β€œOnce a year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock DesertΒ to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever.”

This gathering of people is popularly termed Burning Man, an event deeply rooted in exploring all aspects of imagination and creativity. At Burning Man, you might find or lose yourself, but either way, you’ll leave enlightened.

As a self-proclaimed Burning Man fan, The Sherp has compiled a list of videos that give us quirky, fun and unique insights into the world of the festival. Prepare to be amazed.

 

1. A dummies guide to surviving Burning Man – How to do Burning Man

This hilariously informative video starts with a question -‘Could you handle seeing a guy wearing a rainbow crocheted thong, would you get a kick out of checking out a car shoot out flames and could you stand camping in a desert for a week?’ Β Apart from listing survival tips, the commentator talks about everything you can explore – from playing life-size Jenga, getting de-circumcised to taking part in some wonderfully weird adventure sports.Β Watch and learn how and why you should take that much needed break and head to Black Rock City, Nevada.

2. A bird’s-eye view of Burning Man, 2013 – In the Dust, Above the Dust

Filmed with a GoPro on the back of an aerial drone, this video helps you comprehend the vastness of Black Rock City. It’s camping colonies, stages and installations all form into a surprisingly organised looking half-circle. There are also some great shots of The Burning Man himself.

3. Hula Hooping at Burning man – Hula Cam at Burning Man

This one is just so much fun to watch. With a GoPro attached to a hula hoop, watch as these lovely ladies take turns at spinning to the music.

4. A Burning Man Time Lapse – Dust to Dust

From dust to dust, this time lapse covers over 5 weeks, including the preparation of the event, from before the trash fence erection.Β Watch this video to see how the city arrives and leaves, almost as a mirage in itself.Β 

5. Burning Man inspired poetry – Oh, The Places You’ll go

This amazing video shows many an attendee reciting snippets of the popular Dr Seuss poem – Oh The Places You’ll Go against visuals of colourful festival. The vid is a fairly apt choice as Burning Man is pretty much a carnival for adults!

6. Burning Man through the eyes of an 86 -year old – Forever Young

This is one of the most unique ideas for a Burning Man video we’ve come across. Watch how an 86-year-old retired firefighter narrates his experiences of Burning Man 2013. He marvels at the art, congratulates the culture and talks about how Burning Man has the ability to take your imagination to places it has never been.

7. A Drone’sΒ view – To Fly Burning ManΒ 

A video by the good folks at Fest300 that encapsulates the 2014 Burning Man experience from the view of a drone. It does look magical.

8. Burning Man – A 2015 Aftermovie

When you have close to 60,000 people spending 7 days in the Nevada Desert at a event dedicated to revelry and debauchery in the name of self-exploration, Β interesting videos and pictures are bound to pop up.

Over the years, Burning Man participants have created some of the best after movies we’ve seen on the internet, with some using even drones and other technology to deliver the surreal experience of this festival on video.

LastΒ year, a video by Dutch producer Sander van Doorn (who was one of the participants at this year’s Burning Man) caught our eye. This after-movie is the perfect encapsulation of the festival, with visuals of massive art installations from the inside and the outside. You can also spot some fantastic aerial shots of the participants and nigh-time revellers at the festival – all this while a upbeat mix of Dave Rosario’sΒ Ketanissa plays in the background.

The film was shot and filmed by Jorrit Monne. Take a look.

Burning Man from UBERcut on Vimeo.