Danica Patrick was one of the many celebrities stuck at Burning Man after severe weather hit the desert — but she still thought the vibes were immaculate.
“It was an epic burn. Well … technically nothing has burned as of right now due to the rain but it was beyond memorable!!!” Patrick, 41, wrote via Instagram on Monday, September 4. “The people and purpose make it so. Rain and mud can’t touch the spirit of BM!”
The annual event made tons of headlines over the weekend as Nevada officials issued a shelter-in-place order as storms caused intense flooding in the desert. Attendees were finally able to begin leaving on Monday after days of rain left the festival site muddy and impassable for vehicles. Social media posts also suggested there was an outbreak of Ebola at the event, but those reports were later proven to be false.
According to Patrick, the chaos only made Burning Man more exciting, in part because the ethos of the festival is about working together with fellow attendees.
“The community is so rooted in helping each other and giving what you can,” she wrote on Monday. “There is no money exchanged there. Burning man is truly an alternate reality that has been done for decades. I am not sure the world is ready for it, but until it is, burners unite for a magical week in the desert to love, laugh, dance, share, help, and experience what it could be like if we all just got along.”
In a separate post, Patrick highlighted some of her favorite art installations from the event, which takes place in Black Rock City, a temporary city erected in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
“One of my favorite things to do at burning man is to check out all the art,” she wrote. “Sometimes it’s fun to climb them too. 😜 There are hundreds of amazing pieces that make riding anywhere on the playa stunning. And then the lights at night … Wow. You have to see it to understand.”
Patrick seemingly rode out the storm, but other celeb burners — including Diplo and Chris Rock — managed to escape the adverse conditions on Saturday, September 2. “A fan offered Chris Rock and I a ride out of a Burning Man in the back of a pick up,” Diplo, 44, wrote via Instagram, sharing a video of himself and Rock, 58, hitching a ride. “After walking six miles in the mud, all Chris could think about was a f–king cold brew [drink].”
Diplo went on to explain that he needed to leave the festival early so he would be on time for his own concert in Washington, D.C. — and astonishingly, he made it. “No one was making it out of Burning Man, they didn’t believe we would walk 6 miles in the mud,” he captioned a second social media post that showed him sitting on a private plane. “No one believed we would get to DC for the show tonight. But, God did.”
