Burning Man Festival: Thousands finally leave Black Rock Desert
- Burning Man festival-goers were given the OK to leave Tuesday
- Torrential downpours, mud influenced a shelter-in-place advisory
- There were still 36,000 people at the site Tuesday afternoon
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BLACK ROCK CITY, Nev. (NewsNation) — Burning Man festival-goers are no longer stranded in the Black Rock Desert after sheltering in place last weekend due to a torrential downpour.
While festival-goers were given the OK to leave Tuesday, the Burning Man organization advised people to delay leaving until Wednesday morning to avoid congestion.
A trail of tens of thousands of cars waited in hours-long lines trying to exit festival grounds.
“Originally, the radio station reported that it was going to be a five- to six-hour wait, which then turned into seven hours,” Jen, an event nurse, said.
Those who flew were told they’d need to put their mud-caked suitcases in plastic bags before checking in.
“I think there were probably some people that were a bit anxious about getting out. Like some people don’t have a week and a half to spend in the desert,” Ben, who attended the festival, said.
Park rangers told NewsNation it’s likely new emergency protocol measures will be put in place for next year’s event.
An unusual late-summer storm over the weekend created a muddy mess, stranding attendees who were told to ration food and water.
Anyone who did try to leave the playa got stuck in the mud and cars even caught on fire, according to those who are there.
The storms also delayed the ceremonial fire.
Burning Man prides itself on being the largest “no trace” event in the world, the event site doesn’t even have trash cans.
Whatever trash you make, you take with you.
As revelers head home, at least one nearby town put up signs warning them not to dump trash there.
“Sure, a couple of garbage bags were left here and whatnot, but it’s really, it’s not that bad. You know, for what it is, for the scale of Burning Man, the ramifications are minimal. They affect some people, there is always going to be somebody that complains,” Frank Perticone, a second-hand bicycle seller, said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were still 36,000 people at the site. Most of them were waiting in the car line to get home.
KRON contributed to this report.
