Burning Man festival founder dies at 70

The countercultural guru who founded Burning Man, Larry Harvey, has died a little over three weeks after he had a stroke; he was 70.

The co-founder of the Burning Man festival, Larry Harvey, has died. He was 70.

Burning Man Project CEO Marian Goodell says Harvey died on Saturday morning at a hospital in San Francisco. The cause was not immediately known but he had suffered a stroke on April 4.

Harvey created Burning Man on a San Francisco beach in 1986, later moving the annual event to Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

As many as 70,000 people from around the world now flock to a dry lake bed 161 kilometres east of Reno every August for what has become a week-long celebration.

During that week people are encouraged to build a community and pursue whatever interests them, while respecting one another.

At the celebration's conclusion, a towering wooden effigy is burned to the ground.


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Source: AAP


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