Playa on! Burning Man lights up the Nevada desert as 70,000 revelers party all night at legendary festival after rain delayed opening

  • Iconic festival on plains of Nevada's Black Rock Desert reopened 6 a.m. Tuesday after it was postponed on its opening day
  • Annual free-spirited event attracts upwards of 70,000 people each year for a week-long party binge in the desert
  • Rain fell early Monday morning turning the huge site into a muddy mess

By James Nye for MailOnline and Associated Press

Published: 22:40 EST, 26 August 2014 | Updated: 03:56 EST, 27 August 2014

After Monday's rain came the flood of people on Tuesday as the postponed Burning Man festival began to light up Nevada's Black Rock Desert with its annual hedonistic orgy of art, music and everything else.

Tens of thousands of 'burners', undeterred by yesterday's closure due to a rare deluge, streamed through the festival's entrance after spending an improvised night camping on the road, or in parking lots across the state.

Setting up their tents, or in some cases their state-of-the-art million dollar RVs, the estimated 70,000 attendees will party away the week at the cult-event in spite of the quagmire left behind by the downpour which caused organizers to turn revelers away on Monday.

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Lighting up the nights sky: The Burning Man extravaganza gets underway on Tuesday night after suffering from a 24 hour postponement on Monday due to an unexpected and rare deluge on Monday morning that saw police turn revelers away
Lighting up the nights sky: The Burning Man extravaganza gets underway on Tuesday night after suffering from a 24 hour postponement on Monday due to an unexpected and rare deluge on Monday morning that saw police turn revelers away

Lighting up the nights sky: The Burning Man extravaganza gets underway on Tuesday night after suffering from a 24 hour postponement on Monday due to an unexpected and rare deluge on Monday morning that saw police turn revelers away

Night time: The distinctive circular shape of the Burning Man encampment is starting to emerge in this picture taken on Monday evening as those already there waited for the influx of new revelers

Night time: The distinctive circular shape of the Burning Man encampment is starting to emerge in this picture taken on Monday evening as those already there waited for the influx of new revelers

Let us in: Ticket holders turned away from the event on Monday morning wait anxiously to be allowed into the Burning Man festival that started on Sunday in Nevada

Let us in: Ticket holders turned away from the event on Monday morning wait anxiously to be allowed into the Burning Man festival that started on Sunday in Nevada

Expressive in neon: Art cars lined up to be registered at the Black Rock DMV during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on the eve of rain delays that followed Sunday into Monday

Expressive in neon: Art cars lined up to be registered at the Black Rock DMV during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on the eve of rain delays that followed Sunday into Monday

Ready to rock: A Burning Man participant's bike is surrounded by art cars that are lined up at the Black Rock DMV to be registered at Burning Man on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada Ready to rock: A Burning Man participant's bike is surrounded by art cars that are lined up at the Black Rock DMV to be registered at Burning Man on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada

Sheep: Revelers flock to the Black Rock DMV to be registered at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada

Sheep: Revelers flock to the Black Rock DMV to be registered at the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada

Bohemian: Burning Man participants walk on the playa at the annual Burning Man event in the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on Monday - after the main revelers were turned away due to rain

Bohemian: Burning Man participants walk on the playa at the annual Burning Man event in the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on Monday - after the main revelers were turned away due to rain

The only way to get around: Burning Man participants bike on the playa during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on Monday, prior to the 24 hour rain delay
The only way to get around: Burning Man participants bike on the playa during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on Monday, prior to the 24 hour rain delay

The only way to get around: Burning Man participants bike on the playa during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada on Monday, prior to the 24 hour rain delay 

Wonderland: The start of the Burning Festival was postponed by rain but by Tuesday morning the site in the middle of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada was filling up

Wonderland: The start of the Burning Festival was postponed by rain but by Tuesday morning the site in the middle of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada was filling up

