man this is just about their normal. The man is sporting a wolf skin hat whilst just wearing a crochet pull over and some authentic jewellery, a classic Burning Man look.
Finally, the slightly older man (below left) is again, loving the hat life whilst pairing it with a nice textured blazer and some rose badges and pins. The gold and silver chains are a great addition to the look whilst the sunglasses add a modern twist.
For more inspiration and festival season outfits read on how to make fashion statement this festival season?
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