So here's a few words on who and what made this year's festival different:

It was MUCH bigger. Estimates range from 5,000 to 10,000 people compared to a crowd of just under 2,000 in 1994. What was last year a village this year became the
largest city in the Black Rock Desert (68k jpeg).

There was more site preparation, including the layout of streets & avenues, theme camps, and expanded facilities for performance. There were more Port-o-Cans (and they were vacuumed twice a day!!). Given the much larger number of participants, the extended organization could not have come at a better (or more necessary) time. Congrats to Larry and the team who worked so hard to get things ready!

There was much more art and performance. Many came to the 1995 festival inspired to surpass all previous efforts. The theme camps provided a new vehicle for installations and performances. Our favorite was the Bigfoot Mall (84k jpeg) from the Portland Cacophony Society - especially their corps of Disgruntled Postal Workers who delivered the Black Rock Gazette and other missives daily.

There was more weather: a fabulous wind storm, a brief bit of hail, one too many rainstorms, and a beautiful double-rainbow afterwards that you're sure to see in countless photos because at the end of this rainbow there stood... a Burning Man! Very very cool.

There were spectators - quite a few, actually - the inevitable result of popularity. Lots of people came simply to party, and from all appearances they had a great time.

There were genuine American tourists (92k jpeg) on hand for the Sunday night ceremony. They even lined up by sex to use different port-o-cans...

There was a recurring police presence with periodic foot patrols.

The rainstorms on Saturday wiped out the Avenue of Art. The Toyland installation was set ablaze late that afternoon as the storm approached so as not to become a soggy mess of stuffed animals. The Seemen re-grouped and staged a wild confrontation on Sunday night. The TheaterX crew from Houston managed to Set the World on Fire (52k jpeg) on schedule, but few people were on-hand to join the ceremony. Too bad - great fireworks!!

There was too much garbage scattered on the desert. Too many of the new spectators had no regard for the environment. Despite repeated pleas from Radio Free Burning Man and elsewhere, the site was littered. Trash blown out of camp by the winds will end up in the mostly inaccessible edges of the playa where it probably will never be picked up. Only a massive effort by those who remained behind will ensure that the desert is left in good shape and that Burning Man will be welcome to return in 1996. Very special thanks to all those who helped to pick up other people's litter.

Epilogue

Burning Man is environment, ritual, community.
It is survival, and it is celebration.
It is fire.
It is our annual rite of passage.
It's like our pal Shelley Buschur said:

We did. Again. Thanks, Larry.