The Burning Man disaster: What is it really about? Why Burning Man 2023 turned into a full-on disaster. And how it is connected to masonic symbolism.
Burning Man is an annual festival held in the Nevada desert. Each and every year Black Rock City transforms into the playa, a burner's playground. Typically at the end of August until the first weekend of September, this area will be filled with rave music, burners and art exhibitions. It ends in the highlight of the event, which is the "Burning of the man" shortly before Labor Day. Right on Labor Day or directly after, you will find thousands of festival goers, who make their way back to civilization, catch their flights back home or drive to their final destination.
At this point, Burning Man attracts more than 70,000 people each and every year. The prices to attend have also gone up, including flights to get out there, car rentals etc. It has been said that Burning Man seems to attract celebs, richer people and burners alike. The estimated cost to attend the burn is around $4,000-$7,000 and up, depending on glamping needs and other luxury equipment. This is a stark contrast to a few hundred dollars, which were spent more than a decade ago for the exact same festival.
2023 was no different from the year before. Except for this time around, the festival experienced torrential rainfall, which resulted in the dried riverbed filling up, causing a lot of mud to pile up in the otherwise dried out desert. As a result, the burners were stuck In Black Rock City for several days longer than expected. At one point, Burning Man was declared a national disaster this year - why is still not entirely certain. At least one person passed away (please note that people have passed away in the previous years, too). Festival goers could not flee the Burn because their cars, vehicles and other things got stuck in the mud. At one point during the weekend before Labor Day, FEMA and other mobilization forces fenced them in and no one was allowed to leave.
Of course celebrities such as Chris Rock and Diplo still made their way out by trekking 7+ miles through the mud and then being picked up by fans. Others followed suit but the majority of people was still stuck at Burning Man. Is this hypocrisy at its best? You decide. Comradery and thinking about the smaller man does not appear to have been their strong suit when fleeing the scene.
Rumors of weather manipulation, an Ebola outbreak and else started spreading. It is truly ironic that rain took over an event called "Burning" Man - which is