# Burning Man 2013 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462 "2013-02-16T01:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/1 "2013-02-16T01:52:21Z")
I’ve read a lot about this event and find it quite fascinating - as an idea and - might sound cliche - an adventure in free spirit and community. This year I registered for individual ticket and had a chance to get it but could not get any of my friends to go with me. Their major complaint was that they never heard of it and they don’t know anyone who went. So, I thought someone here went there once or knows someone who did. > **[Burning Man - Welcome Home](https://burningman.org/)** > > A global quantum kaleidoscope of possibility. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/2 "2013-02-16T02:15:50Z")
I know many people who go and have a great time. I wouldn’t worry about going with friends because you will be so busy hanging out and discovering new adventures. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/3 "2013-02-16T02:42:02Z")
I imagine it smells quite awful there. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/4 "2013-02-16T02:44:41Z")
Burning Man is somewhat like a multi-day camping-on-site type music festival except without a concert area and more emphasis on physical art work and performance art: sculpture, body paint, acting skits, miming, setting constructed art object on fire, oddball costumes, dancing, light show displays, etc. The obligatory port-a-potties and tent vendors are there. Toward the end of the week long shindig, a large wooden ‘man’ is burned in effigy. Most of the music is just attendees playing in hand drum circles or strumming acoustic instruments. Nevada is hot during mid-day late August, so most of the fun takes place near twilight and after sunset all night. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/5 "2013-02-16T03:29:32Z")
Vendors? I thought that nothing could be sold. Shows what I know. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/6 "2013-02-16T07:00:25Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Their major complaint was that they never heard of it and they don’t know anyone who went. I find that hard to believe. Could it just be an excuse? It’s not the most convenient vacation a person can take. IMHO Burning Man hasn’t really been the supposed “free-spirited” event that it’s cracked up to be since about the year 2000. At that time they started making it way too governed and organized to really live up to that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/7 "2013-02-16T23:11:13Z")
> [@colander](#): > > I imagine it smells quite awful there. Not as bad as you would think. The near constant 40mph wind and swirling clouds of alkali dust kinda take care of that. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/8 "2013-02-16T23:44:27Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Vendors? I thought that nothing could be sold. Shows what I know. I thought only water could be sold. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/9 "2013-02-17T03:03:04Z")
I always kind of wanted to see Burning Man. I figure as long as I took plenty of water and some hard granola bars I could last a week. But I don’t know anyone who is remotely interested in going. I’m probably too old by now as well. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/10 "2013-02-17T03:41:11Z")
Coffee and ice are the only things sold in Black Rock City. Priorities, people! Last I knew, nothing else, including water, could be _sold_. But anything can be traded or bartered or given away, so there are still vendors of a sort. But the way it works (or so I’m told) is much more informal than other festivals - people walk around with things, or have them at their camp. If you like it, you see what you can trade for it, or they give it to you for free. “Gifting” and “Decommodification” are still in[The 10 Principles](http://survival.burningman.com/culture/the-10-principles/#.USBOYfKFlCM). I’ve got many friends who have gone once or twice. I have a few friends who have gone more than twice. Many of them report that “it used to be better” and that it’s gotten away from it’s creative roots and becoming more and more of a frat party, and that the security/oversight/rules have increased as a result. But they all still agree it’s worth checking out for yourself. Just remember that, unlike most festivals, once you’re there, you’re there. There’s no easy town run for more batteries or a forgotten tent stake. Radical Self-Reliance is \*also \*in The 10 Principles. And there are no trees. No. None. No, really, NONE. If you want to hang your shower bag, you’d better bring a tall piece of rebar or an art installation to hang it from. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/11 "2013-02-17T04:50:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But anything can be traded or bartered or given away, so there are still vendors of a sort. For example, you can “barter” various chemicals and herbs for pieces of rectangular paper with numbers printed with greenish/blackish ink. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/12 "2013-02-17T05:06:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > “Gifting” and “Decommodification” are still in[The 10 Principles](http://survival.burningman.com/culture/the-10-principles/#.USBOYfKFlCM). I take exception to “BurningMan”, and the “10 Principles”. I live in the area, and while no one is going to get away with leaving a bunch of trash on Black Rock Desert, it sure doesn’t stop all these assholes from dumping shit all around the rest of Northern Nevada. Every year, without fail, you will find cans, bottles, trashbags, couches, rolled-up carpet and even RV’s/trailers littering the surrounding area. Especially along 95 and 50. If you visit Lahontan State Park (about an hour or so south, on the general way back to Southern California) just after BurningMan, you will find a vast collection of abandoned shit. Its fucking disgraceful. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/13 "2013-02-17T05:20:49Z")
Here’s a 25-page long thread about burning man (with pics), by a bunch of young people who’ve been there: [http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3460995](http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3460995) ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/14 "2013-08-12T21:51:53Z")
Update from this year - amazing photos, some have Daliesque quality to it - [Burning Man - StuckInCustoms.com](http://stuckincustoms.smugmug.com/Burning-Man/i-MqwWv6P) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/15 "2013-08-12T22:02:29Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Update from this year - amazing photos, some have Daliesque quality to it - [Burning Man - StuckInCustoms.com](http://stuckincustoms.smugmug.com/Burning-Man/i-MqwWv6P) ERMIGARD I WANT TO RIDE THE DRAGON!!! Some seriously gorgeous pictures there. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/16 "2013-08-12T22:39:03Z")
The Steampunk predilection for goggles makes a lot more sense here. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-man-2013/650462/17 "2013-08-12T22:40:43Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I take exception to “BurningMan”, and the “10 Principles”. > > I live in the area, and while no one is going to get away with leaving a bunch of trash on Black Rock Desert, it sure doesn’t stop all these assholes from dumping shit all around the rest of Northern Nevada. Every year, without fail, you will find cans, bottles, trashbags, couches, rolled-up carpet and even RV’s/trailers littering the surrounding area. Especially along 95 and 50. > > If you visit Lahontan State Park (about an hour or so south, on the general way back to Southern California) just after BurningMan, you will find a vast collection of abandoned shit. > > Its fucking disgraceful. This is really a bummer and I guess there are assholes no matter what the venue. There is a dump and recycling depot near Fernley where you can dump all that shit. Our camp consistently gets the highest rating for cleanliness and I personally walk the site to make sure that nothing visible remains. The event is getting more touristy as I only got one shitty piece of schwag after giving out 50 shot glasses with booze included. This year I’m going back with 144 shot glasses because hell, it’s Burning Man! You can show up by yourself and just meet your neighbors and then you have friends for life. A dude showed up in our camp with only a pair of holey sweatpants and my buddy supported him for the week. I bring enough booze and food to feed an army.