Chris Rock and Joel Kinnaman Flee Burning Man Festival In Wake Of Flooding, Death

Since its founding in 1986, the Burning Man celebration has attracted artists and iconoclasts, sending thousands to its site in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada every August. But this year, some of the most famous creatives at the festival are fighting their way out, not in, with boldfaced names hitching rides away from a flooded, fatal site.

Even before this year’s event kicked off, things felt different. Tickets to Burning Man, which are typically in short supply, were freely available from second parties at discounted rates, SFist reports, as “For whatever reason, lots of people have had second thoughts and decided they don’t want tickets they already bought.”

Those who did decide to go also faced pre-event adversity, as weather related to Tropical Storm Hillary shut down early entry, turned Burning Man’s temporary Black Rock City into a mudpit, and prompted organizers to close the site’s gates, SF Gate reported last month. 

But by Burning Man’s first day, on August 27, attendees started rolling in, including stars like comedian Chris Rock, music magnate Diplo, Suicide Squad star Joel Kinnaman, and model Kelly Gale all in attendance. 

One hopes that they, as well as the 73,000 or so other participants, had a nice time those first few days. By Friday night, things at Burning Man—which has always placed an emphasis on “radical self-reliance”—got even more challenging than usual. That’s when over half an inch of rain fell on the playa, the New York Times reports, leaving participants in “incredibly muddy conditions, water puddled to their ankles and more rain expected.” 

“Even walking was treacherous as thick, slimy mud clung to shoes and anything else it touched,” the Reno Gazette Journal reports of conditions at the fest this weekend. 

According to local law enforcement officials, one Burning Man attendee died “during this rain event,” but no other details, including the cause of death or identity of the deceased, were available as of publication time.

These conditions were taken in stride by longtime Burners, as established members of the community are known. “All our neighboring camps seem to be embracing the experience and having fun,” seven-time attendee Karen Calisterio told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Conditions this weekend are severe enough that the Bureau of Land Management and the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office closed off access to the area, officials said via X (formerly Twitter). “Please avoid traveling to the area; you will be turned around,” they wrote Saturday evening. “All event access is closed.” 

Meanwhile, officials urged folks who were already there to remain, NBC Bay Area reports. Attendees were asked to shelter-in-place and conserve their remaining food, as departure “is not recommended at this time,” the Sheriff’s Office said via statement.