In 2026, Burning Man attendees don’t have the best reputation. Where once the mind-expanding, clothing-optional gathering in the Nevada desert enjoyed a certain countercultural cool, these days the list of those who openly describe themselves as “Burners” reads like a roll call of the most insufferable people in the world: money-obsessed Silicon Valley tech bros, image-obsessed Instagram models, and Diplo.
The low regard in which Burners are held was made clear in 2023, when rolling storms and torrential rain transformed the annual Black Rock Desert event into a dangerous quagmire. Any initial concern for those in attendance seemed to disappear in a landslide of schadenfreude, with online commentators dubbing it “Fyre Fest 2.0” and falling over themselves to laugh at all the privileged party animals stuck in the mud.
