The Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert is wrapping up and more than 70,000 attendees are leaving Black Rock City – with their garbage.
There’s a recycling program at the festival, but all participants are required to remove their own trash and dispose of it elsewhere – in trash disposal stations in neighboring towns or perhaps in the giant trash bins set up at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
(Photo courtesy Reno-Tahoe International Airport)
Burning Man 2014 runs from August 25 through September 1 and Reno-Tahoe International Airport is ready to welcome the more than 15,000 “Burners” who will be flying in to attend the festival.
The airport welcomes the Burnes with a welcome area set up in the Baggage Claim to dispense travel information, an eight-foot-tall Mini-Man in the terminal and an art exhibit courtesy of Black Rock Arts Foundation in the depARTures Gallery, which is on the second floor.
Burning Man is the single largest annual event to pass through the airport and has a big impact on the airport’s bottom line: Burners spend more than $10 million on airline tickets, car rentals and on food and gifts in the airport’s restaurants and retail shops.
Mini Man at Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport
The 2013 Burning Man Festival has wrapped up and by now most of the 61,000 “Burners” are on their way home from Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
At least 15,000 of the revelers passed through Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which is more than happy to have them: according to airport officials, Burning Man is the single largest annual event to pass through the airport, bringing with it an estimated economic impact of $11 million from airline ticket sales, car rentals and money spent in the restaurants and retail shops.
To make the Burners feel welcome, the airport had a eight foot tall Mini-Man in the terminal and, in the airport gallery, an exhibit of art from the Black Rock Arts Foundation.
And the airport was well-prepared after the event:
Because Burners must take out everything they brought into the Black Rock Desert, many of them bring their trash to the airport and dump it there. “We place extra large trash repositories on the curb for this purpose,” said airport spokeswoman Heidi Jared.
And because everyone’s stuff is covered in dust and sand from the desert, airlines wrap all checked bags in plastic or place them in a tub. “If luggage were not treated this way, the sand would clog up the airline bag belt system,” said Jared.
Burning Man, a wild week-long party that organizers say is “dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance,” kicked off today in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
About 15,000 of the 50,000 “Burners” will arrive via the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which is rolling out a welcome mat that includes “Mini Man,” (above) – an 8-foot tall replica of the 40 foot Burning Man.
During peak arrival times, volunteers will staff a welcome area at the entrance to Baggage Claim and through October 15 the airport’s Connector Collections Gallery is hosting an exhibit titled Burning Man: Baker Beach to Black Rock Desert and Beyond, that tells the history of Burning Man through art and artifacts.
The folks at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport sent along some more information about the airport’s Burning Man exhibit and how hosting the artwork is helping to build bridges between the community and the “Burners”.
According to airport spokesman Brian Kulpin:
“For many years, the local community did not embrace the Burning Man event. But over the past few years, we have been building our relationship with the “Burners”. Last year we hosted a Burning Man welcome center in baggage claim to help offer information and transportation to the Burners. We offered a sign-in book, and people from 30 different countries signed in.”
Kulpin says the current exhibit, which is curated by the Black Rock Arts Foundation (the artistic wing of Burning Man) includes 48 photographs of the event as well as three display cases of memorabilia and two sculptures. It will be in place through September.
And sometime in July the airport will host an event featuring performing artists from Burning Man, music and guest speakers.
We’ll let you know when that gets scheduled.
(Photos courtesy Flickr user weststudio. Thanks.)