Inspiring Vision: Burning Man Festival

"We are lighting up the desert sky with a fire that will burn for the rest of our lives." – Christy Ann Martine

One of the events on my bucket list is the Burning Man Festival. Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. The event's name comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a giant wooden effigy referred to as the Man. The event is guided by ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.

The concept of building truly massive, epic art pieces in the middle of the desert has always captivated me. People show up, collaborate, and create bold, inspiring artistic statements against a desert backdrop of incredible beauty for one week. Then it is burned to the ground, and within a few days, the entire festival is gone without a trace. People take it with them in their hearts, and their memories and the impact of that art live on within them.