BURNING MAN

Before the world ends at the end of this year, I felt it was my duty to finally make a pilgrimage to Burning Man in Black Rock City, a one week pop-up gathering of 50,000 people who bike around on a sandy, dried up lake bed and give out lots of free hugs.

 

In the center of the dried up lake bed (called the Playa), Black Rock City residents erect "the man" before Burning Man attendees arrive at the site.

 

 

There were tons of pop-up dance clubs as well which people refer to as "sound camps." This one, called Pink Mammoth, was mostly a daytime dance club and had the best music on the playa.

During the day times and night times, art cars drive through the streets and on to the playa. They're pretty much mobile, self-contained parties that are usually shaped like an animal or a boat.

This particular year was apparently way windier than previous Burning Mans. When the wind on the playa picks up, you need to get your goggles and handkerchief on to prevent dust from getting in your eyes and mouth. (Believe you me, it gets everywhere else whether you like it or not.)

It's hard to describe how the randomest of activities occur with an air of normalcy, like this Japanese tea ceremony which took place out in the middle of the playa.

El Pulpo Mechanico was my favorite art car by far, since it had bulging eyes that moved in and out and tentacles that each spat fire when the car was touring around at night.

It was super hard to take photos at night time due to the dust and lack of light but this here is yet another example of one of the hundreds of light-up art cars that I saw.

Fire dancing is the new voguing out at Burning Man.

We found a pop-up Roller Disco area on the border of the playa and the camping area, though Roberto (right) had fallen ill with some stomach troubles the moment we arrived on the playa so we took it easy and skipped the skates.

The playa is filled with art installations, including this "sunken" ship, which was massive and built into the sand so that attendees could climb aboard and explore.

On Saturday night, everyone gathered around the man at 9pm to watch hundreds of fireworks explode overhead as the man was burned.

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE!