There is something about being out there in the desert that opens people, I always feel somehow more alive, my senses heightened, entirely possessed by the playful spirit. Trying to articulate the experience is difficult, the threads of memory conspire to knit themselves into a intricate patterns that are hard to tease out into any formal shape. I remember riding down Jupiter no hands, giant green glasses on, small children jumping on a trampoline waving, stopping to take Persian lime tea, sweet sour and dark all at once from a tiny glass cup. Riding through the full heat of the day, the playa eerily silent as I sped through a dust storm to visit with friends. Storm over, we head to centercamp and I find myself spanking a 6-ft tall blond woman in shiny red shorts, it's my birthday she said. Like I said, it's hard to describe. I think, Everyone should go at least once. read more

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I was feeling kinda bummed reading all the reviews of comparison... how it used to be and what it's like now. 2009 was my first year and it blew my mind. 2010 did too, in an absolutely, completely different way. I'm sure 2011 will be nothing like the first two years, as long as I continue to go with an open heart and an open mind. I do the best I can to leave behind any assumptions or expectations and to open myself up to the power and possibility of what's actually happening. My advice to people considering going to burning man: Don't listen to the naysayers who tell you that it's no good "anymore." They're just mourning the loss of something that was special to them. Stuff changes. all. the. time. It's not good or bad, just different. So go if you want, and go with an open mind. Get involved. Participate. Volunteer with cafe camp or the lamplighters. Go for the whole week. Spend some time sober on the playa and actually pay attention to your body, your thoughts, memories, emotions; don't drown them in drugs and alcohol the whole time. Get some sleep. Take a chance, and think twice before saying no. And swing by Costco Soulmate Trading Outlet and ask for Dogcat. read more

This can be, if not life-changing, then good for the soul and brings out the best in human kindness. It's radical self-preservation in a VERY harsh environment. You'll see amazing art, help others and help yourself be a better person. BURNING MAN is NOT for children. I'm not sure who wrote your YELP original description but it is quite obvious they have never been. The dangerous part is not the people -ANYONE would help a small child find their parents and camp if they find a lost child. the danger is the playa itself. Little lungs cannot handle the (at times) 65 MPH dust storm that cause white-outs, not to mention, once again, the possibility of your child becoming lost in one of these if it hits while you're away from camp. The only reason I wrote this review was because of the YELP description saying that it's good for kids. I'm a six-year Burner and wouldn't miss it for the world. I play in the Burning Man Marching Band -a group of musicians from all over the world who only play once a year-have our playa uniforms, and will play lots of gigs and try to bring a smile to as many faces as we can. You'll meet life-long friends on the playa and be covered with playa dust for an entire week. Okay a year. If you're with a big theme camp it's a lot of work and a lot of fun, Remember I said NO CHILDREN? We have one of the largest camps on the playa, located on the main street (Esplande) and it is a fun and light-hearted Wine and BDSM camp. Kids do NOT belong in our environment. We're not obscene or nasty... it is a matter of what your child should be exposed to, Boobies? Private parts? Questionable dice games including spankings and naked bartenders? I only allowed my own daughter to attend this year -she is 19. Most folks camp wherever there's an open spot. You can't go wrong and who knows where your neighbors may be from? Isreal? Australia? Wisconsin? Las Vegas? France? You'll be safe, protected, well fed and have stories galore. Joining a major 'Theme Camp' such as Spanky's Wine Bar -my home- (or Death Guild, Robot Heart, Mall-Mart) will cost you more; in work, dues, and sweat. You'll also have the Playa coming to YOU! Lots of fun. Belonging to such a camp requires approval and work beginning at least 6 months in advance. Many times a year or more. The cost of Burning Man can be 'cheap' it you want -the majority of your money is spent on the ticket . The people,costumes, and music all of the time make the city, Enormous art installments are amazing. But the people make Burning Man what it is... the most interactive show on the planet. YOU can be part of it just by participating and being there. It's a must-do. At least once in your life. Impossible to describe. Not a bunch of hippies Gone Wild -grin-. Average age is 30. Lots of folks from 25 to 85 years old. But for the love of the stars...it is NOT for children. read more

