magic of the playa

[PHOTOS] Burning Man 2024 served sexy, surreal Alice in Wonderland weirdness

September 4, 2024 at 2:09am

By Mike Ciriaco, Photography by Mike Ciriaco

Ryker and Milo share a sunrise smooch in front of Burning Man’s famous Mayan Warrior art car. | Mike Ciriaco

Nearly all major cities have their own gayborhood. San Francisco has the Castro, New York has Hell’s Kitchen, Los Angeles has West Hollywood, and Black Rock City has 7:30. For those uninitiated in Burning Man culture, that last one may sound weird, but weirdness is just part of the Burn’s charm.

Last week, freaks and geeks from across the globe assembled in the Nevada desert to erect Black Rock City, the clock-shaped, dust-tinged metropolis that houses Burning Man. Equal parts art festival, sociocultural experiment, and hedonistic bacchanal, the Burn provides an otherworldy escape from the mundane “default world” where its denizens embrace radical principles and explore the outré side of their personalities. For those of you who missed out on this temporary oasis of community and chaos, we’ve snatched some of the Burn’s queerest moments, in every definition of that word.

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Curiosity Burned the Cat

Each year, Burning Man explores an overarching theme, which has ranged from simple concepts such as “Evolution” and “Metropolis,” to more specific ones such as 2016’s “DaVinci’s Workshop,” with its ambitious attempt to create a rotating Vitruvian version of the Man. (They never quite got it to work as intended, but hey, it was worth a shot.) This year’s theme of “Curiouser and Curiouser” referenced the surreal classic Alice and Wonderland, reflected in Cheshire Cat art cars, deep playa tea parties, and steampunk Mad Hatters.

The theme of this year’s Burn, ‘Curiouser and Curiouser,’ manifested in myriad ways, such as this cheeky art installation.

A Burner by any other name would smell as sweet

An honored tradition of Burning Man is adopting “playa names,” monikers bestowed upon Burners, often by accident. For example, Patrick (pictured below) received the mantel of “North Star” when his friend complimented his ability to consistently orient himself on the pitch-black playa.

Patrick aka Northstar, enjoying a moment of peace on Playa. | Mike Ciriaco

A Beautiful Day in the Gayborhood

Like most metropolises, Black Rock City contains its own “Gayborhood.” Located around the 7:30 sector of BRC’s clock-like map, this LGBTQ+ hub houses numerous bars, dance clubs, athletic centers, and even several sex clubs. What happens in the dust, stays in the dust.

A staple of the BRC gayborhood is Spanky’s Wine Bar, a kink-friendly watering hole where patrons roll dice when ordering drinks, which determines various stipulations. For example, rolling a 6 results in a consensual flogging. (Trust me, I know from experience.) | Mike Ciriaco

A veteran queer Burner sassing it up outside Spanky’s. | Mike Ciriaco

Another popular destination in the gayborhood is Camp Gymnasium, which venerates the ancient Greek tradition of nude athletics. The most prominent attraction is their Naked Oil Wrestling competition, where competitors grease up and throw down. | Mike Ciriaco

The Fermented Realities camp offers a PG-13 twist on the traditional Glory Hole. Guests must choose between “Salty” or “Sweet.” Salty results in a pickle inserted into the mouth, while sweet gets you a maple syrup-drenched dildo. | Mike Ciriaco

Briefs and Ballerinas

While eccentric ensembles are encouraged every day at the Burn, Tuesday is unique in that it features not just one but two themes: Tutu Tuesday and Tightywhities Tuesday. Often these sartorial choices are not mutually exclusive.

Romano, Poodle, and Yazz, members of the queer camp Glamcocks, flaunting their matching lewks for Tutu Tuesday. | Mike Ciriaco

Rashad of the queer camp Mystopia, clad in his pink tutu, as he helps serve guests ice cream cones. So sticky, so sweet. | Mike Ciriaco

Camp Fruit Pop’s most popular event of the week is its annual Tightywhities Tuesday party. This camp member is honoring both of the day’s themes with his tutu comprised of white briefs. | Mike Ciriaco

Adult film star Milo Miles making this Kappa Omega Kappa pledge squeal, “Thank you, sir, may I have another!” | Mike Ciriaco

Music makes me lose control

One of Burning Man’s principles is “Radical Self Expression,” which manifests in many ways, from fashion to visual arts to the multitude of musical performances that permeate across the Playa. One of the more popular DJ venues is Mayan Warrior, an art car that suffered a fire last year. Fortunately, like a phoenix rising from the dust, the newest incarnation of MW debuted at this year’s Burn and proved to be just as fierce as the original.

Queer Burners grooving to a sunrise set hosted at the new Mayan Warrior art car. | Mike Ciriaco

Virgin Burner Young Matty sandwiched between G.I. Joey and Charles. | Mike Ciriaco

Dusty evokes Lion King vibes with his baby doll “Dustiny.” | Mike Ciriaco

A playa tradition of the Burn is to post-game at the Bubbles and Bass camp after a night of partying. While revelers sip on champagne and lounge to mellow beats, this Burner embraces the theme with her kitschy bubble gun. | Mike Ciriaco

The Art of the Dust

In addition to music, Radical Self Expression is exemplified by the dust-stained epic art gallery that is the Playa. Prominent artists from across the globe assemble in Black Rock City days before the Burn commences to erect art installations of various shapes and sizes. The surreal creatures and objects that pierce the desert landscape would make even Salvador Dali’s subconscious jealous.

New York-based Burner Catalyst strikes a pose in front of “The Man,” Burning Man’s iconic mascot, located in the center of the playa. | Mike Ciriaco

Zozo Bot, a metallic colossal clown blurs the line between art and audience. Burners are encouraged to recline in his hand and glance into its telescope, revealing a cosmic kaleidoscope inside. | Mike Ciriaco

Dreamwalker peering into Zozo Bot’s telescope early Thursday morning. | Mike Ciriaco

Another popular installation this year was Sky Gazing. A prismatic canopy of ribbons created by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics Studios. Located in deep playa, it serves as a colorful oasis of shade to enjoy a picnic or take a break from an afternoon of biking. | Mike Ciriaco

Burn baby burn

The week culminates in an event known as the Man Burn, a tradition that traces back to the original Burn at San Francisco’s Baker Beach in 1991. Reminiscent of a pagan solstice ritual, the various camps of Black Rock City congregate at the center of Black Rock City to witness the Man igniting in effigy. The timber titan is engulfed in flames and crumbles to the earth, marking the end of this year’s Burn. Black Rock City then disassembles, its denizens scattering back to the default world, and the playa hibernates for 51 weeks until it rises again from the dust.

Badger, clad in this nod to Marie Antoinette, leads a procession of his fellow Glamcock campmates toward the Man Burn. | Mike Ciriaco

Tre, an SF-based Glamcock, flashing peace signs on his way to the Man Burn. | Mike Ciriaco

Young Matty finishing the week by popping his Man Burn cherry. | Mike Ciriaco

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Burning Man 2024 was a spectacular, emotional, and “gay” event for the history books

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