The annual Burning Man gathering continues in the Nevada desert through the Labor Day weekend, ending on Sept. 2, 2013.

What is Burning Man, you ask? The event's official website says you really have to go to know:

"Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind."

The event started as a project involving a small group of people in 1986. Now, tens of thousands of people make the annual pilgrimage to Nevada's Black Rock Desert, about 120 miles north of Reno, to create a temporary city dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance.

Whatever it is and whatever it is becoming, each year the photos are dramatic!

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Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez