Burning Man begins under close police scrutiny, sorrow over deaths

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: Burning Man's anything-goes (and temporary) city The annual Burning Man event centers on building an almost-anything-goes city in the desert for just a week.

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated Crimson Rose's name.

RENO, Nevada — Tens of thousands of costumed participants here for the annual Burning Man festival face newly toughened law enforcement scrutiny as they build a temporary city in the desert.

The event, which consists of all-night dance parties and a strong dose of nudity, is being held for the first time since two notable deaths, including founder Larry Harvey, who passed away this summer following a stroke. Participants will also mourn the death of a man who during the final days of last year’s event shockingly ran into a massive fire.

The festival officially runs Aug. 26-Sept. 3 and culminates in two days of big fires, first the raucous burning of a 100-foot-tall wooden effigy amid a fireworks display, and then the solemn burn of a wooden “temple” stuffed with notes and letters to loved ones.

Most of the participants are returners, but 30 percent, like full-time digital nomad Brittney Gustin, are first-timers brimming with a mix of excitement and anxiety. Burning Man participants must provide their own food and water for the event; the only things for sale will be coffee and ice. Gustin on Friday loaded her van with supplies in a Walmart parking lot, surrounded by dozens of similarly occupied "Burners."

“I have no expectations. And that seems like a good thing," said Gustin, a health care consultant who lives in her van. General admission tickets for the eight-day event cost nearly $400 and sold out within minutes. Participants routinely give food or trinkets to each other, but bartering and the exchange of money is frowned upon.

The festival itself is facing a crossroads, driven by organizers’ eventual desire to increase annual participation to 100,000 people while maintaining the ethos that made it special in the first place: an “almost anything goes” atmosphere of nudity, drugs and all-night dance parties. Organizers are also trying to balance a culture of consent and the #MeToo movement with the festival’s longstanding tradition of strangers hugging hello.

The event has drawn criticism over the past several years for the growth of special camps for the ultra-wealthy, where hired staff cater to their every need, including customized Instagram-ready costumes, and private planes whisking them in and out without the inconvenience of waiting in line. Executives from Google, Apple, Facebook and Tesla have all attended previously.

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But before it has even officially started, this year’s festival is already facing controversy: Federal police are targeting participants heading from Reno into the desert, pulling over drivers for minor traffic infractions and searching for drugs. Burning Man officials are threatening to sue the federal government over the traffic stops, complaining they are unwarranted and unconstitutional. Federal officials say the timing of the extra-tough traffic stops is merely a coincidence as the Trump Administration cracks down on opioid abuse.

"The real gauntlet is getting to the playa," said Mike Harden, a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, whose lands most Burners must cross via a two-lane road to reach the event. It's unclear whether the get-tough law enforcement attitude will extend to the playa itself, which is federal land rented by Burning Man for the event. Federal cops circulate within the festival, and have been searching arriving vehicles to enforce the federal ban on marijuana, which is otherwise legal in Nevada.

Longtime participant AleXander Hirka of New York City said the "amazing" level of freedom at Burning Man is a major draw for participants, who adopt playa names, wear costumes and take on roles they might never consider in the outside world. That freedom means people are welcome to walk around naked without judgement or fear or arrest. As he usually does, Hirka is camping with a group of polyamorous friends, who celebrate unconventional romantic relationships. Still, Hirka said he's noticed an increased law enforcement presence over his 11 years attending: "It does feel more oppressive."

Crimson Rose, one of the event's founders, last year said there's always been a struggle to balance safety and freedom.

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"It's easy to dismiss the idea of strangers peacefully existing on a barren lakebed," she said. "How do you explain it? It's about community coming together. Sometimes people don't know how to handle the extremes. There's so much freedom here."

Dozens of participants are usually arrested each year, mostly for drug possession, and the Burning Man organization officially disavows any illegal activity. In their threat to sue over the traffic stops, Burning Man organizers said the harsh policing seemed designed to stifle participants' First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and express themselves.

Free expression and the art accompanying it is what draws Tammy Remington of New York. Fantastic and whimsical art installations are scattered around the seven-square-mile "city" in the desert, and lighted vehicles circulate constantly, dance music pumping from massive speakers. There's nothing else like it on Earth, she said.

“I don’t go because it’s cool. I don’t even think of it as cool," Remington said. “It's just that you go and there are these sublime moments you have that you know will never happen anywhere else and will never happen again.”