Burning man and party goer: The wooden structure (left) will be set alight on Sunday at the culmination of the week-long festival attended by revelers like the girl (right) who arrived after a 24-hour rain delay on Tuesday
Burning man and party goer: The wooden structure (left) will be set alight on Sunday at the culmination of the week-long festival attended by revelers like the girl (right) who arrived after a 24-hour rain delay on Tuesday

Burning man and party goer: The wooden structure (left) will be set alight on Sunday at the culmination of the week-long festival attended by revelers like the girl (right) who arrived after a 24-hour rain delay on Tuesday

Tuesday morning: Tens of thousands were stranded in the desert at the gates of Burning Man after the enormous festival was postponed following rains that turned the playa into a quagmire

Tuesday morning: Tens of thousands were stranded in the desert at the gates of Burning Man after the enormous festival was postponed following rains that turned the playa into a quagmire

New morning: Sun rises on Tuesday as Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada awaits the influx of up to 70,000 people for the annual hedonistic festival
New morning: Sun rises on Tuesday as Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada awaits the influx of up to 70,000 people for the annual hedonistic festival

New morning: Sun rises on Tuesday as Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada awaits the influx of up to 70,000 people for the annual hedonistic festival

Now, the burners will rush to get back up to speed and build the mini-city that sprouts from the desert playa and culminates in the eponymous burning of a giant wooden figure, which stands at the centerpiece of the vast circular encampment.

Vehicles were allowed into the event's entrance on Highway 34 northeast of Gerlach from 6 a.m. Tuesday, organizers tweeted just after 1 a.m.

Festival goers, or 'burners,' responded to the good news with excited tweets such as 'time to get back on the road,' and 'all roads lead to #burningman.'

 

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Burning Man is the largest outdoor arts festival in North America and is in its 28th year.

Described as an 'experimental community,' it incorporates plenty of partying plus lighting massive fire displays, donning eye-catching costumes and performing passionate dances at sunrise. Organizers stress it's mostly up to participants to decide what Burning Man is.

Traditionally only hard-core burners arrive when the gates open Monday and a crush of people often referred to as ‘Weekend Warriors’ show up sometime between Thursday and Saturday, reports NBC Bay Area.

Rising from the morning mist: Burning Man endured a one day delay in opening its gates to the main body of revelers arriving for the huge desert festival that takes place around 90 miles outside Reno
Rising from the morning mist: Burning Man endured a one day delay in opening its gates to the main body of revelers arriving for the huge desert festival that takes place around 90 miles outside Reno

Rising from the morning mist: Burning Man endured a one day delay in opening its gates to the main body of revelers arriving for the huge desert festival that takes place around 90 miles outside Reno

Unusual: The rare rains on Monday morning led to an atmosphere of solidarity between those already there who had keenly arrived on Sunday for the annual party in the desert
Unusual: The rare rains on Monday morning led to an atmosphere of solidarity between those already there who had keenly arrived on Sunday for the annual party in the desert

Unusual: The rare rains on Monday morning led to an atmosphere of solidarity between those already there who had keenly arrived on Sunday for the annual party in the desert

Artistic: The annual arts festival draws visitors from across the globe where they exchange ideas and barter for their existence over the week-long event
Artistic: The annual arts festival draws visitors from across the globe where they exchange ideas and barter for their existence over the week-long event

Artistic: The annual arts festival draws visitors from across the globe where they exchange ideas and barter for their existence over the week-long event

But usually by midweek there will be 15 streets circling the temporary city that resembles something from a post-apocalyptic movie.

Tickets for this years festival went on sale for $380, but have changed hands for up to $1,000 on the black market.

It has become a haven for hippies, artists, musicians and dancers and provides a week for people to explore artistic expression. No money is exchanged at the event; instead the festival-goers swap gifts to attain goods.

The Black Rock Desert is 120 miles north of Reno and the gathering is the largest permitted event on federal land in the United States.

After it moved from San Francisco's Baker Beach, the inaugural Burning Man in Nevada drew some 80 people in 1990. The first 1,000-plus crowd was in 1993, and attendance doubled each of the next three years before reaching 23,000 in 1999.

