Tropical Storm Hilary Puts A Dampner On Burning Man 2023 Preparations —Is The Tech-Bro Party Doomed This Year?

Construction for the Burning Man 2023 festival has been temporarily halted due to rainfall from Tropical Storm Hilary, making the festival grounds impassable.

According to SF Standard, the festival’s gates were shut on Monday and will remain closed until at least midday Tuesday, following an official update from the Burning Man Project.

Social media is awash with images of the waterlogged site after heavy overnight rain. Tropical Storm Hilary’s precipitation is disrupting plans for many camps preparing for build week at Black Rock City.

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The festival’s traffic update on Monday afternoon confirmed that “large amounts of the playa remain either covered in standing water or damp & impassable,” with strong winds working to dry up the standing water.

On Tuesday, the Burning Man Traffic handle on X said that major rain had stopped and only a few light and scattered showers followed.

“Large amounts of the playa remain either covered in standing water or damp & impassable, but strong winds are helping to disperse & dry up the standing water.”

John Marx, co-founder of the Museum of No Spectators art project, has postponed his build by two days due to the current weather conditions, opting to stay in Reno to wait out the rain.

Despite the halt in construction for theme camps and art projects, major structures like the Man—the effigy to be burned at the end of the festival—and the foundation of the Temple are already in place, according to longtime Burner Joel Briggs.

The unpredictable weather conditions and resulting delays underscore the importance of the “immediacy” ethos, one of the ten principles outlined on the Burning Man website.

Photo Courtesy: RAW-films On Shutterstock.com

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