2023 Burning Man

Overview

2023 Burning Man refers to an incident at the 2023 Burning Man festival in which thousands of people attending the event are currently isolated and needing to save on food and water as a rainstorm has left the region muddy and inaccessible. Videos of attendees showing the state of the festival have gone viral on X, Instagram and TikTok, inspiring online discussions and ironic memes.

Background

The 2023 Burning Man festival was scheduled to occur from August 27th to September 4th at the Black Rock Desert in the state of Nevada, in the United States. On September 2nd, 2023, heavy rains made the region where the festival takes place muddy, isolating over 70,000 attendees and the event staff.^[1] On September 3rd, the YouTube^[2] news channel @TODAY posted a video about the incident (shown below) stating at least one person had died. The post amassed over 301,000 views and 1,800 likes in a day.

Developments

As of September 4th, 2023, CNN^[3] reported that "roads out of the Burning Man festival may reopen for the tens of thousands of people trapped for a third day in the Nevada desert." TikTok user^[4] @angiepeacockmsw, who is one of the attendees trapped in the desert, posted an update on the situation (shown below) in the desert. The video garnered over 137,000 plays and 2,900 likes in a few hours.

Online Reactions

Thousands of attendees, celebrities and the festival staff are posting updates on their current situation in the desert. For instance, on September 3rd, producer and DJ Diplo posted a video^[5] alongside American comedian Chris Rock showing how they were able to flee the festival. The video (shown below, left) amassed more than 7.2 million plays and 596,000 likes in a day. The same day, TikTok^[6] user @ninja_natalie posted a video (shown below, right) of an abandoned car trapped in the mud, which garnered over 8 million plays and 415,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References