Cautionary Tale of Climate Chaos at Burning Man

Burning Man attendees have once again faced severe weather conditions on the closing day of the annual music and arts festival in the Nevada desert. A severe dust storm made visibility too difficult to drive and wait times to leave the site was delayed by several hours.

This isn’t the first time Burning Man attendees have run into trouble trying to leave the festival. Last year, one person was found dead and 70,000 people were left stranded due to a tropical storm during the 2023 Burning Man festival.

It was not the only challenge Burning Man faced that year as a coalition of climate and anti-capitalist activists parked a 28-foot trailer across the road, causing several miles of gridlock until local law enforcement eventually rammed through the blockade.

Both the protest and extreme weather disruption should cause the entire events industry to reflect on the future of major gatherings as we know them.

It Began with Protests

Burning Man is rooted in the ethos of anti-consumerism, self-reliance, and radical self-expression. However, critics have argued that the festival has become a playground for the wealthy elite, Silicon Valley moguls, and billionaires.

The protesters at Burning Man, known as the Seven Circles Alliance, aimed to provoke more aggressive climate action. Their demands included banning private jets, single-use plastics, unnecessary propane burning, and unlimited generator usage during the nine-day event.?

According to the Burning Man Project’s own estimates, more than 90 percent of the event's carbon footprint comes from travel to and from Black Rock City. Another 5 percent comes from gas- and diesel-burning generators that keep lights and air conditioners on throughout the festival. When you factor these together, Burning Man is responsible for about 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to more than what 22,000 gas-powered cars produced in a year.

The climate protest left many burners (Burning Man attendees) feeling confused and agitated. Erika Masako Welch , who attended her first Burning Man this year said, “It was an odd way to protest as the Burner Express Buses dramatically reduce the carbon footprint.” Welch was on a shuttle bus from San Francisco to the festival site. “I was also strongly encouraged to buy carbon offset credits for my flight and bus when I bought my Burning Man ticket,” she added, which she happily obliged.

Then Came the Rain

The annual nine-day Burning Man festival is held in what is typically an arid and dusty desert town known as Black Rock City. This year the site became a muddy swamp after the clouds opened up and crashed the party with two to three months’ worth of rain in just over 24 hours.

Burning Man attendees were instructed to shelter in place and ration their food, water, and fuel.

Sustainability consultant and academic Shawna McKinley tracks events affected by climate disruptions, and she’s seeing a pattern of increasing severity emerging. In addition to Burning Man, McKinley tracked 30 other events that were either canceled, postponed, relocated, or had their agendas notably altered due to the same storm pattern.

You can find Shawna's report and summary on her blog here: Extreme Weather and Event Planning Risks in Canada – Eventcellany

A New Playbook Is Needed

Climate change has rewritten the rules, and our existing contingency plans for major events no longer suffice. It's time to throw away the old playbook and reimagine scenarios that account for the intensifying climate events we face. From sudden floods to raging wildfires and extreme heat waves, we must anticipate the unpredictable and adapt accordingly.

Engaging the right stakeholders as part of revised contingency plans is important and should include meteorology experts and local emergency services. Burning Man did both but still underestimated the risks, so more imaginative scenarios are required for adequate preparations.

The Seven Circles Alliance protestors at Burning Man were not just there to highlight the need for more climate action. They were condemning the capitalist economic system and relentless pursuit of profits over well-being, which they argue is perpetuating climate change through greed, overconsumption, and the myth of endless growth.

If Burning Man is a target for these protestors, then all events face the same risk. After all, Burning Man is a leader. Their 2030 road map aims to remove enough CO2 from the environment to achieve carbon negative as well as become regenerative and ensure “no matter out of place,” or zero waste.

Time to Rethink Events

Both the tropical storm and the climate protest are existential threats to Burning Man, as well as all major events. Can the festival continue as it has before? Does it still make sense to burn “the Man” when our world is already burning?

The even bigger question is what is the role of events in our world when their environmental impacts are so big, and the risks of climate disruptions are so consequential??

Adapting to the new risks and contingency measures required for events is only one part of the way forward for events. The entire events industry needs to reimagine its role as a valuable contributor to the most pressing challenges of our time. Events must be part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem.

Leor Rotchild is a nationally-recognized speaker, author, and consultant with 20 years of sustainable business experience. His new book entitled How We Gather Matters: Sustainable Event Planning for Purpose and Impact is now available at local bookstores or online.

To hire Leor as a Keynote Speaker, please visit leor.ca