This week, we head out to Black Rock City (a temporary art-city built once a year in the Nevada desert, becoming the 5th largest city in the state during the event) for the ever-expanding Burning Man Festival. The theme for 2008 is “AMERICAN DREAM” . . . and there may be more than 50,000 participants this year, based on camp reports…
“the perimeter fence has grown from 7 miles long to 9 miles long. Now, all you geometry buffs have probably already figured out that’s … well … a lot bigger. The inner playa is much bigger too … the distance from the Man to the Esplanade Road has grown from 2,200 to 2,700, making the length of the Esplanade itself 2,500 longer. Getting the picture?”
Satellite Image of Black Rock City, NV
Amy is performing at dawn (6AM), welcoming in the sunrise at the Center Camp Performance Stage in Black Rock City on Sunday morning after the burn!
…and one more cool thing – (as Amy will be singing “MARY” in this early morning hour): how Burning Man all began! Larry Harvey & Jerry James built & burned a wooden man effigy on Baker Beach in San Francisco on the summer solstice in ’86, following a tradition begun by MARY Grauberger, in regular solstice circles. It moved to the Nevada desert in 1990.
After The Fall EP cover
Photo taken by Alex Orlovsky in Asheville, NC
*************
Burning Man is an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. LEAVE NO TRACE – radical sustainability – is practiced as well. “Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind.”
It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is organized by Black Rock City, LLC. In 2007, 47,366 people participated in The Burning Man Project.
Stories from Burning Man 2008 coming soon…
Looking forward to the adventure!
Namaste.
Amy Clarke 