The F-word you can never use at Burning Man

Famous the world over, Burning Man is a unique experience that transcends anything you’ve ever been to before, but don't call it the "F-word".

What started with a wooden figure being burned on a San Francisco beach on Summer Solstice has become an annual experience. Picture: Curtis Simmons,

The Burning Man greeter is beaming at us as we complete the RV merging marathon to get in, and when he discovers it’s our first time that grin gets even wider. Next thing I know I’m rolling around on the ground, making dirt angels with my arms – a first-timer’s ritual that’s all about embracing the superfine dust I will get to know so well.

It feels so wrong. And yet oh so right. I’ve finally made it to Burning Man. What started with a wooden figure being burned on a San Francisco beach on Summer Solstice 1986 has become a once-in-a-year experience like no other – a community that comes together in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to create an extraordinary, ephemeral world, guided by Burning Man co- founder Larry Harvey’s 10 principles.

They are radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. And just like that first time, there’s a man built to be burned. Though these days it’s a towering effigy that can be more than 30m high with about 80,000 people gathered around it as the flames take hold.

Burning Man is not a festival. Don’t even think about using that F-word. It transcends anything you’ve ever been to before, and might just push you beyond your limits. While photos can capture some of the magic, such as the mesmerising art cars and sculptures rising out of the desert, they can’t share the intensity of the dust and heat.

Talcum-powder fine, the dust gets everywhere and due to its alkaline nature can lead to a kind of chemical burn, called playa foot, for those who go barefoot or in sandals. Dust storms can lead to total white-outs in an alien landscape and at times the heat is so intense there’s nothing to do but stay in your RV or camp and wait it out.

Bikes are essential to get around Burning Man. Picture: Arash Afshar.

That said, if I could afford to, I’d be back in that dust every year. While no money is exchanged at Burning Man, except for ice or coffee, it isn’t cheap. I honestly can’t remember (hello denial) how much I spent but by the time we paid peak RV rental prices, and bought flights, tickets, vehicle passes, bikes (essential to get around), and everything we needed to be radically self-reliant for a week it was a lot. As for the cleaning fee from the RV company after we paid for it to be professionally cleaned? Ouch.

Some people fly in for the weekend but the best way to experience Burning Man is to go for the whole week. And even then you won’t come close to seeing it all. When packing your bags, almost anything goes. You’ll soon learn the word MOOP (matter out of place) and don’t want to be the one dropping feathers or sequins in the land of leave no trace. But beyond that, wear whatever makes you happy.

The burning of the Man on Saturday night is met with fireworks, music and dancing, but the burning of the Temple, where people leave messages to people they’ve lost, on Sunday night is a sacred sight. Prepare to be changed in a way no words can truly explain.

Originally published as The F-word you can never use at Burning Man