Still a lot of uncertainty around whether Burning Man 2021 will occur or not, but at least a final date for making the decision was settled: mark you calendar for April 23, or at the latest April 30. That’s when the organizers will decide what will happen in 2021 regarding the festival. (check their recent update)

The iconic Burning Man event, which has been held since the late 1980s and has been delayed by the pandemic, has announced the theme for this year’s celebration, even amidst uncertainty.

Who has never heard of Burning Man, right? I bet you have at least come across surreal videos of people dancing in the middle of the desert like there is no tomorrow.

Thousands of people every year plan their vacation around the 10-day Burning Man event in Black Rock City, in the middle of the vast Nevada desert, USA. After all, Burning Man is one of the largest electronic music events in the world – which also explores other genres.

However, in 2020 it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , like most major events. The organization however decided to launch the edition in online format.

After the cancellation of last year’s celebration in Black Rock City, Nevada, the team behind Burning Man implemented some initiatives to keep the fire burning. It launched its virtual event platform, Kindling, in May 2020, which was followed by the launch of its online Multiverse in September.

In January of this year, Burning Man organizers said that it was “impossible to say now” whether the festival as we know will happen this year.

If the event does happen in Black Rock City, it will probably be on the routine dates, August 29 to September 6, though probably with a relatively smaller population. Ticket sales may begin in April or May.

The 2021 theme’s focus on the unknown seems to tie in with the continued sense of uncertainty for the event, with organizers describing it as “an invitation to emerge from our collective isolation, to explore the unknown contours of a changed world and to re-imagine ourselves , our community and our culture in ways that might not have been possible before this period of plague and pause. ”

“After a year without Black Rock City, we all longed to reconnect – to come home after staying home so long. However, our forced separation also served as a powerful reminder that the idea of home is just that – an idea – and not a specific place. The quarantine led us to rethink the very meaning of place and rid ourselves of certain illusions about it – such as the notion that our city has always been there somehow, always in a certain way, which was never true. It was always a figment of our collective imagination and fundamentally different every year. “

“It is a time of great loss, but also of rare opportunity: a chance to reassess, reconnect, and return to our roots, to the values that brought us together in the first place. Now, more than ever, the work ahead involves more than Black Rock City.”

One of the most interesting data released by Burning Man itself, is a survey of approximately 30,000 people, within the event-going community.

According to the survey, 66% of the respondents said they would attend the event this year if sanitary conditions allowed. And three-quarters of respondents said they would comply with COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as testing and proof of vaccination.