Dust Disrupts Burning Man festival in Nevada desert near end of event

[NakedGary]

Dust Disrupts Burning Man festival in Nevada desert near end of event (http://bartsystems.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/312/)


Monday, September 01, 2008, 11:26:56 AM | NakedGary


Burning Man festival nears end in Nevada desert

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Burning Man participants wait for a dust storm to clear

</DL>Burning Man participants wait for a dust storm to clear near Gerlach, Nev., during the Burning Man festival at the Black Rock Desert on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Brad Horn) (Brad Horn - AP)

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The Lamplighters carry lamps to begin the processi The Lamplighters carry lamps to begin the procession of the burning of ‘The Man’ during a dust storm at the Burning Man festival near Gerlach, Nev., on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Brad Horn) (Brad Horn - AP)

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ZigZag, left, and Christ, kiss during a dust storm on ) ZigZag, left, and Christ, kiss during a dust storm on the playa during the Burning Man festival near Gerlach, Nev., on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, at the Black Rock Desert. (AP Photo/Brad Horn)

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‘The Man’ explodes during the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach, Nev., on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Brad Horn) (Brad Horn - AP)

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‘The Man’ burns during the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach, Nev., on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Brad Horn) (Brad Horn - AP)

</DL><DL class=slideOff>http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/08/31/PH2008083100468.jpgBurning Man participants wait for a dust storm to clear Burning Man participants wait for a dust storm to clear in the Jazz Cafe at the Black Rock Desert during the Burning Man festival on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Brad Horn)

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Burning Man participants compete in the swimming Burning Man participants compete in the swimming leg of the annual Black Rock City triathalon at the Burning Man festival near Gerlach, Nev., on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008. 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. (AP Photo/Brad Horn) (AP Photo/Brad Horn)

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Associated Press
Sunday, August 31, 2008; 11:14 PM
RENO, Nev. — The party is drawing to a close at the annual Burning Man festival on the northern Nevada desert.
Participants in the eclectic art and music event had planned to burn more artwork Sunday night before its Labor Day conclusion.
The celebration of radical self-expression climaxed late Saturday night with the torching of its 40-foot signature effigy. A dust storm prompted many participants to leave the Black Rock Desert before the finale.
The crowd for the weeklong celebration peaked Saturday at a record 49,599, up from 47,097 last year.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials said the festival ran smoothly and no major problems were reported. They made 11 arrests and issued 175 citations to participants, most for drug violations, BLM officials said.
Burning Man began in 1986 at San Francisco’s Baker Beach and was moved in 1990 to the Black Rock Desert, about 110 miles north of Reno.





http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/nytlogo153x23.gif (http://www.nytimes.com/)
Arts, Briefly
Dust Disrupts Burning Man


Compiled by JULIE BOSMAN (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/julie_bosman/index.html?inline=nyt-per)



Published: August 31, 2008
A dust storm disrupted the Burning Man festival (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/burning_man_festival/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) in Nevada on Saturday, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/bureau_of_land_management/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Roger Farschon, told The Associated Press. The festival was in a “total whiteout,” Mr. Farschon said in an e-mail message. “A similar cold front caused a major dust event on Monday. The rest of the event has been relatively dust-free.” The festival, a celebration of music, art and self-expression held in the Black Rock Desert, attracts nearly 50,000 participants each year.
More Articles in Arts » (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/arts/index.html) A version of this article appeared in print on September 1, 2008, on page E2 of the New York edition.
__________________________________________________ ____________

September 1, 2008
Arts, Briefly
Dust Disrupts Burning Man

Compiled by JULIE BOSMAN (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/julie_bosman/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
A dust storm disrupted the Burning Man festival (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/burning_man_festival/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) in Nevada on Saturday, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/bureau_of_land_management/index.html?inline=nyt-org), Roger Farschon, told The Associated Press. The festival was in a “total whiteout,” Mr. Farschon said in an e-mail message. “A similar cold front caused a major dust event on Monday. The rest of the event has been relatively dust-free.” The festival, a celebration of music, art and self-expression held in the Black Rock Desert, attracts nearly 50,000 participants each year.



