Burning Man returns for first in-person festival in two years

The event, held in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, began on Sunday with the theme Waking Dreams

An art installation at Burning Man, near Gerlach, Nevada. All photos: AP

A group of festivalgoers ride their bikes on a dusty afternoon in Nevada's Black Rock Desert during Burning Man.

The 2022 Burning Man theme is Waking Dream.

An art car rides past an art piece at Burning Man near Gerlach, Nev. on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. Burning Man returns after a two-year pandemic shutdown. (Andy Barron / The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP)

The festival is returning after a two-year hiatus owing to the pandemic.

The 36-year-old festival was interrupted in 2020 and 2021, with virtual events and burning sessions held instead.

Participants design and build all the attractions at the short-lived metropolis, as well as organise all activities and events.

After a two-year hiatus owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Burning Man has returned in all its costumed, communal glory.

The annual week-long festival, held in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, began on Sunday with the theme Waking Dreams.

Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the highlights from this year's festival

About 80,000 campers have made their way to the temporary Black Rock City for the festival, which celebrates self-reliance and expression.

Participants design and build all the attractions at the short-lived metropolis, as well as organise all activities and events.

The festival features myriad works of art, from sculptures and buildings to performances. It is named after the large effigy, The Man, which is set ablaze on the penultimate night of the festival. This year the event wraps up on September 5.

Burning Man began in 1986 in San Francisco and was moved to Black Rock Desert in 1991. The 36-year-old event was interrupted in 2020 and last year, with virtual events and burning sessions held in its place.

With the festival now reprising a sense of normality, participants, who pay $575 a ticket, can expect to enjoy parties with music ranging from disco and 1980s pop to Latin and jazz. Meditation and hypnotherapy sessions will also be held, while a hammock forest will give participants the opportunity to unwind.

Events will also include a projectile hurling contest, a foam weapon standoff, as well as a bikini armour crafting workshop. Educational sessions will include talks on the overlap of artificial intelligence and astronomy. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, meanwhile, will hold an experiment to map the gift-giving economy of Burning Man, according to US news website Axios.

The festival is organised by the Burning Man Project, which holds smaller versions of the event in the US and around the world. It also spearheads community initiatives including Burners Without Borders, Black Rock Solar and Global Art Grants, all of which are founded to promote the Burning Man principles of self-expression and anti-consumerism.