Burning Man is having deja vu of 2023. Just 2 years after Black Rock City was in an emergency state, Mother Nature seems to be back again. Attendees this year are already facing dust storms and heavy rain as the festival opened.
Sudden 50 mph dust storms are battering Nevada’s Black Rock Desert during Burning Man 2025. It has upended preparations and endangered festivalgoers—yet many credit Elon Musk’s Starlink for critical early warnings that helped avert greater harm.
Participants recounted how visibility dropped to nearly zero and wind-force chaos ensued—performing one of this year’s most destructive natural assaults on the makeshift city of creativity. Thanks to Starlink, a two-hour advance alert gave people time to brace their camps and check on one another. As longtime attendee Johnny Digz stated:
“Ten years ago, we had no idea what was coming. Now, safety is part of the conversation.”
This reliance on high-tech signals a stark shift for Burning Man’s typically unplugged ethos, defined by self-reliance and decommodification—core principles of the festival. Yet, as the storm bore down, survival instincts took precedence. In the madness, Starlink was treated not as an encroacher but as essential emergency gear.
70,000 – 80,000 people are expected for this year’s Burning Man, taking place from August 24th to September 1st.
