Burning Man 2021 LIVE – Renegade Burn unofficial festival kicks off with thousands due in desert but fires are BANNED
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 Reno Gazette-Journal.
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.
The agency also warned that “there are no medical and emergency resources close to the playa and multiple emergencies may result in extended response times.”
According to reports from some of the partiers at the unofficial festival, one man is lucky to be alive after being thrown from a dune buggy at high speeds.
“A passenger got ejected. Almost a death, but survived. Be careful out here, be safe,” one person posted, according to a local report.
Read our Burning Man live blog for the latest news and updates…
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VIEWS OF VIRTUAL BURNING MAN
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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 journal, which explained that the festival will take place in the “Multiverse”.
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FESTIVAL ATTENDEES ARRIVE AT THE DESERT
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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.
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BURNING MAN POSTS GUIDE TO ‘UNOFFICIAL’ BLACK ROCK FESTIVAL
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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.
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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.
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ATTENDEES SHARE PHOTOS VIA TWITTER
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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.
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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.”
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‘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.”
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PHOTOS OF ‘MUTANT VEHICLES’ FROM THE FESTIVAL
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‘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.”
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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.
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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.
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FOOTAGE FROM THE FESTIVAL
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NO BURNING STRUCTURES
The Bureau of Land Management has added new restrictions to this year’s unofficial festival in the Nevada desert.
Guest cannot build structures, campfires are the only fires allowed, and structures cannot be burnt.
Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man told Forbes, “We’re not dissuading people from going. 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.”
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CROWD OF 20,000
This year’s event could draw an estimated 20,000 people to the Black Rock Desert, despite its cancellation in April.
That compares with a total attendance of 80,000 at the 2019 festival, the year before the Pandemic.
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‘THE GREAT UNKNOWN’
According to the Wall Street Journal, organizers say the purpose of the festival is “to build a city out of thin air where participants live in a utopian society that follows principles of ‘decommodification,’ or avoiding all money transactions, and ‘radical inclusion.’”
The theme of this year’s installment is “The Great Unknown.”
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BURNING MAN
The main attraction of the festival is the burning of a giant wooden effigy, of which the festival gets its name.
This year, it will take place on September 4 virtually and in person livestreamed at an undisclosed location.
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RISK TO NATIVE 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 told NPR, “For us it is a sigh of relief,” and told the Reno Gazette Journal “that influx of people would be a risk to our tribe.”
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TICKET PAGE
Someone has set up an Eventbrite ticket page for the event titled “Renegade Man / Plan B / Free Burn.”
They are not charging money, but asking for registration in a likely email collection scam.
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ONLINE CHAT ROOMS
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 Burning Man subreddit with 55k members.
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WASHOE COUNTY IN HIGH ALERT COVID ZONE
Washoe County in Nevada, which attendants would have to travel through to get to the desert, is in the red high-transmission Covid zone, according to the CDC.
