The Man burns! Burners watch 60ft effigy go up in flames and now prepare for desert exodus as hedonistic festival winds down 

• The annual festival's Burning Man statue was burned to the ground to mark the end of the week-long festival
• Over the weekend and through Monday a mass exodus from Black Rock City, Nevada, is expected
• As part of Burning Man's 'leave no trace' policy, all remnants of the burn must be cleaned up
• The Burning Man statue stood at 60 feet - 45 feet shorter than last year's massive 105ft statue

By Kelly Mclaughlin For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:24 EST, 6 September 2015 | Updated: 16:13 EST, 6 September 2015

Burning Man's ceremonious burning of its massive 60ft man occurred on Saturday night as 70,000 festival attendees watched the structure go up in flames.

The wooden Burning Man statue burned to the ground - with help from fireworks and explosions - as festival goers' cheers echoed through the vast desert in Black Rock City, Nevada. 

Just a week after burners made their pilgrimage to the desert to build the temporary city, they are now burning all the artwork made during their time at the festival.

Dressed in elaborate costumes and celebrating with event dancers, the revelers watched and embraced as the festival's final night came to a fiery close.

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The Man is burned during the Burning Man 2015 'Carnival of Mirrors' arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada on Saturday

Approximately 70,000 people gathered on Saturday night to watch the 60ft statue burn to the ground

The massive wooden structure was set alight with fireworks and explosions during the last night of the week-long festival

Fire dancers led a ceremony that thousands of festival attendees gathered to watch following the burning of the Man

The Burning Man statue, pictured being set on fire with fireworkds, stood at 60 feet - 45 feet shorter than last year's massive 105ft statue

Before and after the man was burned to the ground on Saturday night, fire dancers led a ceremony that thousands of festival attendees gathered to watch.

In previous years, the Burning Man statue's height has varied, ranging from 8ft in 1986 to 105ft in 2014. This year it stood at just 60 feet - 45 feet shorter than last year's statue.  

The festival, now in its 29th year, ends on Sunday, when the Temple of Remembrance is burned. The Temple is not only an art installation, but also a structure that encompasses a large range of serious spiritual requisites that add dimension to our community, according to the Burning Man website. 

Thousands of attendees have left Black Rock City and the Burning Man festival, and the mass exit is expected to last through Monday, USA Today reported. 

Shuttles take revelers from the festival grounds to Reno and San Francisco. Many reportedly regroup after the event in Reno to re-enter the real world after their week away from showers and technology. 

Fire dancers perform before the Man is burned during the Burning Man 2015 'Carnival of Mirrors' arts and music festival on Saturday

Participants watch the Man burn from an elevated and lighted pink sleigh during the Burning Man 2015 festival

Chandra Jessee, wearing platform boots and a fur coat, rides a wooden horse as the Man burns during the Burning Man 2015 festival

Participants begin to gather in a lighted structure to watch the Man being burned during the Burning Man 2015 festival on Saturday

Participants begin to gather in what appears to be an animal-shaped structure to watch the Man being burned during the Burning Man 2015 festival

People dance under a collection of lights before the Man is burned on Saturday. People will continue to exit the festival through Monday

Structures at Burning Man are often placed on large platforms, so when they are lit on fire they do not burn directly on to the desert ground. 

As part of Burning Man's 'leave no trace' policy, all remnants of the burn and all aspects of the event must be cleaned up before the end of the festival. 

Several celebrities made appearances at the week-long Burning Man festival, including pop star Katy Perry and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon. 

Sarandon led a march to memorialize Timothy Leary, the late father of LSD who died in 1996. The procession brought his ashes into a temporary church built as an art installation at the festival, according to USA Today. 

The church was set alight on Saturday after the Burning Man statue was burned.

'I think he'd be so happy. I think he would have loved the chaos (of Burning Man). He would have loved it,' said Sarandon, one of Leary's closest friends. 'And all these people honoring him with LSD.' 

Sarah Tang wears a beaded unicorn head piece as she dances during the Burning Man 2015 festival

A participant wearing leopard-print spandex and a fanny pack dances on the Playa during the Burning Man 2015 festival

Lelah Vaga wears lighted butterfly wings during the festival. Many people take the week as an opportunity to elaborate costumes

Participants wore illuminated costumes during the Burning Man 2015 festival. Approximately 70,000 people attended the week-long, sold-out event this year

Sir Diamond Stallion, his Playa name, dances with fire during the Burning Man 2015 'Carnival of Mirrors' arts and music festival

Hannah Neil (left) and Austin Bennett (right) embrace as they watch the Man burn on Saturday night as the festival came to a close

Sarandon was given some of his ashes when he died. His friends sent most of the ashes to outer space in 1997, but Sarandon kept some, and decided to bring them to Burning Man last time she was in attendance. 

While at the festival this year, Sarandon worked as a crew member for Burning Man artist and California-based photographer Michael Garlington.  

The annual event faced challenges this year, with a bug invasion and dust storms, but burners seemed to enjoy themselves during the burning ceremony on Saturday night. 

Earlier this week, the festival's founder made headlines when he tried to defend the event's lack of diversity. The Burning Man census shows that the event is 87 percent white and just 1.3 percent black, according to the Guardian. 

Larry Harvey shared his thoughts on the subject during a press conference at the festival this past week. One of the festival's ten principles is 'racial inclusion'.

Susan Sarandon worked as a crew member for Burning Man artist and California-based photographer Michael Garlington while at the week-long festival. She also led a march to memorialize Timothy Leary, the late father of LSD who died in 1996

Katy Perry attended her first-ever burning man and donned a mask and goggles to block dust from getting into her face. She uploaded a video on to Instagram of her riding around the festival on a Segway

Eric Ruud (left) and Don Clark (right) cook breakfast on the smoldering remains of the burned Man during the Burning Man 2015 festival

Natalie Campos (left) and Henry Waite (right) look at photos on a cellphone while resting on the Playa on Sunday

After claiming that the lack of diversity might be due to 'historic reasons', he clarified his comments on Friday. 

'Remember a group that was enslaved and made to work,' he told The Guardian. 'Slavishly, you know in the fields. This goes all the way back to the Caribbean scene, when the average life of a slave in the fields was very short.

'And, so, there's that background, that agrarian poverty associated with things. Maybe your first move isn't to go camping. Seriously.'

Harvey said that he had been criticized for his view in the past, particularly when festival organizers spoke with a consultant who 'was black, and lesbian, and she had a niche in the nonprofit world, because they're always trying to check off those boxes, in terms of quotas'.

'At a certain point, she made a speech which was pro forma, which I didn't know was the speech she always made, about the racial question,' he said. 'I said 'Well, I don't think black folks like to camp as much as white folks!' And she said 'You son of a b****!'.'  

Random, her Playa name, sifts through the remains of the Man during the Burning Man 2015 'Carnival of Mirrors' arts and music festival on Sunday

Nadina wears a feathered headdress during the Burning Man 2015 Festival. Sunday marks the last day of the sold-out festival that gathered approximately 70,000 people from all over the world

Ashley (left) and Patience (right) cook bacon for breakfast on the smoldering remains of the Man during the Burning Man 2015 festival

Astrid Perez (left) and Ramon Camacho (right) lay on the Playa on Sunday as this year's annual Burning Man comes to a close

Anna Kallett packs her car before departing Burning Man on Sunday. The mass exodus of approximately 70,000 people is expected to last through Monday

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