The annual bacchanal that is Burning Man kicked off yesterday in the Nevada desert, with attendance expected to top 70,000 people this year.
Black Rock City’s community and arts festival, which runs from August 28–September 6, has staged its usual roster of immersive art installations and towering sculptures. With its tagline, “make something amazing (then burn it),” the festival aims to make an impression on the throngs of visitors that arrive every year, ready to see something new and astounding. For instance, Big Imagination‘s re-purposed Boeing 747 arrives at the festival with a goal: “to create an immersive interactive experience that will have an impact on all those who come inside. We’re converting it from a mover of people and cargo to a mover of dreams.”
Visitors can also catch an “Adventure Vending Machine,” which dispenses a “community-created adventure,” and results in a “community-created gift.” There’s also the Leonardo da Vinci-inspired “Chiminea Planetaria,” billed as “a cluster of fiery hearths to warm up your nights.”
For all of its emphasis on inner peace and the community at hand, the gathering is remarkably accessible on social media (you can even watch a live stream of it here).
Here, via Instagram, check out a sampling of the most impressive photos we’ve seen from Day One of 2016’s Burning Man.