Climate activists lined the road to this year's Burning Man festival in Nevada to call out the 'privileged mindset' of the Silicon Valley types who flock there—and the waste involved in creating a temporary city in the desert.
Outdoor festivals are a summer rite of passage for many. Warm weather makes them possible. But summer's when we often see the wildest weather too. AsSummer may no longer be the right time for festivals: Glastonbury in the United Kingdom and Tomorrowland in Belgium are held in the northern hemisphere summer, in late June and late July respectively.
America's Coachella festival takes place in April, but it's in a desert where daytime temperatures over 30℃ are the norm. As the world heats up, summer may soon be too risky for festival organizers. Creating large festivals is expensive and logistically challenging. Wipeouts fromWhen we go to festivals, we leave behind our houses and easy access to water. Many people camp in tents with relatively little protection from the elements. During heat waves, it's particularly important to stay out of the heat and sun in the middle of the day and to stay hydrated. This isn't always possible at festivals. Many of us underestimate the effect of heat on our bodies. Extreme rainfall is very challenging for organizers. Managing tens of thousands of muddy, stuck people is hard—especially if it's too difficult to bring supplies in. That's why Burning Man organizers had to call on their attendees toIf you have tens or even hundreds of thousands of people exposed to the heat wave or rainfall, it can pose a risk to their health. Evacuating large numbers of people is logistically very challenging. As the climate changes, we can expect more frequent and more severe extreme weather. This will make the job of festival organizer much harder.and adequate infrastructure in place, the chaos from extreme weather events can be much better managed. For instance, during the trouble-stricken Scout Jamboree in Korea, there were real concerns over the intense heat, given children are more vulnerable. But the heat shouldn't have been a surprise. The event was held at the height of summer—albeit in a year of record breaking heat. So organizers should have anticipated heat and better strategies to manage extreme weather. A simpler solution might have been avoiding the middle of summer.Extreme weather hitting festivals isn't new. The legendary 1969 Woodstock festival in California was also aWhat is new is the increased frequency and intensity of these events. Climate scientists have warned of these effects for decades. Now they're arriving. As we heat the planet, we're getting more frequent, intense and longer-lasting heat waves across the world. We also know we're seeing more and more intense short-duration downpours which cause flash flooding.What can be done? Expect to see festival dates move to shoulder seasons rather than midsummer. Some locations may no longer be viable. Last year's Burning ManIf festival organizers don't want to move date or location, the minimum response they'll need is to actively plan to manage extreme weather and ensure key infrastructure like water and toilets are able to cope with heat or floods.
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