Rain around the Black Rock Desert in the Northwest Nevada hampering travel plans for Burning Man Festival attendees on Saturday — for the second year in a row, weather has presented problems for the massive festival.
Burning Man officials tweeted Saturday morning that the gate to Black Rock City, the temporary community created by festival-goers in the desert, was closed due to the rain.
They asked travelers to delay their journey to the festival until they announce that the gate has reopened, and to refrain from waiting on the side of the road until the announcement is made.
Attendees have also been asked to refrain from parking in the nearby communities of Wadsworth, Nixon, Empire and Gerlach out of respect for local residents.
The weather has also hampered bus travel for event participants. Burning Man officials announced Friday night that all buses are departing San Francisco on Saturday would be delayed by at least two hours due to the possibility of rain overnight. Buses depart from RenoNevada is also late.
BURNING MAN PARTICIPANTS START EXOCUD OF FESTIVAL AFTER CAUGHT BREATHING, MUD
“All Reno buses are being held until there is confidence we can run on the playa,” event officials tweeted.
Last year monsoon rains came stranded more than 70,000 festival goers at the event. Heavy rain and lightning floods created muddy conditions in the usually dry, desert environment, and caused the cancellation of all weekend events.
As the rain passed and the ground dried out, the mass exodus of participants created a trip nightmare involving a 5 hour delay between Black Rock City and Interstate 80.
The National Weather Service Reno said some isolated thunderstorm are possible Saturday afternoon.
Burning Man 2024 is scheduled to officially begin on Sunday and run through September 2.
Original article source: Burning Man festival goers are experiencing travel headaches again due to rain