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Burning Man festival founder Larry Harvey has passed away

R.I.P Larry Harvey (1948-2018)

Burning Man founder Larry Harvey passed away over the weekend (Saturday 28th April).

The famous festival founder had been in a critical condition after suffering a stroke several weeks ago, before passing away at 8:24AM in San Francisco on Saturday in the company of family and friends.

The life and work of Harvey has been acknowledged on the Burning Man website, with an obituary that reads, “Our founder, friend, and original instigator, Larry Harvey has passed away. Larry was a visionary, a mentor, a philosopher, and a passionate advocate for Burning Man’s culture and principles. We have lost our founder. The world has lost a great human being.”

A close friend of Harvey’s, Stuart Mangrum, has written a touching tribute to the original Burner which you can read via the Burning Man Journal.

The Smithsonian Institution has dedicated a new exhibition to the world-famous festival, displaying some of the desert-dwelling event’s most impressive art installations at its home in Washington DC.

Burning Man also recently revealed its 2018 theme — titled I, Robot — which draws inspiration from a collection of short science fiction stories by author Isaac Asimov.

At the end of last year, the festival applied for a new permit granting permission to hold the festival in its current home, the Black Rock Desert, for the next decade.

Cover image via Burning Man Journal - Photo by Maggie Hallahan