burning man
The Temple burns as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, Sept. 3, 2017. Reuters/Jim Urquhart

Tens of thousands of people arrive at Black Rock Desert, Nevada, each year to attend the Burning Man Festival. This year the festival begins Aug. 26 and will continue until Sept. 3.

The phenomenon is guided by 10 principles — radical inclusion, self-reliance, self-expression, community cooperation, civic responsibility, gifting, decommodification, participation, immediacy and leaving no trace. The first Burning Man took place in 1986 on a San Francisco beach, and since then every year the event draws nearly 70,000 people.

The 2018 art theme for the festival will be I, Robot -- a collection of short science fiction stories first published in 1950, by author Isaac Asimov.

"This year’s art theme will focus on the many forms of artificial intelligence that permeate our lives; from the humble algorithm and its subroutines that sift us, sort us and surveil us, to automated forms of labor that supplant us," the Burning Man website says.

Click here to know about ticket availability and prices.

For those who cannot make it to Burning Man this year, watch the live broadcast of the festival on YouTube. Check out the live stream below.

In 1986, Burning Man co-founder and artist Larry Harvey gathered a small group of people to burn an 8-foot wooden structure of a man. This later turned into a six-day festival. Harvey died April 28 at the age of 70.

“Larry Harvey and his friend Jerry James knock together an improvised wooden figure and drag it down to Baker beach on the Summer Solstice. They light it up, and a curious crowd gathers to watch it burn,” the festival’s official website says. The festival costs over $8 million dollars to run. It is supported by ticket sales.

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