The annual hippie pilgrimage to Black Rock City has been temporarily called off due to poor weather
(Image Courtesy: Burning Man Ustream)
The opening day of Burning Man has been brought to a close, owing to bad weather and rainstorms. They made these announcements via their Facebook and Twitter pages and stated that the roads leading into Nevada’s Black Rock Desert were deemed “un-drivable” by the event producers, who also reported standing water on the playa that serves as the event’s grounds.
(Image Courtesy: Huffington Post)
Here’s the statement they published on their official Facebook page:
The roads that lead to the Burning Man festival grounds have been made completely inaccessible with the accumulating mud causing long traffic jams, as attendees still continue to make their way to the event.
BRC is closed thru tonight & possibly into tomorrow a.m. Cars being turned back @ Wadsworth. Cars also being turned around @ event entrance.
— Burning Man (@burningman) August 25, 2014
The organisers expect the rain to die down and the playa sands to dry out by the middle of Tuesday, when participants will be allowed to enter the event again. State patrolmen are redirecting traffic bound for the Burning Man site, and local police are turning away cars at the event entrance and encouraging them to find a safe place to park.
If you’re in Reno, please stay there until we let you know the Gate has reopened.
— Burning Man (@burningman) August 25, 2014
Burning Man and the roads leading to it reopen 6 a.m. Tuesday.
— Burning Man Traffic (@bmantraffic) August 26, 2014
Organisers have also urged ‘burners’ not to leave the nearest city to the venue, Reno, until instructed otherwise. This year, in an effort to reduce parking-lot overcrowding, the event offered only 35,000 vehicle passes.
(Image Courtesy: Julian Walter)
Still, burners are making the best of it. As some check into neighboring hotels, others are making friends in the traffic jam.
Update: After a brief delay, the action resumed at Black Rock City the following day.