Burning Man: When "Radical Self-Expression" Meets Rain and Death

Oh boy, where do we even start with this one? So, the first day of Burning Man 2024 was a total shitshow—literally, because mud. But also because someone kicked the bucket.

The Burning Man Project confirmed the death, saying their emergency services tried to save an unresponsive person. Spoiler alert: they failed. Shocker, right?

Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen told the Reno Gazette Journal that deputies showed up and found out about the death. The victim? Just some nameless woman. Her identity is being kept secret until they can track down her family. Good luck with that, considering half the people there are probably on some kind of trip.

About Burning Man: It's basically a bunch of hippies and tech bros playing pretend in the desert.

Surprise, Surprise: Weather Sucks, Gates Open Late

And get this—the festival also had weather delays! Who could have seen that coming, right? It's not like it's in the middle of a fucking desert or anything.

About 20,000 idiots were left waiting for 12 hours because of rain and mud. Last year, it was even worse. Roads got washed away, toilets overflowed, and people were stranded. Sounds like a blast, huh?

When is Burning Man?

This year, it's from Aug. 25 through Sept. 2. They're expecting over 70,000 people, which is down from previous years. Shocking that not everyone wants to spend a week in the desert pretending to live in Mad Max.

What is Burning Man?

It started in '86 when some dudes burned a human-shaped sculpture in San Francisco. Now, it's a massive fuckfest in the Nevada desert where people build stuff, trade crap, and pretend money doesn't exist. It's all about "self-expression" and rejecting capitalism—except for the part where you have to pay a shitload of money to get in. But hey, at least there are drugs and sexual assaults to keep things interesting!

So there you have it, folks. Burning Man: where you can pay to play in the mud, maybe die, and definitely regret it.