The standing water yesterday turned the playa 90 miles north of Reno into a quagmire and police barred ticket holders entry to the free-spirited week-long arts event.

Past year and this year: Revelers at Burning Man go to extreme lengths to enjoy themselves and hopefully this years postponed event (right) will reach similar heights of hedonism after a slow start
Past year and this year: Revelers at Burning Man go to extreme lengths to enjoy themselves and hopefully this years postponed event (right) will reach similar heights of hedonism after a slow start

Past year and this year: Revelers at Burning Man go to extreme lengths to enjoy themselves and hopefully this years postponed event (right) will reach similar heights of hedonism after a slow start 

New wave: From its humble beginnings, the Burning Man festival now expects 68,000 participants this year - and the encampment will resemble this by the end of the week

New wave: From its humble beginnings, the Burning Man festival now expects 68,000 participants this year - and the encampment will resemble this by the end of the week

Incredible: Aerial view of cars going into the waterlogged Burning Man Festival on August 25, 2014 in Black Rock City, Nevada

Incredible: Aerial view of cars going into the waterlogged Burning Man Festival on August 25, 2014 in Black Rock City, Nevada

Aerial: By Monday, tens of thousands of people should have arrived to create a make-shift city in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. But they are only now entering the site

Aerial: By Monday, tens of thousands of people should have arrived to create a make-shift city in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. But they are only now entering the site

Hundreds of vehicles massed outside the gates waiting for the weather to clear up, with some posting messages on Twitter about their predicament using the hashtag #strandedman.

Festival-goer Jordan Kalev arrived at the event by plane and took pictures of the site as he flew over showing the sheer volume of traffic massed at the entrance and the soggy state of the ground. 

Others ended up in the parking lot of the Reno Wal-Mart.

Turned back at the gate to the Black Rock Desert after rare showers on Monday turned the ancient lake bottom to a muddy quagmire, hundreds of 'Burners' were forced to overnight on the Wal-Mart blacktop. Nearly a hundred other RVs pulled into the parking lot of the Grand Sierra Resort casino, across the street.

'We're just trying to stay positive,' said a woman from Oakland, California, who identified herself only as 'Driftwood,' and was hanging out with some first-timers from Texas. 'Positivity can raise everything up.'

Organizers announced after midnight that they could roll onto the lake. By midmorning Tuesday all but a few dozen of the RVs were back on the road again, and by most accounts, no worse for the wear.

Not the plan: This was the site of the Burning Man festival on Monday morning causing the festival's organizers to postpone the event for the first time in the history of the counterculture extravaganza

Not the plan: This was the site of the Burning Man festival on Monday morning causing the festival's organizers to postpone the event for the first time in the history of the counterculture extravaganza

Temporary: Travelers en route to Burning Man parked more than 100 recreational vehicles at a Wal-Mart and the Grand Sierra Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada, Monday

Temporary: Travelers en route to Burning Man parked more than 100 recreational vehicles at a Wal-Mart and the Grand Sierra Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada, Monday

Burners: Karen Carner and her husband Mark Lee decorate a bike on Tuesday, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nevada. The couple are providing concierge service for two women from Pittsburgh who are first-timers at the festival

Burners: Karen Carner and her husband Mark Lee decorate a bike on Tuesday, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nevada. The couple are providing concierge service for two women from Pittsburgh who are first-timers at the festival

'We'll make the best of things' said Aviva Mohilner, a former public relations specialist from Los Angeles making her third trip. 'It always works out. Burners make it good.'

One New York City man loading coolers into a U-Haul on his first voyage to the desert wilderness said he was in too much of a hurry to make it to the desert Tuesday to talk. But another New Yorker, Ben Zion, asked a reporter to take a picture of him and his eight friends from Israel, all anxious first-timers. The rain delay was actually good for them, he said: 'We got to get some rest and a shower.'

