Art by Clark Miller.The Instant Oral History of ‘Trench Foot Burning Man’
Tech pros tell their personal survival stories from this year’s mud-stuck (but still epic) desert bacchanal.
Burning Man 2023 began on Sunday, August 27, as it normally does: with several days of blistering sunshine, pounding bass and playa dust. Then, between Friday and Saturday, a surprise deluge hit northwest Nevada—dumping two months’ worth of rain in 24 hours—and things really began to get interesting.
Justin Kan, general partner at Goat Capital and co-founder of Twitch: This is my 10th year at Burning Man. Monday through Friday was all normal. It was hot out there. We basically ran a free concert every night, like 10 hours of programming that’s mostly electronic music. I also officiated a friend’s wedding the night before the rain. Twelve hours later, at sunrise, I did my DJ set. I went to sleep at 10 a.m., woke up at 3:30 p.m., and then it was raining.
Nick Davidov, co-founder of Davidovs Venture Capital: For the first few moments of the rain, it looked beautiful, because the rain was passing through laser beams.
Chris DN, partner at Oyster Ventures: I opened the bus door and I got a flood of water and mud. I’d never seen this—this is the sixth time I’ve been to Burning Man. I’m just thinking, what do I do?