Burning Man festival-goers trapped in desert as rain turns site to mud

Tens of thousands of ‘burners’ urged to conserve food and water and shelter in place in Nevada’s Black Rock desert

The festival this year was already taking place under unusual circumstances with the desert floor flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Hilary as the event was being set up.

Tens of thousands of “burners’” at the Burning Man festival have been told to stay in the camps, conserve food and water and are being blocked from leaving Nevada’s Black Rock desert after a slow-moving rainstorm turned the event into a mud bath.

Organizers responding to the unusual weather indicated the closures could endure, as local reports described the conditions at the festival as “treacherous” with “thick, slimy mud clung to shoes and anything else it touched”.