A beautiful evening, marvelous weather, a clear sky with twinkling stars for company, a desert that looks beautiful and an 84 ft. high burning effigy! If it sounds interesting to you, then in that case, the Burning Man is definitely the event for you to attend.

Held in the beautiful Black Rock Desert, of Northern Nevada, the Burning Man is one of the most popular annual events of the region attracting thousands of tourists, who come here to attend this festival of lights.

While the spectacular view of a burning effigy, in the backdrop of the black Rock desert is highly amazing, the story behind the event is no less appealing in itself. As a matter of fact, it is a story, which most of us can relate to; the endeavor of a bunch of enthusiasts, turning into a full blown event in itself on this given day. Even the promoters of the event might not have imagined that this event would be attracting such a wonderful response.

It all started, in 1986, when Larry Harvey, Jerry James, along with a few other enthusiasts, gathered on Baker Beach (San Francisco) and set on fire an 8-foot wooden effigy of a man along with a smaller wooden dog. This act was later declared to be an impulsive act of radical self-expression, by Harvey and James. The act of burning effigy is often linked to an earlier annual event of bonfire gatherings, prior to 1986, which was held by Sculptor Mary Grauberger. After she stopped organizing the event, Harvey and James took over. Today this even attracts close to fifty thousand visitors, who flock to this place to gather a glimpse of this spectacular show of fire.

Amidst rumors that the event is loosely inspired by the 1973 classic “Wicker Man”, the organizers always maintained that it was several years later, that they saw the movie. As a matter of fact, instead of using the name “Wicker man”, the name “Burning Man” was proposed, which is used till this date, to address this amazing festival.

In any case, the Burning Man is an event which you simply can not miss, if you are in Nevada. As a matter of fact, people flock to this place from far off places, especially to attend this event.