Larry Harvey wanted an authentic, creative community when he founded Burning Man

Larry Harvey, the co-founder of Burning Man, wanted to create a bohemian retreat from everyday society by offering a break from commercialization while providing time to focus on autonomy, shared experience, and "transcendence."

Burning Man Explained

Every year, tens of thousands of people journey into the Nevada desert to build a temporary city centered on radical creativity, art, and community at Burning Man.

A trip to Burning Man offers many once-in-a-lifetime experiences

Burning Man operates on a de-commodified, gift-based economy and allows drugs, nudity, and other unconventional practicers. Burners return to their normal lives with wild stories that can't be replicated outside of the festival.

Burning Man started with 30 people. Now it's a globally recognized festival

Burning Man initially gained momentum thanks to the bohemians of San Francisco's 1980s countercultural scene. Artists and other influential figure helped spread the word to make it one of the largest festivals in the US.

Burning Man is more than a decadent hippie festival

Burning Man is often associated with lawlessness, debauchery, and controversies, but the actual festival has many complex parts, including an ethos that promotes radical self-acceptance and caring for your community.

Mark Zuckerberg, Katy Perry, and other celebrities have attended Burning Man

Burning Man is an expensive endeavor, most attractive and accessible to those with deep pockets and an interest in artistic endeavors. Therefore it’s no surprise the event attracts various famous innovators and entertainers, including the world's richest people.

Burning Man began as a small gathering on a San Francisco beach

Burning man started in 1986 as a gathering for 20 people. In 2023, more than 74,000 attendees became a part of Black Rock City and got caught in the rain.

Burning Man offers an extraordinary experience for its attendees

Many burners claim the festival transforms them, saying that both the magnificent visuals and intense community leave a lasting impression.

Burning Man's artists and architects create without seeking profit or fame

Each year Burning Man's Black Rock City sees major achievements in design. Many creators remain anonymous and do not seek fame, profit, or acclaim, valuing the process of creating, and seeking to cultivate culture and identity.

Burning Man hosts roughly 70k attendees each year

Since 1986, the Burning Man organization has shared a census tracking growth, fluctuations, demographics, and burners' attitudes each year. Part of the organization's motivation is to monitor and reduce carbon emissions at the event.

The artwork at Burning Man is impressive and transient

Huge sculptures, mutant vehicles, concert stages, the Man, and other spectacles created at Burning Man each year are often destroyed by the end of the event. If they aren't burned, they'll often be repurposed or trashed.

See the extraordinary and ephemeral installations from Burning Man 2025

Despite having to work in a muddy desert for just a few days, Burning Man attendees manage to create large, abstract, and visually incredible works of art.

Photos from Burning Man 2023

The annual Burning Man festival occurs in August where over 70,000 people gather in the austere setting of the Black Rock Desert playa in Nevada. The city is set up for a week in concentric circles where attendees set up their habitats and art...

Critics say Burning Man pollutes and promotes elitism

Following the storms and extreme circumstances of the 2023 Burning Man, discourse has circulated about elitism, pollution, and more problems brought by the festival.

'Burners' say their time spent at Burning Man changed their life

A first-hand account from habitual burner Theresa Christine gives insight into the unique festival offering endless art, entertainment, parties, and genuine interactions with strangers.

Burning Man promotes 10 core principles to live by on the 'playa' in Black Rock City.

Silicon Valley’s reign over tech, money, and politics

Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and others are getting into politics. From Musk’s role in President Trump’s second term to Hoffman’s spending on former Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign, more tech CEOs are expanding into politics. This podcast episode by WBUR and American Public Media discusses what the impact could be with so many tech figures engaging in American politics. Listen here.

Burning Man typically costs thousands of dollars to attend

It is no secret that Burning Man is a costly endeavor, with disposable income needed to buy tickets, take time off work, create shelter, hold living supplies, and provide entertainment and gifts while living in the desert.

The infrastructure, talent, and markets of Silicon Valley make the high-tech region ideal for startups

The number of startup employees, founders, and investors who have flocked to Silicon Valley over the years makes the California region ideal for networking in the tech space. Plus, California’s laws and specific rules around trade secrets help founders of fledgling businesses in Silicon Valley feel protected.

The traffic lines leaving Burning Man

The traffic lines leaving Burning Man have become an annual gawking event among the press, as the festival known for its radical "leave no trace" principles nonetheless contributes its share of carbon emissions. See photos of the dramatic departure from the desert playa here.

See an analysis of the similarities between the characters in 'Silicon Valley' and the real people who inspired them

The HBO show "Silicon Valley" follows the story of an engineer who is trying to get his startup to take off in Silicon Valley. While one tech CEO said the show is like a documentary, many speculate the show is based on real life tech figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel.