I've been to 30 or so countries. This was the most foreign place I've visited! I went early (Wednesday) to help build my camp and an art installation. It was amazing to see the city build. The energy exponentially grew each day leading to the burn. I too became restless, excited to travel throughout the playa in search of the magic. As the Burn started I realized that the magic was everywhere, and I, like anyone there (or ANYWHERE on earth) could create it. Black Rock City is an amazing place. Burning Man is an amazing week long event, but it's the people and the decisions we make that create the magic. The Burning Man experience is totally what you make of it. It makes a really big difference when and where you choose to roam around, or work. It's a good idea to not put too much on your schedule for events you plan to hit, because you'd be surprised that often the most rewarding journeys, are the ones without a map or a destination. In reviewing the Burning Man Corporation.... meh, a little slow, not the most organized, but it's hard to give such a magical experience lower than five stars. read more

**** WARNING - ATTEMPT AT HUMOR FOLLOWS **** This is just an attempt at humor based on a possible opinion and therefore not subject to lawsuits. My first Burning Man was at least 15 years ago.... the last good one was probably 1994. Used to be you could drive your car right onto the desert, and drive into Gerlach to avoid the midday sun (for those of us with delicate constitutions) and enjoy a beer and a game of pool during the midday hours... then drive back at 100 mph back to camp, kicking up dust ... stopping by the Drive By Shooting Range to take a few shots with a gun from your own moving vehicle at stuffed animals planted on wooden stakes at the edge of the desert (Barney was the most hit of all)... and meeting the rocket guys and the gun camps and actually making friends with other camps and having people offer you some of their water or shade, looking out for each other.... Haven't been back lately. It was soooo incredible in the beginning and til the mid 90s, but in my opinion it took such a dark turn down into becoming exactly what it supposedly stood against - corporate culture governed by a ruling elite who decides how much you have to pay, where you can park, whose ass you have to kiss.... a place where no one cares about anyone else, except insofar as they can be amused or financially/materially enriched by them. Or maybe I just got old and bitter.... but.... if I want to be around a crowd of stinky, dusty stoners in drag, and pay to park my car, I can just go to Reno and pretend they are not Republicans.... I would have given it 5 stars 10 years ago; now, sadly, I think burning man should be left in his own ashes, at least as far as my participation is concerned.... NOTE: After talking to some of the Burning man 'crew,' who told me that this year's burning man allegedly recaptured some of the original spirit, I will amend the review to say -- check it out for yourself if you are prepared for the brutal heat and crowds. read more

Worst place on earth. Full of weirdos. Dont get me started on the food.. The drinks were worse. Every cup was dirty. Full disclosure there was exactly one cup, and it was mine. Miso, hot chocolate, snow cones.. one cup. It was also very hot. And cold. And dirty. Too many "individuals".. seriously, why would one just choose to walk around almost naked? I can tell you. Because it is very hot. And gross. Do you know the type of people who walk around naked? I'm telling you worst people ever. Like, legit IG models, nerds, even libertarians. Also just like, so many random people. Also.. way too easy to get drunk. Seriously. Like, 8:45 in the morning and you just wrap your lips around a silicone dildo affixed to a 3' tall superman doll, and boom! Absinthe! In the morning. Like where else doesn't that happen? You do that anywhere else and all you get is thrown out of the mall you wreck living in before you got fired for "your toxicity not being safe for others". Yea, rant over that job sucked. Burning man too. Just gross. Dont go. Never go. It is gross it off your bucket list. Burn your bucket list cuz its gross and once had burning man on it. Seriously like it could be contagious. Dont go. Also. The Porto potties.. literally, like literally literally like literally the definition of literally, like worst place on earth. read more

I enjoyed Burning Man last year. I believe that in any place surrounded by thousands upon thousands of people you may run into a negative experiences, but what stood out the most to me about going is that I came back with a different set of thoughts, and I believe that the experience of being there has impacted me, even a year later! I don't believe it is a place for children because of the difficult environmental conditions, and also there are people walking around naked, and camps that are central to bondage, sexual exploits, etc etc. I don't think I'd ever bring my child there in their younger years, actually I'd let them go when they were like 19 or 20 years old because of the responsibility it takes to successfully survive out there. One of the things I actually regret deeply about last year was the fact that I wasn't as talkative as I wanted to be, I simply clammed up on occasions. I was far to worried about what people thought of me then actually NOT worrying about that either way, but I still met some really sweet, and funny people there. For anyone who wants to go, I'd suggest going once for yourself and determining if it's something for you. It's quite an experiences. read more

It was the most interesting and fun festival i ever been. The opportunity to be your self and not to be judged, the giving attitude that surround every one. I left Burning man 2010 with a hope that there are still good people in this world. i most defiantly will go to BM 2011 read more

in hopes of something special to celebrate my glee in reaching the one thousandth review - a melody black rock city is where i'm headed eighth year running, no seriously the nevada desert will welcome my soul unconsciously to my match i offer humble sorrow for the 48 laws ring true endurance is my specialty on sadly this day too so here we are august eleventh two thousand and eleven to yelp stardom I reach for or a manna from heaven read more

