Events and Festivals in USA
Whether it’s a local party or a massive national festival, nothing’s more frustrating than missing out on major events on your travels. To make sure you’re at the most exciting events in USA check out the HostelBookers roundup of what’s happening when. We’ve got the lot covered!
Sunset on the Black Rock Desert
Burning Man - USA
When: 31 August 2009 - 07 September 2009
Burning Man is an experience like no other: 50,000 people, a desert, a ragtag community of strangers where money holds no sway… And at the heart of it all, a giant model of a man destined for the fire.
These are early days for the festival (it was founded in 1986) but it’s grown astonishingly quickly over the years. Originally just a few artisitic friends from San Francisco getting together, Burning Man now attracts thousands of visitors from across the globe.
The aim is to create a week-long ‘experimental community’ based on the act of giving and the bond of art. ‘Burners’ engage in communal art-based activities and make their way through the week without having to resort to commercialism and money.
The only rule? Participate! With a new theme set every year, each Burner is expected to fully contribute in the creation or exhibition of a new art installation. Whether it’s a hat made of sand or a performance involving steel rigging, anything goes!
The festival generally runs throughout the last week of August, and culminates in its grand finale: the setting alight of the festival's eponymous figure. After which, a huge cleanup operation kicks in with the maxim ‘Leave No Trace’.
So if you’re feeling creative, community-spirited and more than a little experimental this summer, get yourself to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
