Burning Man Is Its Own Worst Enemy
Negotiations for a new permit have stalled over the environmental impact of huge crowds in the Nevada desert.
Participants gather to watch the Man burn. About 70,000 people traveled from all over the world to attend the annual Burning Man arts and music festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert on Sept. 2, 2017.
Photographer: Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Metamorphosis is an apt theme for the 2019 edition of Burning Man, the annual libertarian arts festival held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. As organizers prepare for the weeklong gathering that kicks off on Aug. 25, they’re also grappling with the possibility of radical changes that they say could ultimately force them to discontinue the 33-year-old event.
Burning Man Project, the nonprofit that organizes the festival, has been negotiating for three years with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for a 10-year permit. The current one expired in 2016; so far, no agreement has been reached. Event organizers say the government wants to impose conditions that are cumbersome and unnecessary, which would force changes that betray the spirit of the festival.