The annual Burning Man festival has a new problem. Last year it was rare desert rain and flooding. This year's party is being swarmed by bloodthirsty bugs that are pestering event organizers and the leading edge of the ten of thousands of celebrators expected.
Burning Man is a week-long festival held in late August in Nevada's Black Rock desert where more than 35,000 participants create a self-sustaining community that is dedicated to anti-consumerism and self-expression,
according to WhatIs.com. That said, for many it's Woodstock in a desert.
But the bugs have looking for human-sustaining meals and their large numbers are being helped along by the weather,
according to SF Weekly.
"It's a been a warm, dry season for the Burning Man build — ideal conditions for bugs to spawn," wrote Jeremy Lybarger of SF Weekly "Insects are reportedly blowing up 'inches deep' against the commissary tent. They're embedding in carpets like spilled rice. And judging by a picture on the (Voices of Burning Man) blog, they're bloodthirsty."
According to
Voices of Burning Man, the bugs are everywhere and making life difficult.
"You may have seen the bug rumors on the Internet. We are here to tell you that they are all true," said John Curley on the blog. "Well maybe not all of the rumors, but the bugs are real. They’re everywhere. They bite. They crawl all over you. They get up and in you."
"Twin Peaks, who's leading the construction of the Center Café, was talking about how bad they are when she jumped a little and pulled her T-shirt away from her body. A good-sized green bug fell to the ground. It had crawled into her bra," said Curley.
SF Weekly noted that a self-described entomologist on the blog identified the insects as winged ants and stink bugs.
On social media, some tried to make light of the insect situation that continued to bug Burning Man attendees.