<HR>
Texas2SF@aol.com adds:
This was the 2nd TOTAL white-out we experienced this 2008 year Burning Man, one on Monday for our arrival, we were stopped just short of the gate, and then again on Saturday, when we decided to pack up and get to Reno Saturday night for a shower, (only there were no rooms), but we’re home a few days early…
I did, in fact, get to work at the Airport, about an hour (TUE), since I was just on a joy ride from camp, and I had left my partner back at our camp, the shift asked for 4 hours, but again, I hadn’t let my partner know that I might be gone ever so long! I was going to go back on the weekend, NOW….but this 2nd cold front along with the dust interrupted that ever happening…I met a lot of great folks while stopping in at the Black Rock City Travel Agency (shade-structure), along with one of the ring leaders of the Airport, that being “Blaze”….
Another great time at Burning Man, though, the dust was….WELL……


Ok, Now off to clean the rented SUV and all that dust!



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[Navigator]

My wife and I were there with 18 of our best friends. We had a great time, as usual.

As you can see by the clear pictures of the Man Burning and the fireworks going off, the dust had cleared by early evening on Saturday night, the stars were out, the wind was calm and the visibility was unlimited.

It's true we had a dust storm on Monday and another (during the day) on the following Saturday which was the night of the burn. But dust storms are normal on the Black Rock Desert and most experienced Burners are prepared for them.

As Burningman grows it is attracting a larger proportion of young people who come from cities to attend the Rave Camps that are scattererd around the event. A lot of these kids have never hiked or camped in Western deserts and are ill-prepared for the conditions...even if they bother to read the event's "Survival Guide" which most do not. www.burningman.com

Perhaps that's where the term "disrupted" in the headline of the article came from as we did see a lot of people leaving during the dust storm early on Saturday before the burn that evening. Or, maybe, the writer of the article was one of the people who was not prepared and didn't think anyone else was either.

In any case....Two little dust storms in one week and some of these people were done with it enough to give up and miss the main event. You can imagine the discussions in some of their camps. "Hey, lets go home and play video games and check our text messages!".....or is that too cynical.

[Navigator]

Here's a nice on-line collection of photos from this year's Burningman...some with dust and some without.

Clicking on the little "next page" box at the top of the thumbnails will take you to many pages of photos.

Enjoy...

http://theblight.net/08/bm/

[zharth]

The dust storm was a lot worse late Sunday evening, after the Temple Burn. Though maybe that's because it was night. It actually started drizzling (yes, rain in the desert!) as we sat/stood around the smoldering wreckage of the Temple. It was so cold that night, that even the fire was little consolation. And then it was white-out condition. I had to walk back to camp in a white-out *at night*, in the freezing cold wind, coming from the middle of the empty playa, trying to orient myself in a city where more than half of the landmarks had been taken down and/or shipped home in the past 24 hours, and all the street signs had been taken as "souvenirs" by this point. I did mention that this was at night, right? It was wicked. Totally scary, but totally awesome. An unforgettable end to an unforgettable week.

[Pilot]

The dust storm was a lot worse late Sunday evening, after the Temple Burn. Though maybe that's because it was night. It actually started drizzling (yes, rain in the desert!) as we sat/stood around the smoldering wreckage of the Temple. It was so cold that night, that even the fire was little consolation. And then it was white-out condition. I had to walk back to camp in a white-out *at night*, in the freezing cold wind, coming from the middle of the empty playa, trying to orient myself in a city where more than half of the landmarks had been taken down and/or shipped home in the past 24 hours, and all the street signs had been taken as "souvenirs" by this point. I did mention that this was at night, right? It was wicked. Totally scary, but totally awesome. An unforgettable end to an unforgettable week.

I got there that first day, and attempted to put up my tent in that dust storm. Eventually got it up, but it resulted in my tent and everything I owned totally covered in dust.

Weather was actually pretty good for the most part, until that last nights storm. But I was on my way out by that time, but it did start to get rather chilly. Yeah, it gets really interested trying to make your way around on that last day, when street signs are getting taken, and all the familiar landmarks are not the same anymore