The 72,000 Burning Man festival-goers trapped in the Nevada desert in the United States after heavy rains left the ground muddy will be able to leave the venue from next Monday.

This was confirmed by the organizers of the popular festival in their latest update published on the event’s website. “The exodus will officially begin around noon (19:00 GMT) today, Monday, September 4,” they said.

Police said one person died “during this rain” but gave no further information. His family has been notified.

All events at the counterculture festival, which drew some 70,000 people, were canceled after rain toppled structures for dance parties, art installations and other eclectic entertainment.

Despite the fact that the driveway to Black Rock City, the name of the temporary city built each year to host the festival, is still “a bit muddy and there is still too much standing water”, it dries up and vehicles will be parked. can leave from this afternoon.

Still, organizers asked attendees to postpone their departure until Tuesday, in order to “relieve a large amount of traffic jams throughout the day today”.

Since last Friday, hundreds of vehicles, many of them heavy caravans, have been trapped in the desert after heavy rain between Friday evening and Saturday collapsed the site.

Roads in and out of Black Rock City were closed on Saturday and organizers asked attendees to take cover and ration their food and water as it was virtually impossible for vehicles to circulate.

This is evident from images published by the American media, taken from the air by a drone, showing hundreds of stranded vehicles surrounded by mud.

In just 24 hours, precipitation equivalent to two or three months (up to 0.8 inches) was recorded in the area.

Despite the fact that the organizers of the event had asked those present to take refuge and not to try to leave the area on their own, hundreds of them decided to escape by walking through the desert.

According to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office, some attendees walked to a main road to wait for buses sent by festival organizers Saturday night.

Tens of thousands of soggy festival-goers were stranded in the deep, sticky mud of the Nevada desert on September 3, 2023, after torrential rains turned the annual Burning Man gathering into a swamp. Photo: AFP

The Burning Man festival takes place each year on a dry lake in the Nevada desert where a temporary city is built, accessible by a two-lane highway.

The event will allow visitors to participate in a range of artistic and community activities that, according to some attendees, are still taking place despite the conditions on site.

According to the organizers, the festival is guided by a set of principles, including “civic responsibility”, “radical expression” or “leave no trace”, and does not allow the use of money (although tickets to attend cost hundreds of dollars) . . (JO)