It's the hottest ticket in town: Spectacular pictures as 50,000 party the weekend away at Burning Man

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:29 AM on 5th September 2011

They came, they saw, and they burned - more than 50,000 revellers danced an emotional goodbye to this year's Burning Man after setting their landmark 120ft tall Temple of Transition ablaze.
The turning of the spectacular 45,000 square feet effigy into a fireball brought the Nevada desert counter-culture event to a close over America's Labor Day weekend.
It followed a week of shenanigans at the anything-goes festival - which included topless bike parades, yachts on wheels strolling the desert floor, geodesic domes housing dance clubs, a 22-ton Trojan horse, and a French Quarter-themed camp.

Up in flames: The Temple of Transformation is destroyed to bring Burning Man 2011 festival to a close

Awesome: Firefighters look on as the Temple of Transformation is burnt to the ground to celebrate the end of another Burning Man festival

A giant wooden Trojan horse art project explodes into flames as people cheer in the Black Rock Desert last night

Explosive: Fireworks erupt before The Man is burned during the 'Rites of Passage' arts and music festival in the Nevada desert

Emotional: Christy Lynn cries after spreading her grandmother's ashes at the Temple of Transition, before it was burned to mark the end of the Burning Man festival

Treasured: Susie Babich collects ash at the base where the effigy of The Man was burned to mark the end of the Burning Man festival

Packed: The Burning Man 2011 'Rites of Passage' arts and music festival is seen in this aerial view taken in the Black Rock desert of Nevada on Saturday

Swarms: More than 50,000 revellers from all over the world have gathered at the sold out festival which is celebrating its 25th year

Symbolic: People gather around the Trojan Horse at it is pulled across the 'playa' at the Burning Man festival in Gerlach, Nevada on Friday

Ticket sales for this year's event soared, with a record 53,341 attending on Friday, and organisers reported a sell-out for the first time ever in its 25-year history.
The spectacular finale, in the remote Black Rock desert about 120 miles northeast of Reno, came after another 40ft signature effigy was burnt on Friday night.
The Temple of Transition is the tallest installation art structure ever built at the site and visitors were encouraged to meditate, chant or write notes to loved ones in the hexagonal central tower.

A 40-foot tall Trohan Horse burns during the Rites of Passage art festival which has its largest ever crowd in it's 25th year

Dirt bikes: Festival goers cycle on the Playa - meaning 'beach' - during the festival as the revellers basked in the escapism, not to mention heat, of the Burning Man culture

Art: People make their way to the Temple of Transition during Burning Man 2011 on Friday

Revelry: Festival attendees celebrate the moving of a 50-feet tall Trojan Horse during the Burning Man 2011

Festival goers dance round the remains of a 50ft trojan horse, left, as a crowd, right, earlier watched it burn

Organisers said they were now planning to turn the company that runs the event into a not-for-profit organisation.
They will liquidate the Black Rock LLC company and turn it into the Burning Man Project, with a 17-member board and tens of thousands of 'burners' to continue its work.
'We've never called it a festival; we've always called it a project, with equal parts play and labour,' said founder and Black Rock LLC Executive Director Larry Harvey.
He added: 'Festival limits it to a party or a vacation, and it hasn't behaved that way for about ten years. Most festivals don't forward action.'

 

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The Burning Man phenomenon started 25 years ago with an eight-foot structure burning on a beach in California around the summer solstice.
It has now morphed into a sophisticated community, with year-round projects including solar energy development and a crisis response network.
And the pinnacle is, each year for one week, self-styled 'burners' that head into the desert and build a working city from the ground up - including an airport, a post office, and a security team - that tries to be devoid of money and consumerism.
Participants then aim to leave the desert with no trace that they were there.
Police reported no major problems from the week-long event, although one reveller was said to have died on Wednesday from 'natural causes'.
BLM rangers reported three felony arrests and the issued 42 citations, mostly for drug-related offences on Friday.

Warm... but windy: Revellers cycle through a dust storm at the music festival in the Black Rock desert of Nevada

Party: People dance at the Disorient sound camp during the Burning Man 2011

Spectacular: The horse burns into the night sky, sending colourful fireworks soaring