--- title: Burning Man Festival History: How Larry Harvey Explained It description: The annual festival runs from Aug. 30–Sept. 7 this year canonical: https://time.com/4009236/burning-man-larry-harvey/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-30T16:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:56.789Z article:section: History og:title: Burning Man Festival History: How Larry Harvey Explained It og:description: The festival runs from Aug. 30–Sept. 7 this year. Remember your toilet paper og:url: https://time.com/4009236/burning-man-larry-harvey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd7ea7762830eeb6/698860b0cd1bbafdce6fcdeb/burning-man.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Dancers at the "Burning Man" festival create patte og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Burning Man Festival History: How Larry Harvey Explained It twitter:description: The festival runs from Aug. 30–Sept. 7 this year. Remember your toilet paper twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd7ea7762830eeb6/698860b0cd1bbafdce6fcdeb/burning-man.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Burning Man's Founder Explains the Problem With Utopia  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 30, 2015 4:00 PM UTC  Dancers at the "Burning Man" festival create patterns with fireworks in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada on Sept. 6, 1998. Dancers at the "Burning Man" festival create patterns with fireworks in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada on Sept. 6, 1998.Mike Nelson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 30, 2015 4:00 PM UTC Nearly three decades after the[ inaugural](http://burningman.org/timeline/) Burning Man festival, the massive gathering in the desert is still tricky to explain. The event, which runs this year from Aug. 30-Sep. 7, now attracts [politicians](http://time.com/3184683/dennis-kucinich-is-going-to-burning-man/) and [pop stars](http://time.com/3576628/fergie-la-love-la-la-music-video/)_—_but what exactly _is_ it and how did it start? In 2000, TIME’s Joel Stein went straight to the source for an answer, interviewing Larry Harvey, the man who lit the spark: --- > “” --- As for the effigy after which the festival is named, which seems to get bigger every year? The size isn’t really the point. “That first man was just 8 ft. tall, and it was enough,” Harvey told TIME. “Something bigger than they are–that’s all people need. It’s at least enough to inspire a leap of faith.” **_Read the full story from 1997, here in the TIME Vault:_** [The Man Behind Burning Man](http://time.com/vault/issue/2000-09-18/page/78/) ### Great Music Festival Photography Through the Decades  American jazz vocalists Sarah Vaughan (1924 - 1990) (left) and Joe Williams (1918 - 1999) perform with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, R.I., July 7, 1957. Bob Parent—Getty Images  A young fan winks at the camera at the American Jazz Festival (later renamed the Newport Jazz Festival) in July 1958 in Newport, R.I. Michael Ochs Archive—Getty Images  Folk singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I. in 1963. AP Photo  German model and singer Nico (1939 - 1988), of the Velvet Underground, and British musician Brian Jones (1942 - 1969), of the Rolling Stones, sit in the audience at the Monterey International Pop Festival in Monterey, Calif., in 1967. Fotos International—Getty Images  Jimi Hendrix performing with The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Monterey Pop Festival, in Monterey, Calif., on June 18, 1967. Bruce Fleming—AP Photo  Fans traveling to the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967. GAB Archive—Redferns/Getty Images  Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who on stage at the Woodstock Festival in White Lake, N.Y., Aug. 16, 1969. Archive Photos—Getty Images  View of the massive crowds at the Woodstock music festival in 1969 Hulton Archive—Getty Images  On foot, in cars, atop cars, young people leave the the Woodstock Music Festival. Bettmann—Coribs  Mick Jagger sings at the Altamont Rock Festival at Livermore, Calif. on Dec. 6, 1969 while Hells Angels the cross stage during a melee. AP Photo  Hells Angels, acting as security and sometimes hoodlums at the Altamont Speedway on Dec. 6, 1969, in Livermore, Calif. Robert Altman—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Some of the 300,000 celebrants enjoy the early part of the day at the Altamont Speedway on Dec. 6, 1969, in Livermore, Calif. Robert Altman—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, N.Y. with The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and The Band performing. 600,000 rock buffs streamed in for a one-day concert inside a race track in 1973. Richard Corkery—NY Daily News via Getty Images  The Allman Brothers Band play for a multitude at the rock festival outside Watkins Glen, N.Y., July 29, 1973. AP Photo  Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in 1973. Richard Corkery—NY Daily News via Getty Images  Run DMC performs for a sold out crowd at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985. Frank Micelotta—ImageDirect/Getty Images  Crowd shot during Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in London, July 13, 1985. Phil Dent—Redferns/Getty Images  The Prince and Princess of Wales with Bob Geldof at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London, July 13, 1985. Popperfoto—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4009236/burning-man-larry-harvey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4009236/burning-man-larry-harvey/"},"headline":"Burning Man's Founder Explains the Problem With Utopia","datePublished":"2015-08-30T16:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:56.789Z","description":"The annual festival runs from Aug. 30–Sept. 7 this year. 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