Cuong Huynh, a four-time Burner and IT specialist from San Diego, California, said he's usually more concerned about dusty wind storms than rain, which is why he keeps his cellphone in a plastic bag.

Last year, it rained just before the festival, packing all the dirt and keeping the dust down, he said.

'Rain is really good for us, just not while you're out there,' he said.

Destin Gerek, an 11-year veteran, thinks the delay will add a spark to the gathering.

'All this pent-up energy,' said Gerek, 36, who teaches Burning Man workshops on the 'intersection of sexuality and spirituality.'

Gerek grew up in New York City, lives in California and has toured 25 different countries. 'In all my travels, Burning Man is utterly unique,' he said. 'Absolutely nothing compares.'

That was the general consensus among Burners Monday night as many of the RVs, VW buses and truck's pulling trailers gathered at a makeshift staging area under the blinking pink casino lights twinkling through the night.

Burners, from left, Meyal Kashi, Avaid Furman and Ayal Moses, all from Isreal, stock up Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., after a rare rain storm temporarily closed the entrance to Burning Man yesterday

Burners, from left, Meyal Kashi, Avaid Furman and Ayal Moses, all from Isreal, stock up Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., after a rare rain storm temporarily closed the entrance to Burning Man yesterday

Stocking up: eff Difabrizio, left, and Jahliele Paquin of Yellowknife, Canada, load up provisions in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Reno, Nevada

Stocking up: eff Difabrizio, left, and Jahliele Paquin of Yellowknife, Canada, load up provisions in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Reno, Nevada

Party time: Burner Jake Pickle, of Encinitas, Ca., stocks up Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., after a rare rain storm temporarily closed the entrance to Burning Man on Monday

Party time: Burner Jake Pickle, of Encinitas, Ca., stocks up Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., after a rare rain storm temporarily closed the entrance to Burning Man on Monday

Burners, from left, Corbin Stinson, Beth Rademacher and Kaleb Acklin, all of Hawaii, stock up Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nevada

Burners, from left, Corbin Stinson, Beth Rademacher and Kaleb Acklin, all of Hawaii, stock up Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nevada

Burner Suzie Wyld, of Australia, stocks up Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., after a rare rain storm temporarily closed the entrance to Burning Man Monday

Burner Suzie Wyld, of Australia, stocks up Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, 2014, at a Wal-Mart in Reno, Nev., after a rare rain storm temporarily closed the entrance to Burning Man Monday

It wasn't entirely unlike the contraptions that light up the weeklong desert gathering, which began at San Francisco's Baker Beach in 1986 and now culminates in the Black Rock with the burning of a towering wooden effigy Labor Day weekend. A record 68,000 people attended last year.

Still, the Wal-Mart wasn't exactly what seekers of 'paradise on the playa' had in mind while driving hundreds of miles to the counter-culture festival, which offers theme camps, art exhibits, all-night music and guerrilla theater, along with a decent dose of nudity and a bunch of other stuff that's just plain weird.

One camp this year is 'Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust,' where participants are invited to be photographed as they 'strip naked, cover in Playa dust, paint cracks on the body and finalize with red hands to simulate a connection between oneself and the desert environment.'

The journey's final hours, across a dry, perfectly flat lake bed that seems to stretch on forever, is usually part of the fun.

Unless, again, it rains, covering the clay-like surface with standing water that turns to mush under the wheels of a well-equipped 'Burner' crew.

Barbara Quintanilla and Bill Sanchez, who drove up from Houston in an RV, said the delay was the least of their worries.

'We made a 2,000-mile trip and none of us had ever driven an RV before. It would only go 35 mph up hills,' Sanchez said.

Jeff Cross of Orange County, California, said the brief detour hadn't deterred his group's enthusiasm.

'It's the best festival in the world,' he said. 'There's no cellphones, no internet, no money or corporate sponsors.'

True enough, once they reach the desert.

But while they were stuck in Reno, the rain delay provided for one last consumer capitalist opportunity.

'We have a list of 27 things we need to get at Wal-Mart,' Quintanilla said.

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