Despite two days of wet weather that delayed work, building crews for Burning Man 2023 wrapped up Build Week on Friday by making significant progress on Black Rock City’s infrastructure, landmarks, artwork and theme camps in the Nevada desert.
Sunny skies returned the muddy playa to dust by Wednesday afternoon as thousands more builders and staff streamed into the reopened gates and fanned out across Black Rock City.
The population reached 15,000 on Friday, up from 1,500 before the gates reopened. About 80,000 people are expected to attend the event next week.
With temps finally cracking 90 degrees on Thursday, business got sweatier as crews began to set up major theme camps and art installations and as construction continued on major landmarks across the playa.
Check out the photos below for a last glimpse of Build Week in Black Rock City before Burning Man 2023 officially begins on Sunday.
Job No. 1 for any Burning Man camp is setting up shade—and toilet facilities. Across the playa, a variety of shade structures are deployed, including everything from lean-tos made out of tarps attached to the top of vehicles to pro-style shelters with tarped ceilings held up by poles bolted and strapped to the ground—the best method for buffering the Black Rock Desert’s inevitable winds.
The second priority for large camps is to receive delivery of storage containers (and face the ridiculous amount of dust covering everything inside).
Some container deliveries were delayed by the inclement weather associated with Hurricane Hilary, which hit California on Sunday and moved north into Nevada.
When a flatbed with two trailers carrying four shipping containers arrived shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, its campers ran alongside it, leaping for joy before hugging the surprised truck driver. A forklift appeared out of nowhere to unload the containers in precisely the desired spot.
Black Rock City is laid out in a half circle, lined by streets numbered by hours on the clock and crossed by lanes lettered A through K. But navigating the city during Build Week can be tough before camps fill in the streets.
Truck drivers must correctly navigate their loads of everything from food and water to disassembled art projects to art cars, like the base for the Gallavant camp’s USS Nevada pirate ship.
Every camp, big or small, starts with a blank slate of playa that is only marked by tiny flags that show its borders. Big camps have official plans that must be followed closely so that a trailer isn’t parked where a service road must be kept clear.
While many art projects had been delayed by the storm, construction on the Chapel of Babel was well underway before Sunday night’s rain. As of Thursday, its crews appeared to be reaching the finishing touch stages of longtime Burning Man artist Michael Garlington’s final sculpture for the playa.
Despite the intricate design of this year’s Temple of the Heart, crews made significant progress since work resumed, with the main structure’s final panels being placed on Thursday.
The majority of the 2023 Man Pavillion had been installed prior to the rains, including the lighting on his neon skeleton. Now builders turned their focus to the honeycomb structures that surround the base of The Hive.
