Burning Man attendees share ordeal with urine bottles as clean-up begins – live

Elon Musk offered lofty praise to the Burning Man festival – after this year’s event descended into disaster with one person dead and thousands left stranded in the Nevada desert after intense floods.

“Burning Man is unique in the world,” Mr Musk wrote on his platform X. “Hard to describe how incredible it is for those who have never been. Best art on Earth.”

The post drew scrutiny for two reasons. First off, it came as the desert festival is suffering from utter chaos on all sides — torrential floods caused by Tropical Storm Hilary, false claims of an Ebola outbreak, tens of thousands of stranded attendees, and even a death caused by reasons “unrelated to the weather.”

On top of this mess, Mr Musk seemed to be commenting on a video from Paris Fashion Week in 2022 — not Burning Man.

A California man likely died at the mud-impacted Burning Man festival from drug intoxication, a coroner’s office has said.

Leon Reece, 32, was found unresponsive on the remote and weather-hit Nevada festival grounds on Friday evening, according to authorities.

The exact cause and manner of Reece’s death are still pending but the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a statement that drug intoxication was suspected.

The infamous gathering (it’s most definitely not a festival) just finished for another year – but what’s it actually like to pitch up for the full nine days?

The rain has passed, and the temple has burned. Now, as Burning Man slowly empties, it’s time to clean up.

Burning Man organizers have three weeks to clean up the sprawling stretch of public land in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada, but a summer storm that left tens of thousands stranded in ankle-deep mud could alter that timeframe.

One of the principles of Burning Man is to leave no trace — an expectation that all attendees will pack out everything they brought to Black Rock City and clean out their camps before leaving.

But in the aftermath of torrential rains that closed roads, jamming traffic, and forcing many to walk miles barefoot through the muck, the area is dotted with abandoned vehicles, rugs, furniture, tents and trash. The ground itself has deep imprints and ruts.

Triops and fairy shrimp are small crustaceans that can survive years lying dormant in drought conditions. They live in the ground in eggs until weather conditions such as floods can bring them to the surface, says IFL Science.

Nicknamed “dinosaur shrimp”, Triops are relatives of the oldest living creatures, Triops cancriformis, have two main eyes and a pit organ “third eye” that enables insects to detect changes in light and infrared waves.

Fairy shrimp have also resurfaced to join the mud party at Burning Man. Otherwise known as sea monkeys, they are translucent and are very good at withstanding salty environments.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk heaped hyerbole on this year’s Burning Man festival after the event descended into disaster, with one person dead and thousands left stranded in the Nevada desert after intense floods.

“Burning Man is unique in the world,” Mr Musk wrote on his platform X on Sunday.

“Hard to describe how incredible it is for those who have never been. Best art on Earth.”

Every year, after the nine-day Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert finishes, the grounds of Burning Man are littered with trash. This year is likely to be no different – only now, dried mud will likely make an appearance.

Here’s a peak into how the festival affects the area every year.

Gino Spocchia reported last year.

The rain has passed and the temple has burned. Now, as Burning Man slowly empties, it’s time to clean up.

Burning Man organisers have three weeks to clean up the sprawling stretch of public land in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada, but a summer storm that left tens of thousands stranded in ankle-deep mud could alter that timeframe.

One of the principles of Burning Man is to leave no trace — an expectation that all attendees will pack out everything they brought to Black Rock City and clean out their camps before leaving.

But in the aftermath of torrential rains that closed roads, jamming traffic, and forcing many to walk miles barefoot through the muck, the area is dotted with abandoned vehicles, rugs, furniture, tents and trash. The ground itself has deep imprints and ruts.

As 70,000 Burning Man festival-goers were braving the elements, rumours of an Ebola outbreak reportedly sent panic through the desert city.

It was yet another wild conspiracy theory created by bad actors on Elon Musk’s X.

Princess Stephanie of Monaco’s daughter, Pauline Ducruet, has shared her escape from Burning Man on social media.

The eldest daughter of the royal gave her followers a glimpse of her getaway from the muddy grounds of the annual arts festival in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada after organizers lifted the driving ban at 2pm on Monday.

Ducruet, 29, posted on her Instagram Story a photo of the Black Rock Desert range through a car windshield and the open route ahead, captioned, “We out.”

The Alter designer also posted a photo of herself among a group dressed up in festival-ready garments that appeared to be taken before rain stranded thousands of festival-goers. “When it was dry and fun,” Ducruet wrote over the photo on her Story.