The range of ratings for this event is perfectly indicative of the event itself, it is a totally different experience for each and every individual involved. There is no way to predict your neighbors, your attitude, your bed-mate's frame of mind, the art car that will or will not pick you up, the strangers you will love and the moochers you will hate. That for me is what's so great about the experience. My first year I had, literally, the best time of my life with the best camp, the best friends and the best location, ever. This year, the camp was next to a blaring day long dance party, there was a crazy moocher guy named Bailey who would show up naked and eat all of our food, and by the last day everyone was bickering. C'est la vie, literally. Go and see for yourself, ratings are nothing here..... read more

For me, right on the verge. I sought to create a gap between the mental constraints and the perceptual rawness, which is usually so subjugated by the mind. The mental structures are usually superimposed on reality so perfectly that they are confused with it. Two ways to escape: purposefully alter your brain functionality or remove all the habitual environmental anchors. At Burning Man, people do both at once. There were whimsical and touching experiences - telling a fortune-teller his fortune, watching the faces of old and young watching the burn, floating in the night, encircled by a school of luminous fish and wandering 6 ft tall eyeballs - but the general feel was disappointing. I witnessed the huge straining to be an individual at all costs, where everybody feels that expression equals experience and often replaces it. Where the need to be accepted is all-consuming and indiscriminate in its hunger, where the vulgar and the mediocre is embraced along with the mesmerizing and the sublime. I was reading Saul Below's "Mr Sammler's Planet" at the time, so his tour de force definitely affected the contours of my blending into the BM phantasmagoria. And as this review shows, I was a bit highminded about the whole experience and kept stitching a line between Stellah's play[a]fulness and Kevin's disappointment. Perhaps, because I didn't want to alter the brain but only the environment. Perhaps, because I stayed for only four days. Perhaps, because previous attempts at gift economy turned kind of ugly (curiously, their obsession was similarity, not difference). Maybe I will be back but not this year. read more

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went to volunteer, lasted about 4 days bailed out on thurs watched the burn on net sat night by wed noise was so loud had trouble sleeping even with ear plugs did see some nice art, would do it again, had mechanical difficulties with my vehicle. people basically friendly, made some friends, lots from Seattle wash my first burn. read more

burning man has become burnt up man and burnt up womini., i.e. too many trendies finishing up summer labors. went way back in the 90s and it was still relatively manageable with port-0-lets that didn't get overflowing till Sunday afternoon. Fascinating art happenings that time with some guy that had planted about 50 small stones with flashing red led lights in his "Future garden", then of course the art cars, the Fat Chance style belly dancing, huge line at the espresso bar Sunday morning. Lollapollaza. read more

I'm sure Woodstock was an amazing place to be when it happened...just a bit before my time! LOL Burning Man...I'm sure started out the same way - unintentionally gained popularity and sadly is imploding. Any event with humble carefree loving accepting principles at it's core could never purposely be negative or bad?! Right?! Unfortunately, anytime something meant to be harmless carefree and fun for whomever wants to attend hires a staff of 50 full time employees? Well, need I say more? Move on people - find your own celebration and don't sell out or sell tickets. Find your own path your own place to celebrate and only invite the ones you truly commune with and love. read more

There were some cool art installations when I attended in 2000, but overall I found the spirit of Burning Man was about as deep and penetrating as a bad spray-on tan. It's funny to watch people building a non-commercial society who have driven there in a rented 30 foot motor home. I saw a lot of bad karma being accrued and a lot of bad attitude being doled out. Then again, maybe it was just the bad karma of the height of the dot-com bubble. My friends and I brought all sorts of things, both physical and metaphysical, with us to share, and had arranged to camp next to some old friends of one member of our group. I got soured on the whole week when I saw how much people were taking and how little they were giving back, in terms of sharing and being considerate. To top it off, we agreed to rotate hosting dinners, and our night came the night of the burn. Our neighbors showed up so late and were so self-involved and kind of piggy that we all missed the burn. Sort of encapsulated the whole experience for me. The highlight of my Burning Man experience was spending time with my four friends on the drive, and the moment we stopped and bought "Indian tacos" from a lovely old woman from the local reservation. Much better than the dinner we had at Boulevard back in the city that night, or any of the supposedly empowering experiences at Black Rock City. I am glad to read in Stellah's review that my experience is at least not universal, and probably not typical. read more