A 100-foot disco ball is going to Burning Man this year

This year’s Burning Man will see a new attraction dominating proceedings this year with plans to host a 100-foot-tall mirror ball at the event having been revealed.

The ball, an inflatable, 30-ton disco ball christened The ORB, has been constructed by a collective of artists and architects led by Danes Bjarke Ingels and Jakob Lange. It has a diameter of almost 100 feet and will be supported by a 105-foot-long inclined steel mast.

“The ORB is a mirror for earth lovers - reflecting the passing daytime, evolving life and other art works beneath it - A new planet to sci-fi fans, a wayfinder for travellers or just a huge disco ball to those who love a good party,” says the project’s leaders. 

“Visible from most of The Playa, it will help Burners navigate the desert and find way. At night, the ORB will blend entirely into its surroundings and become part of the desert. The ORB is a tribute to mother earth and human expression - designed to easily inflate and deflate, leaving no trace on the Playa.”

The project is being crowdfunded via indiegogo with those behind it seeking $50,000 to finish it off and organise its arrival at the annual festival which will take place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada from 26th August 26 and 3rd September. Funding for the majority of the materials required to build the ball has already been secured. 

You can check out a preview of what the ball will look like via the video below.

Burning Man will this year centre around an I, Robot theme, taking cues from a collection of short science fiction stories by author Isaac Asimov, and will be the first since the passing in April of the festival’s founder Larry Harvey.

Words: Christian Eade