The exodus from Burning Man festival is underway and Eve Harris of Brookline, Massachusetts, is in the thick of it.
Labor Day is the traditional departure day for more than 60,000 attendees at the annual gathering, but this year is different after a weekend of persistent rain that turned the isolated Nevada desert venue into thick, unmanageable, ankle-deep mud.
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Harris and her husband got out on a bus different than the one they intended to take and are grateful to be faring better than some who drove their own cars, trucks or RVs.
“Some of the interior city roads are a mess,” Harris told NBC10 Boston while she rode a bus bound out of the desert. “We saw plenty of cars that are stuck. I think it's because they tried to get out too early."
Those who left Monday did not get to see the festival-ending ceremony which includes burning a man in effigy. The conditions forced organizers to delay the Burning Man ceremony. It may be a blessing for those who stay until Tuesday, roads are expected to become more easily passible once they’ve had more time to dry out.
Despite the rainfall disruption, Harris left this year’s festival – her fourth – with good memories.
“Once you figured out how to get around and that you have enough food and water to survive, then you just go on living the way you normally do – and the fun really began.”
