Burning Man 2021 LIVE – Renegade Burn unofficial festival begins after 2022 dates revealed as Zozobra burns in Santa Fe
BURNING Man has officially gone virtual for the second year in a row due to Covid while some diehard fans of the festival are flocking to the Nevada desert for a "Renegade Burn."
Local officials estimate as many as 10,000 people will travel to the Black Rock Desert this weekend, according to the .
However, the Bureau of Land Management placed temporary restrictions on the area that include no fires other than campfires, no burning structures, and no possession of alcohol or lasers.
Elsewhere in Santa Fe, the Zozobra burned for the 97th time.
The tradition was created by Will Shuster, one of Los Cinco Pintores, a group of artists who made their way to New Mexico in the 1920s.
Zozobra is regarded as the enemy of all that is good and is burned to get rid of gloom and despair.
Read our Burning Man live blog for the latest news and updates...
SPEED LIMIT AT THE FESTIVAL
The speed limit at the festival is 5mph, as declared by the Bureau of Land Management.
A commercial dune buggy, as posters described the vehicle involved in the accident, would normally not be allowed at the site of the festival.
Reports posted to Facebook indicated that the buggy was driving far over the speed limit when the crash occurred.
TWITTER FOOTAGE OF 'RENEGADE BURN'
HOPES THAT TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ARE RESOLVED
Burning Man 2020 was also virtual but faced many technical difficulties.
Colette Crespin, director of Virtual Experiences for Burning Man Project, a nonprofit which organizes the event, said they have had more time to improve the experience.
“We’ve improved on the technology because we’ve had a year and a half,” she told the Journal.
TECH MOGUL FLIES DIRECT TO FESTIVAL
Cyber security mogul Michael Goetzman, 38, flew direct to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to attend the unofficial Burning Man there.
: “It’s amazing, it feels like the 90s.”
He arrived with “lots of highly intelligent successful friends from the Bay Area” and “notable celebrities and executives,” he added.
“Out here, this is the real America, the freedom. It’s public land. This is the real Silicon Valley of inspiration and emerging ideas. Bonds upon friends that spark innovations.”
CANCELLATION WAS 'SIGH OF RELIEF' FOR LOCAL TRIBE
The Black Rock Desert is near the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.
When Burning Man was cancelled in April, the tribe’s chairperson Janet Davis , “For us it is a sigh of relief,” and “that influx of people would be a risk to our tribe.”
UNOFFICIAL EVENT TAKES PLACE IN NEVADA
Although the official Burning Man festival was canceled this year again due to Pandemic precautions, an unofficial version of the festival is taking place.
The event is taking place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where the Bureau of Land Management says 20,000 people could gather over Labor Day weekend, .
'BUILD-A-BURN'
DJ'S PERFORM AT VIRTUAL FESTIVAL
WHAT WAS LAST YEAR'S THEME?
The theme of the 2020 virtual festival was “Metamorpheses.”
When revealing the theme, organizers shared “The 2020 Burning Man event theme explores the quantum kaleidoscope of possibility, the infinite realities of the multiverse, and our own superpositioning as actors and observers in the cosmic Cacophony of resonant strings,” says a statement released by the festival.”
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE COMING?
Local officials estimate that 10k people are attending the rogue festival to replace the virtual supplement.
'CREATIVE AND CONNECTED EXISTENCE'
The Burning Man website describes the festival as such:
“Burning Man is a network of people inspired by the values reflected in the and united in the pursuit of a more creative and connected existence in the world.
“Throughout the year we work to build Black Rock City, home of the largest annual Burning Man gathering, and nurture the distinctive culture emerging from that experience.
“The hub of this global network is the 501(c)(3) non-profit Burning Man Project, headquartered in San Francisco, California.”
VIEWS OF VIRTUAL BURNING MAN
BURNING MAN PROJECT'S ANNOUNCEMENT
The Burning Man Project made an announcement on Twitter in April that they will “not build Black Rock City this year”.
The post read: “In the interest of the health & wellbeing of our community, we have decided not to build Black Rock City this year.
“Burning Man, however, is alive & well, and we look forward to seeing you in the Multiverse.”
The organizers also linked to a , which explained that the festival will take place in the “Multiverse”.
FESTIVAL ATTENDEES ARRIVE AT THE DESERT
VIRTUAL RECREATION
Virtual reality company BRCvr is recreating the Burning Man festival grounds for this year.
One of the themes is the festival’s history, meaning the virtual festival grounds will feature Museum of 20 Temples and Museum of the Man, which showcase Burning Man’s past.
The technology will also feature live performances shot in Los Angeles on green screens.
BURNING MAN POSTS GUIDE TO 'UNOFFICIAL' BLACK ROCK FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL MOVED ONLINE
Back in April, organizers of the festival decided to cancel the in-person event for the second year in the row, due to concerns of COVID-19 spreading.
“Although here in the United States we may be feeling the weight lifting and the light at the end of the tunnel brightening, we are still in the pandemic and the uncertainties that need to be resolved are impossible to resolve in the time we have,” the organizers wrote.
BURNING MAN FACEBOOK GROUPS
Attendees for the festival have organized online with Facebook groups, one even gathering over 11k members.
There is also a reddit page called RenegadeBurn with 1,500 members with frequent posts in the BurningMan subreddit with 55k members.
ATTENDEES SHARE PHOTOS VIA TWITTER
VEHICLE IN CRASH DROVE OVER THE SPEED LIMIT
The speed limit at the festival is 5mph, as declared by the Bureau of Land Management.
A commercial dune buggy, as posters described the vehicle involved in the accident, would normally not be allowed at the site of the festival.
Reports posted to Facebook indicated that the buggy was driving far over the speed limit when the crash occurred.
CEO WON'T DISSUADE ATTENDEES
Marian Goodell, the CEO of the festival’s non-profit, said that it would not dissuade its attendees from going to the in-person event.
“We’re not dissuading people from going,” she said. “But I don’t think you should try to go if you’re not an experienced Burner.
“And if you last went in 1996, when we respected the dangers of the desert, and communal effort was key, this is your year.”
'NO OFFICIAL ORGY DOME'
Nudity and sex are common pulls of the attraction.
BRCvr, an online community that helped build the virtual worlds advised, “Though there is no official Orgy Dome, responsible community members can create adult-only events.”
PHOTOS OF 'MUTANT VEHICLES' FROM THE FESTIVAL
'NO FIRES OTHER THAN CAMPFIRES'
Temporary restrictions have been placed on the area that the unofficial Burning Man is taking place, including no fires other than campfires and no possession of alcohol.
The Bureau of Land Management has also stated that “there are no medical and emergency resources close to the playa and multiple emergencies may result in extended response times.”
DETAILS OF THE CRASH
A user posted in a large Facebook group about the incident that occurred over the weekend at the rogue festival.
They wrote, “Spoke to a volunteer medical responder who was at the scene last night.
“They told me the patient was a 70 year old male driving a customized dune buggy. It rolled over 3+ times (assume at high speed). Suffered shoulder injury and reported pain at C3-4 (spine around neck) area.
“Was able to feel sensations at limbs. Fire services and ambulance was dispatched (I actually saw them from my camp driving in and out). Unsure about current patient condition or medivac situation.”
The speed limit at Burning Man is 5mph.