As the annual Burning Man event draws to a close, organizers are grappling with a challenging cleanup operation, raising concerns about the festival’s core principle of “leave no trace.”
Burning Man, which originated on a San Francisco beach in 1986 and now gathers nearly 80,000 artists, musicians, and activists on the expansive Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada, is known for its unique blend of wilderness camping and avant-garde performances. Among its guiding principles is the commitment of all attendees to remove every trace of their presence in Black Rock City, including packing out all belongings and cleaning their camps before departing.
However, this year’s event faced an unexpected obstacle in the form of a summer storm, which left tens of thousands of festivalgoers stranded in muddy conditions. The aftermath of torrential rains has resulted in abandoned vehicles, discarded rugs, furniture, tents, and litter strewn across the area. Unlike previous years, the desert terrain has become more challenging to navigate due to flooding and deep tire tracks in the mud left by vehicles.
Many attendees, in their rush to leave, converged on Reno-Tahoe International Airport for last-minute flights home. Car wash facilities reported turning away vehicles caked in mud and clay, and nearby grocery stores posted signs prohibiting the disposal of Burning Man-related waste in their bins.
While some, like Eleonora Segreti from central Italy, emphasized the importance of the “leave no trace” principle, others voiced concerns about the festival’s changing culture. Jeffrey Longoria from San Francisco observed that trash issues at the event have worsened over the years, with some attendees disregarding the core principles of Burning Man.
The shift in festival demographics might be contributing to this erosion of core values, as older attendees are joined by newer ones who may be less conscientious about the environment. Some pointed to attendees with expensive RVs as potential culprits for this change.
Burning Man organizers, under a permit issued by the US Bureau of Land Management, are required to clear the area of debris after festivalgoers exit the desert, located approximately 161 kilometers northeast of Reno. Questions remain about how the recent rainstorm will affect the cleanup timeline, as organizers have not provided immediate responses to inquiries.
In an update, organizers announced that individuals who left before their carpools and camps were ready to depart, as well as camps forced to leave early due to the storm, would be returning to the site to disassemble their projects, tear down their camps, and remove their belongings.
The event’s temporary closure of the area, as mandated by the BLM, lasts for 66 days each year: 31 for building the makeshift city, 9 for the main event, and 26 for post-festival cleanup.
Last year, following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Burning Man narrowly passed its October 7 inspection for cleanup. Nevertheless, organizers urged attendees to adhere to the “leave no trace” principle. A post on the Burning Man website described 2022 as one of the messiest years in recent history, with a significant amount of debris collected during cleanup, including cardboard boxes, glass bottles, carpeted rugs, and plastic.
Cleanup efforts involve not only clearing the festival grounds but also smoothing out the dried lake bed and picking up trash along the frequented highways. Next month, federal employees and Burning Man organizers will conduct another site inspection, and any necessary repairs will be the responsibility of event organizers.
Burning Man attendees, often referred to as “burners,” are known for their resilience in the face of harsh conditions, including extreme heat, dust storms, and, as this year demonstrated, torrential rains. Despite the challenges, they come together to build a temporary city of themed camps, art cars, and creative performances.
This year’s ceremonial burnings of the effigy and temple were postponed due to heavy rain, which transformed the desert floor into mud with over 1.3 centimeters of rainfall.