Burning Man is not for the faint of heart, even under the best of conditions. You have to bring your own water, food, and drugs. You have to build and dismantle your own society in an inhospitable place.
All of which is why I — a delicate house flower — have never gone. It’s important to know your limits, after all. Even if the Orgy Dome sounds intriguing, I know I’d be too bothered by the chance of sand in my crevices to step foot inside.
This year, the sand is not just in the skin creases of lovers, though. Owing to weather conditions that are downright apocalyptic, it has made its way into every machine cog and human orifice on the Playa.
Intense wind and thunder storms have been battering the area and appear to have destroyed, well, everything. The Orgy Dome was blown away; individual camps destroyed, too.
Intact, however, is attendees’ sense of humor. One video set to the sound of Enya’s “Sail Away” shows the destroyed Orgy Dome flapping in the wind, as a Burner in goggles and full face covering says, “Everybody says Burning Man is all fun and games until the Orgy Dome blows down. I don’t think they consented to that happening.”
The social media videos coming out of Black Rock City in Nevada show what to me looks like hell on Earth, but to the Burners on the Playa is an intense situation they’re handling with a surprising level of grace and good cheer. I’d be crying in a corner. They are pledging to rebuild. Even as the gates to get in have been intermittently closed due to the weather, long lines of vehicles are waiting full of hopeful Burners who are clearly made of stronger stuff than I am.
Here are some of the most intense — and in some cases, intensely funny — videos I’ve seen coming out of the Jet2Holiday that is Burning Man 2025.
The top comment on that video is “not the kind of blowing they were advertising” — clearly a contender for best pun of the week.
Burning Man always has a “Mad Max” vibe, but this year takes it to a whole new level.
Even the RVs are not safe, as this video shows.
Though any sane human might be running away from Burning Man, people are reportedly waiting up to 20 hours to get in.
Stay safe, Burners. And please shower off all that sand before coming back to the chilly embrace of Fog City.