Come Celebrate Our 32nd Annual Non-Cancellation Due to Water at Burning Man 2017

It’s July 31, and I’m still seein’ posts on Facebook about “Lake Lahontan” on the Black Rock playa. I grew weary of the “Better bring your kayak to Burning Man this year!” comments back in April.

Here are the facts.

The playa is dry. Lake Lahontan has evaporated to the heavens. The final conclusions drawn from dozens of soil samples taken and months of scientific data collected is that ultimately, conditions of the playa surface and integrity are no different than any year in the past, regardless of the close-to-record-breaking rain and snowfall of this last winter. The water is gone, and the fairy shrimp have left the building.

Pack your bags. Black Rock City 2017 awaits!

(Photo by Audrey Whaling)

Granted, it was a nail-biter for a while. But, personally, I think this is a healthy thing. I can almost hear a “gotcha!” blowing on the breezes as the playa smugly smiles.

A much-anticipated meeting happened on July 21. The experts and deciders at the Bureau of Land Management, guardians of the beloved Black Rock Desert, assembled with the experts and deciders for Black Rock City. One thing we all shared was the desire to see the Burning Man event transpire as normal — normal for us, anyway. And it shall. Our event has always had a rugged front, and we’ve slogged through the dust and mud before. When Black Rock City gets a white-out dust storm, people fly kites.

(Photo by Danger Ranger)

So grab your blinky lights and goggles, your box wine, beer and bacon, and spin the steering wheel toward the high Nevada desert. And always remember what the Grinch said when he gave back Christmas —

“It came! It came just the same!”

Christmas Camp, the first-ever Theme Camp, by Peter Doty, Lisa Archer and Amanda Marshal, 1993 (Photo by Gerry Gropp)

Top photo by Audrey Whaling

About the author: Tony “Coyote” Perez-Banuet

Tony “Coyote” Perez-Banuet

Tony “Coyote” Perez-Banuet has been coming to the desert to build and strike Black Rock City since 1996. A professional musician for over twenty years, Burning Man culture was an easy shift for him. He co-founded the Department of Public Works of BRC in 1998 and has been the City Superintendent ever since. Known as the “Bard of the Desert”, telling stories around the campfire is among the things he does best. He has been blogging under the moniker of “Coyote Nose” for many years, and he is Burning Man’s first Storytelling Fellow.

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