Burning Man is an annual week-long gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert centered on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance, culminating in the burning of a large wooden effigy. It began in 1986 on San Francisco’s Baker Beach, then moved to Nevada in 1990 after police halted the planned beach burn, where it merged with influences from Black Rock Desert “Zone Trips” and grew into Black Rock City, a participant-built temporary city. Organizers later formalized its layout and administration as attendance rose, while principles such as radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, and participation shaped its culture. Despite safety tragedies and a 2020 cancellation during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became a major experimental arts gathering.