Burning Man has officially gone digital this year, but deep down we always knew that some small portion of Burners were never going to be satisfied with a digital burn. So we can’t say we’re surprised to hear that since last weekend, several Burners have been flocking to the Black Rock Desert for an unofficial and socially distanced erecting of Black Rock City, pandemic be damned.
Local Reno news station KTVN, the Reno Gazette, and NBC4 all report that “hundreds” of people have been arriving in the Black Rock Desert playa since last weekend with all the usual Burning Man staples in tow, including RVs, campers, mutant freak vehicles, and art installations. The Burners plan to leave after Labor Day Weekend.
The state of Nevada seems pretty down for the impromptu gathering, including the local businesses that have been especially hard hit by the damages of the pandemic, and usually rely on the heavy foot traffic that Burning Man brings. According to one Burner, Mark Fowler, who spoke to NBC4, “We were worried at first coming out here, we heard the Bureau of Land Management may block people from getting out here, but that wasn’t the case.” In fact, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along with the Washoe and Pershing County Sheriff’s offices and local tribes have given Burners official permission for their camping zones and will be monitoring the playa over the weekend in case of an emergency.
According to the Reno Gazette, visitors have been advised by Nevada’s BLM to bring water, food, shade, lights for their camp, and supplies to last their entire stay, probably so Burners won’t pose a risk to the local community. Currently, Nevada has counted 70,319 cases of COVID-19 and has been on a sharp downward trajectory of cases since late July. The state is currently in Phase 2 of reopening and has a pretty relaxed policy on social distancing and gatherings. According to the Nevada Health Response, “When it comes to gatherings, the risk is not just based on how many people there are, but rather how closely they are gathered and how they are interacting with each other.”
Unlike spring breakers at the start of the pandemic or Sturgis bikers last month, Burners seem pretty conscious of the dangers of COVID-19 exposure. ‘Bureaucracy,’ one of this weekend’s event organizers told NBC4, “People made the decision to come here during a global pandemic. So we decided to keep people’s camps 200 feet away from one another and to advise wearing masks when meeting others. If people feel safe, they then should make others feel safe.” Burners it seems, are pretty accepting of the changes, “It’s just like asking somebody, ‘hey is one burn better than the next?’ The answer is no. It’s just another chapter in our book,” Burner Mark Debbie told KTVN.
While Burners are optimistic and aware that putting themselves in possible danger is their own choice, any type of travel increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Peter ‘Happy Mentor’ a middle school English teacher and Burner who talked to KTVN remarked on the use of masks when venturing into town, saying “We want to keep people in the town healthy and we’re trying to abide by the rules and have a good time,” but acknowledged that a lot of Burners aren’t wearing face coverings out on the playa, where temperatures are expected to tip into triple digits this weekend.
While this is likely to be one of the most interesting and crunchy “Burning Mans” of all time — what are people going to do with their poop?! — we’d rather take our chances with the digital experience, where our own private bathrooms are just a few steps away.