The Man lit up in its glory, pre-Burn. 2017

I have to admit, before I went to Burning Man I was like many of you out there — certain that it wasn’t for me.

Friend: You still haven’t been to Burning Man yet?

Me: Um, you mean pay money to fry in the desert for a week with no showers? Who would voluntarily subject themselves to that kind of “vacation” *cough* torture*cough*? Especially while I could spend the week on a beach in Spain drinking wine instead? HELL 👏 NO! 👏

At the time, I also believed that Burning Man was just a giant hedonistic desert party filled with bizarre jewel-crusted hats, neon faux fur jackets, and long-haired anarchists tripping on acid. That’s what I saw in the news, and any online photos I saw only confirmed it.

Well friends, I must confess something. I went to Burning Man in 2017 and was proven wrong.

Here’s what I learned from experiencing Burning Man for myself:

1. It’s not just a giant party. It’s a city. It’s a community.

First and foremost, Burning Man is a city. It even has a city name — Black Rock City (lovingly abbreviated as BRC). As Burningman.org describes it, it’s “A city in the the desert. A culture of possibility. A network of doers.”

70,000 people create a city together each year. Imagine a city that is built from the ground up, by the hands of the very people who live in it. When one goes to Burning Man, they are not “going to a festival.” They are visiting a temporary city.

Those who visit are part of the community. In fact, attendees are not merely attendees. They are called BRC citizens. As one enters through the gates to BRC, greeters warmly smile and say, “Welcome home.”

2. People come from all walks of life from all over the world. It’s not only for 20-to-30-something tree-hugging hippies, Instagram models, and Silicon Valley tech bros.

Sunrise sea of people and bikes

As I marveled at the all the people around me on my first day, I was surprised to discover what a huge amount of diversity there was. Yes, DIVERSITY.

I had envisioned a homogenous population of young hippies, models, and tech bros. Social media and news outlets had painted such a picture. I’m not going to deny the fact that there are some douchey people there (I once heard of an elitist camp with fruit-infused spa water and a welcome guide with a Who’s Who comprised of model and VC headshots), but these people are the minority, not the majority.

What I saw with my own eyes were people from all walks of life — all ages (from babies to grandpas to entire families), many nationalities from all over the world, and a colorful range of people with different religions, political beliefs, and orientations. Looking at the Burning Man Census Survey Data, diversity is evident.

In our camp alone, we proudly made up a diverse bunch: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and mixes in between. We also came from a variety of professions including chefs, farmers, doctors, construction builders, consultants, project managers, and artists.

3. Instead of chaos, there’s order.

Well-organized, even from the very beginning at entrance gate

One would think that a temporary city built in a desert would be totally chaotic. I was shocked to find out how orderly it is.

There are well-planned streets (organized from 2:00–10:00 in a clock-wise orientation, and A- L from the center to outer ring), plentiful restrooms (despite recent gossip on the poop situation), help centers, medical tents, and sanitation crews. According to this public infrastructure article, it takes “a year-round staff and over 1,200 volunteers to make this event happen.”

Furthermore, everyone at Burning Man is expected to adhere to the 10 Principles, which include: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-Reliance, Radical Self-Expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation, and Immediacy.

It’s amazing how effective these 10 principles are at creating a respectful and organized community. In fact, adherence to them is so vital to the community and one’s experience that it’s required that you read about them before you buy a ticket.

4. Consent matters. You do not have to do anything you don’t want to.

No means no. And if it’s not a clear yes, then it’s a no. Consent is one of the golden rules and people abide by it.

You are not forced to do anything, and you can opt out of anything at any given time. Don’t want that shoulder massage? Just say no. Don’t want to have a sip of that drink? Just say no.

You need permission to take a photo of someone you don’t know. I was even asked by someone if it was ok for them to give me a hug — consent is taken that seriously. I can only think of one negative encounter during my 8 days there, where a man got a little too close, and we shooed him away as quickly as one could say “Shoo.”

5. There’s so much more to do than party. There are endless other activity options. And art.

One of the many beautiful art installations at Burning Man, 2017.

***Spoiler alert: Yes there are parties, faux fur, and drugs, but it’s not as prevalent as you think, and it certainly does not take precedence***

One of the first things you receive upon arrival is a printed booklet filled with an hour-by-hour schedule of FREE (that’s right, none of them cost money!) events and activities happening each day. There were so many available activities that I was getting major FOMO.

Where do these “free” activities come from? Well, one of the principles of Burning Man is “Gifting”, so people and camps offer amazing gifts to the community.

Here’s just a small snippet of what’s available for you: Attend a relationship workshop, learn ballet, taste wines at a bar, geek out at a science or tech lecture, decorate your bike, have a pancake brunch, “shop” for costumes, watch a circus performance, dance all night to whatever music your heart desires (not just electronic), take a kinky rope bondage class, zipline, workout in a unicorn cycling class, or listen to live jazz bands. Last year, one of my favorite things was looking at the moon’s craters through a telescope. There’s even a Black Rock observatory for astronomy buffs in the desert! And also an Ultra Marathon for runners.

There’s also art. SO MUCH ART. Black Rock City is basically a huge museum in the desert, filled with giant, stunning art pieces. Here are some breathtaking art pieces, captured beautifully by one of my friends.

6. It’s a deeply spiritual place, even for the non-spiritual. Instead of hedonism, there’s reverance.