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Dates TBA \\ Black Rock Desert \\ Nevada
burning man
music
festival
THE HISTORY
Burning Man began back in 1986 in San Francisco on Baker Beach. It was started by Larry Harvey and a few of his friends, including Jerry James as a gathering of radical self-expression.
1991 was the first year that Burning Man had a legal permit through the Bureau of Land Management. This would later bring about new restrictions the event would have to manage.
In 1996 Burning Man was officially a partnership with another event at the time called “Desert Siteworks” which was nearby. This was when the name Burning Man came to be officially.
In 1992 electronic music began to appear due to the rave culture, taking place in San Francisco. This year was the first year where a new area was created called Deep Playa Music Zone for live DJs.
In 1990 the sculpture on the beach was becoming too large to burn without a permit and the police shut it down. That same year Kevin Evans and John Law held a separate event in the Black Rock Desert where a large sculpture would also be burned.
In 1997 the event was changed to a pedestrian/bicycle only event to prevent safety hazards with driving. They also decided to move the event to a private gated property with grid streets.
In 2000 law enforcement activity was first seen dealing with minor drug charges. Having law enforcement at an event like this could definitely change things given the use of drugs and other behavior at similar events.
2008 was the first year tickets weren’t sold at the gate and the next year they began to sell tickets at the gate again. There was also a decrease in the rising attendance rates due to the stock market crash.
2010 was the first year the event had an attendance of over 50,000 people. The next year was the first year that tickets sold out before the event.
The event is guided by 10 principles that mold the culture. Those principles are: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, immediacy.
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