John Law is direct about his views on what Burning Man has turned into since he co-founded the festival in Black Rock, Nevada, over 35 years ago.

“It’s a giant party for rich white people,” Law recently remarked to the San Francisco Gate. “It’s just as exclusive in its own way as the Elks or some hunting lodge in Minnesota.”

What began as a gathering of 70 artists in the late 1980s has grown into a massive two-week event attracting around 70,000 to 80,000 participants each year. Some critics claim Burning Man has morphed into a photo opportunity for celebrities, social media influencers, and the Silicon Valley elite.

According to Law, 66, the original principles of the festival he started with artist Larry Harvey and others have shifted away from celebrating counterculture and fostering creativity among artists without rules, concerns about money, or inhibitions.

“From the organization’s perspective, it’s about power and control,” Law explained to the Daily Mail. “When an event like that generates $60 to $70 million, it becomes big business. It’s turned into a large-scale event that, to some extent, attracts affluent individuals.”

‘When we started it, we were all poor artists and a few of us had very little money.’

With more and more participants arriving at the playa every year, Law was tasked to help with growing logistics and deal with law enforcement. 

Law, who was responsible for operations, chose to leave the festival in 1996 when participant injuries and crowd control issues became problematic.

‘We grew too fast too soon,’ he said. ‘There were a few accidents and people got hurt, which was very sad. That’s when I knew I had to step away.’ 

In recent years, the counterculture festival has attracted tech bros, millionaires, models and even celebrities like disgraced Bad Boy mogul, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who attended the event multiple times since 2013.

‘It’s evolved in ways that I’m not interested in,’ Law told the Daily Mail. ‘I still have mixed feelings because I celebrate the artists who go to create, and what’s not to like about a huge party?

‘But I haven’t been involved in a very long time because. It’s become a place where you can party with P. Diddy in the desert or with Orlando Bloom. I don’t want any part of that.’   

Online critics point to the increasing number of viral footage of Burning Man attendees who post videos of the oftentimes unpredictable weather they have had to endure.

This year’s festival has already been marred by gale-force winds and rain last week, which quickly turned the ground into clay mud that’s nearly impossible to traverse in some pockets of the playa. 

Los Angeles-based artist WhIsBe posted a short video on his social media that quickly went viral, which showed the ‘Orgy Dome’ destroyed by 60 to 70 mph winds last week. 

The infamous Orgy Dome has been a long fixture at the festival that operates as a sex-positive and air conditioned environment where couples or the curious can participate with consent.

More than 8,000 people have entered the Orgy Dome in recent years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

But last week, the strong winds bent the Orgy Dome’s structure and ripped the tent into shreds. On Wednesday, a sign was posted at the site: ‘Orgy Dome CLOSED for the rest of the burn’.

‘Everyone thinks Burning Man is all fun and games until the Orgy Dome blows down,’ WhIsBe said in his now viral video. ‘I don’t think they consented to that happening.’

WhIsBe, who is known for his contemporary and street art that include his Gummy Bear series, has been attending Burning man for the past 13 years.

The artist said he has seen a shift in the exposure the festival has received over the years. 

‘I had an interesting experience a couple days ago where I watched a Burning Man video on the festival Instagram page that was created last year,’ WhIsBe told Daily Mail. ‘It was such a good video that it actually felt invasive to me. It was too detail oriented. 

He continued: ‘In the past, they post videos of people partying, which was more generic, but this one had footage in the camps and their daily activities. 

‘It made me think about those days when you could be at a nightclub before there were cell phones and social media. Everything was private and you were kind of allowed to misbehave and not have to worry about getting filmed. 

‘When I saw that video, it made me feel the complete opposite. And now there are these videos that are coming out now with TikTokers and influencers and they are trying to portray the experience in a way that feels invasive to me.’

Nevertheless, the artist said the camaraderie between the participants, the willingness to share resources and help complete strangers are just some of the reasons why he returns every year.

After the gale-force winds and rain last week, WhIsBe said fellow campers worked to help one another to repair damaged tents and art installations. 

Surviving the storms and helping others is ‘part of the journey’ of Burning Man, he said.

But he also warns the festival is ‘not for the faint of heart.’  

‘You’re getting people who are coming here with expectations versus curiosity,’ WhIsBe said. ‘What I always tell people who are curious about Burning Man is to go at least once to experience it. 

‘I think the social media and the influencers and the content that’s out there does distort people’s intentions on why they should come here. They are trying to replicate an experience rather than creating and exploring their own identity.’

Podcaster Drea Renee said despite this year’s rocky start with unpredictable weather, long-time Burning Man goers like herself plan to return.

‘I think the crazy wind storms and rain has scared away some people, but there are people who would die for this place and will come no matter what. There could be a tornado coming down, but they will hold on for dear life and wait for it to pass just for the opportunity to f—king dance in the sand.’

Renee, who hosts the podcast Hey Babe, Can We Talk, balked at critics comparing Burning Man to Coachella, a music festival that draws 250,000 participants over two weekends in Indio, California.

‘Coachella is over commercialized and it’s not even close,’ she said. ‘Coachella is a festival, but Burning Man is an experience.’

Law said he credits co-founder Harvey for marketing Burning Man in its early years, which has turned it into a destination for thousands every year. 

But he still carries some disdain over Harvey portraying himself as a ‘ringleader’ of the festival’s core ’10 Principles’, which includes ‘radical inclusion’, ‘gifting’ and ‘decommodification’. 

Harvey died in 2018, but the core principals he introduced are still a large part of the two-week festival, which ends Monday. 

‘They are so big now that there is that pressure to succeed,’ Law told the Daily Mail. ‘We started with this anarchist spirit and we never wrote down any protocol of what it was supposed to be or what we should do. The point was to not have any rules at all. 

‘But when the event got bigger, you have to answer to the police, the government and bureaucracy. It’s now an economic engine and frankly it’s no longer for me. I don’t want to be a cop or an accountant.’