Greg Wrote:I'm too cranky to take part in that nonsense.

Quote:Rain closes Burning Man on opening day
Posted on Monday, August 25 at 12:35pm | By Evan Sernoffsky

The gates at Burning Man, the week-long bacchanal art orgy held 110 miles north of Reno on a (usually) dry lake called the playa, were closed Monday and possibly Tuesday due to rain, according to a festival spokesman.

The event, which draws tens of thousands of festival-goers known as “burners” to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, was slated to open at 10 a.m. Monday, but those who were not inside were being turned around at the entrance.

Tickets to Burning Man were hard to come by. Prices started at $380 but quickly shot up to well over $1,000 on third-party sites as the festival drew near.

“Black Rock City has shut down following rainstorms that left standing water on the playa, leaving it un-drivable,” Jim Graham, a festival spokesman, said in a statement Monday.

Law enforcement officials were denying vehicles at the event entrance on Highway 34 northeast of Gerlach, Nev.

“Organizers expect the rain to dissipate and the playa surface to dry out by midday Tuesday and participants will be allowed to enter the event again,” Graham said.

The festival, which started in 1986 as a small gathering of friends burning a wooden man on San Francisco’s Baker Beach, ballooned over the years into a cult-like phenomenon, attracting wild crowds who practice “radical self-expression.”

More recently, the event, where money is supposedly not allowed, has lured Silicon Valley’s super-rich, many of whom treat the event as a mixer to network with other wealthy techies.

Those heading to the festival from Reno were asked to stay put until the rain let up. Hotels were using social media to lure stranded visitors Monday.

Quote:Burning Man Closed Temporarily Due to Heavy Rain

After torrential rains and thunderstorms, Burning Man has been shut down by organizers until at least midday Tuesday and no one is allowed into the festival.

Beginning this morning, event organizers Black Rock City, LLC (BRC) told drivers to stop their journey into the desert due to unsafe weather conditions. Cars have been told to turn back at Wadsworth, Nevada, which is approximately 30 minutes past Reno. Burners already inside the gates are asked to stay in place.

It has been a rocky start to Burning Man this year, which experienced wait times up to four hours last night to enter the festival grounds. Organizers attempted to resolve the problem with an earlier start this year to alleviate traffic congestion.

BRC is closed until midday Tuesday due to rain and standing water. Playa is un-drivable. Law enforcement is turning cars back.
— Burning Man (@burningman) August 25, 2014
“Playa out there is mucky, muddy stuff. With rain attached to it, people get stuck everywhere,” said Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Lopez in an interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal. Nearly 70,000 people are expected to attend the event this week.

While rain is somewhat rare on the Playa, it is not unheard of—last year, rain halted some prep work before the event. The good news is that Burning Man should be dry for the rest of the week. However, there is a chance that high winds could kick up by Saturday.

Quote:Woman at Burning Man struck and killed by bus
Henry K. Lee
Updated 12:17 pm, Thursday, August 28, 2014


In this Monday, Aug. 25, 2014 photo, Burning Man participants bike on the playa during the annual Burning Man event on the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nev. Photo: Andy Barron, Associated Press


(08-28) 12:14 PDT BLACK ROCK DESERT, NEV. -- A Wyoming woman died at Burning Man in northern Nevada early Thursday after she was run over by a bus carrying participants, authorities said.

Alicia Louise Cipicchio, 29, of Jackson, Wyo., died after "falling under a large vehicle," organizers said in a statement.

Details of the crash were not immediately released, but Burning Man co-founder Marian Goodell described it as "a terrible accident."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and campmates," Goodell said. "Black Rock rangers and emergency services department staff are providing support to those affected."

The 500 rangers managed by organizer Black Rock City LLC are patrolling the art and entertainment event in addition to 95 federal and local law enforcement officers. Burning Man officials said they were working with the Pershing County sheriff's office in its investigation of the death.

In 2003, Katherine Lampman of Belmont died at the event when she fell from an "art car" and was run over by its wheels. Lampman, 21, was a student at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and an aspiring photographer.

Some 68,000 people are arriving in the Black Rock Desert about 120 miles north of Reno for the annual weeklong event. The gates opened Tuesday after a rainstorm hit the region, closing the festival Monday on its opening day.