The top 100 companies in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley has pumped out some of the biggest companies in the world, including Apple, Meta, and Google. Thousands of companies operate in the area, ranging from valuations in the trillions to startups only worth thousands.

Worth more than $14T, Silicon Valley may be getting too expensive for future founders.

A flood left 2023 Burning Man attendees stuck in the desert

During Burning Man 2023, unexpected heavy rainfall and road closures in the desert led to thousands of attendees becoming trapped in the mud with limited resources. The parties and rituals prevailed, but burners also suffered serious consequences with injuries, lost and damaged supplies, and one death.

How Elon Musk's businesses have shaped Texas' Bastrop County

After deadly wildfires in 2011 burned a significant portion of the county, the tech boom in Austin pushed development eastward. Elon Musk has since made the region a key hub of his businesses, including a Tesla gigafactory considered one of the largest factories in the world by volume. Watch this reporter visit the town to hear the pros and cons of the transformation.

One office park had an outsized role in the birth of Silicon Valley

Developed in 1951, Stanford Research Park was more than just a pioneering suburban office park. It would go on to catalyze Silicon Valley's tech ecosystem as a whole.

Silicon Valley’s history in technology can be traced back to the late 1800s

From its developments in radio, defense technology, and personal computing, Silicon Valley has been associated with innovating tech for more than a century. This animated timeline of Silicon Valley’s history helps visualize its evolution.

See a timeline of Silicon Valley's greatest innovations

Silicon Valley is home to some of the biggest innovations of the last century. From radio communicators in the 1930s, to personal computers in the 1970s, the Valley has been the center of technological innovation for decades.

‘I realized after I got there it was a cult,’ one former WeWork executive said

WeWork isn’t only known for how it revolutionized modern work, or its spectacular financial rise and fall. It’s also known for its former cultlike company culture under former CEO Adam Neumann, complete with a charismatic leader and “summer camp” company retreats that blurred the lines between work and personal life.

Black Rock City is a remarkable portable town

While Burning Man hosts many impressive and unique architectural feats, these buildings also have notable issues of safety, accessibility, and reliability.

Y Combinator changed the way startups around the world are built

Many of the philosophies that the leaders of Y Combinator have infused into the program’s portfolio companies have become the playbook for building the next big thing, such as its focus on founder personality and more.

The ritual burns of California forests

Many ecosystems around the world have adapted to regularly occurring wildfires. Some human cultures saw the advantage of such fires and integrated them into their community rituals. Learn about similar tribal traditions looking to better manage California's forests today.

Many dot-com companies spent some investor money on expensive parties

Parties hosted by dot-com companies were known to be extravagant and expensive. Technology companies in the Bay Area hosted between 15 and 20 parties a week on average, which cost between $30K and $50K on average.

See Silicon Valley's real estate, employment, population, and innovation statistics

As a leader in the global economy, Silicon Valley's growth is closely watched around the world. In 2025, companies in the region posted $92B in venture capital deals and created 23,000 new patents. The average wage in the region is $189K, which is much higher than the national average, but the median home price sits around $2.25M—which calls the sustainability of the region's living standards into question.

Before Silicon Valley, the American innovation hub was New Jersey

Today, Silicon Valley is known for its dominance in the tech world. But before it rose to prominence, New Jersey was the country's innovation hub. From Thomas Edison's light bulb to the transistor, New Jersey was considered the nation's leader in technology.

Before Silicon Valley became the largest tech hub in the world, it was an agricultural area known for its flowers and fruit

It was called the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.” This video by Vox explains how the area went from growing prunes to producing computer chips. It also explains how Stanford University had a big impact on the area’s development.

Learn how eight 'traitors' played an essential role in founding Silicon Valley

In the 1950s, William Shockley led the way in the semiconductor business. Everything changed in 1957, after eight of his engineers—whom he called the "Traitorous Eight"—left his company to start their own. Their company, named Fairchild Semiconductor, employed many future founders of major Silicon Valley companies. Today, the Traitorous Eight are considered among the founders of Silicon Valley.

Meet Frederick Terman: Stanford University professor and the 'Father of Silicon Valley'

Stanford University professor Frederick Terman used to encourage his students to start their own tech companies. His advice led to the creation of Hewlett-Packard. He also established the Stanford Research Park, which helped develop many successful tech companies today. Terman is often called the "Father of Silicon Valley," because his ideology directly shaped the region's development.

Many startups in a variety of industries try to reframe themselves as 'tech companies'

Tech is still the dominant industry for startups—in part due to its low barriers to entry, high growth potential, investor preferences, and the proliferation of tech into a wide variety of industries. Sweetgreen, the fast-casual salad chain, for instance, has often referred to itself as a tech company.