Storm leaves thousands stranded at Burning Man Festival
Tens of thousands of people attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert were asked to shelter in place and conserve food and water on Saturday after rainstorms turned the site into mud.
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| People walk through the mud at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nev., on Saturday. (Photo: Trevor Hughes / USA TODAY NETWORK) |
Access to and from Black Rock City, the event location, was closed "for the remainder of the event," organizers said in a statement on social media.
Stuck in a mud-filled location
"The rain over the past 24 hours has created a situation that necessitates a complete halt to vehicle movements in the playa. More rain is expected in the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter the playa," the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said, according to local media reports.
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More than 60,000 attendees travel to and from remote areas of northwest Nevada each year, according to the event's website, gathering in a temporary town to make art, dance, and enjoy the community.
The festival gets its name from its culminating event, the burning of a large wooden building called Man on the penultimate night.
The meeting, which started as a small event in 1986 on a San Francisco beach and is now also attended by celebrities and social media influencers, is scheduled to take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4.