Burning Man takes over Black Rock City, Nevada, every year with its unique style of partying, however, this year's event is just a few days old and is becoming a bit of a nightmare

11:10, 27 Aug 2025Updated 11:20, 27 Aug 2025

Dystopian nightmare

This year's Burning Man festival has got off to a rather stormy start. From sandstorms and thunderstorms to torrential downpours, revellers are not exactly having a wonderful time in Black Rock City, Nevada.

Videos and images flooding social media have shown just what a chaotic mess it has been so far, with the iconic event due to end on Monday. Normally, the week-long event is full of adult experiences, music, totally legal drugs, alcohol and discussions about peace, love and harmony – very 1980s, to be fair.

Not exactly party time(Image: Instagram/kultura.kamianske)Dust storms with Mad Max vibes

The devastation left at the iconic Burning Man festival by intense dust storms has been laid bare by revellers shortly after the gates opened over the weekend.

The festival was due to start on Friday but the "strongest storm in Burning Man history" lead to widespread disruption. The entry gates were shut down on Sunday evening due to the severe winds as flights were also grounded.

A warning was issued on the official Burning Man website advising those still in Reno to postpone their travel due to rapidly deteriorating conditions. Now, an artists with an instillation at the festival shared his account of the storm from the festival grounds. The gates have since reopened.

Dusty, very dusty(Image: Instagram/kultura.kamianske)

On reveller wrote: "The wind tore off tents along with things and documents, toppled cars . . . and some of the guys on our team got stuck at our The Point of Unity – the only refuge was our 5 ton diesel generator they were hiding from flying debris.”

Infamous 'dome' destroyed

Festival-goers have posted clips on social media showing the near-whiteout circumstances, toppled structures and people wrapping up in scarves while shielding their eyes with goggles.

Her mate, also visible on camera, remarked that it "sounded like a zombie apocalypse" outside their RV. The festival's notorious "Orgy Dome" has already been demolished by the sandstorms battering the event site.

Total destruction(Image: orgydome/Instagram)

On the "Orgy Dome's" official Instagram account, Burning Man posted: "Our build team worked so hard this past week to *erect* our lovely space. Unfortunately, the winds yesterday undid all that labor and wrecked our structure. We are still here and thankfully safe, we hope to gift the playa some workshops and will keep you updated @burningman #burningman #burningman2025."

Boycotting everything

A former Burning Man devotee revealed she will never go to the festival again – because of the tech billionaires who attend, the rampant drugs that are normalised and the damage it does to the planet.

Domanique Ava described herself as a ‘burner’ from 2012 – 2016 and revealed it was a ‘great experience’ which was ‘profound and pivotal’ in her life.

She's boycotting it(Image: FACEBOOK)

But she claims the festival has been taken over by ‘tech lords and micro millionaires’ and the ‘enormous amount of resources spent’ is causing ‘massive amounts of environmental damage to our planet’. And she's not going to attend again.

Several people agreed with her – as it seems as though the mainstream appeal of it is facing backlash.

Weirdos galore

The Daily Star went down the Burning Man Reddit rabbit hole and instantly regretted doing so after finding one reveller looking to be “stinky socks”.

Describing himself as ‘just a guy with a foot fetish’, the Reddit user uploaded a post that said he was willing to pay cash for ‘stinky socks or shoes’. In the shout-out, the man said: “Any in shape women in reno for burningman (sic) want to sell their stinky socks or shoes please let me know cash in hand. Just a guy with a foot fetish.”

Warnings – lots of them

An urgent "stay away" warning was issued earlier this morning to prospective Burning Man revellers as terrified festivalgoers share horror stories of electrocution.

Grim weather conditions in the middle of the desert are now causing major damage, with one desperate Facebook post on the official Burning Man page reading: “Do NOT – repeat do NOT – come here. There is standing water everywhere.

“The road and pedestrianised conditions are impassable. One of our camp mates was just electrocuted and medical personnel are here. Please, please stay away until the situation stabilises. Await Burning Man and official updates.”

Another person commented: “There’s a difference between being in already and coming in. There’s one road and it goes nowhere without people at the gate. It is unsafe for people to be at the gate.”

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