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Since its beginnings in 1986, Burning Man has become the festival of possibilities, dreams and self-expression. Inevitably with growth and success comes safety and security risks.
A tragedy at the festival of dreams
At the signature ceremony of this year’s Burning Man festival, a reveller managed to run past numerous lines of security officers into a massive fire. Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, suffered burns that left him dead just hours later. The festival traditionally culminates with the burning of an enormous 40-foot effigy made of word as a symbol of rebirth and over the years, attendees have attempted to run into the fire as part of their spiritual portion of the festival experience.
Every year, Burning Man hits the headlines for its off-beat programme of performers as well as the most incredible, larger-than-life art installations. With over 70,000 attendees this year, Nevada’s Black Rock Desert festival has faced a growing number of issues over the years as the event has snowballed in popularity.
This year however, the news from the festival is truly tragic. Nevada’s County Sheriff Jerry Allen said attendees trying to run into the fire has been a reoccurring problem over the years but this year was the only fatality he’s aware over in over 15 years in his role. He said:
People try to run into the fire as part of their spiritual portion of Burning Man. The significance of the man burning, it’s just kind of a rebirth, they burn the man to the ground, a new chapter has started. It’s part of their tenants of radical self-expression.
Festival organisers have offered emotional counselling on site for those who witnessed the tragic event and a statement was posted on Twitter.
Our community is grieving after an incident during last night’s Burn. Here is our response. https://t.co/kbmd709CLF
— Burning Man (@burningman) September 3, 2017
