World-famous DJ Diplo trekked six miles across the Nevada desert to leave Burning Man after rain turned the festival grounds to mud and forced the closure of its main entrance and exit, in scenes reminiscent of his infamous 2023 escape from the same event alongside Chris Rock.
World-renowned DJ Diplo walked six miles through the muddy Nevada desert to leave the Burning Man festival, after rain forced organisers to close the event’s main entry and exit gate in the Black Rock Desert. The musician filmed himself making the journey across the soaked terrain, telling followers on Instagram: “Here I am, walking out of Burning Man again. Six miles in, we’re almost to the road.” In a further clip, he added: “It’s f—d up, but I love it. Life presents many challenges, you’ve just got to persevere.”
A slower walk than expected
Diplo’s departure came on Friday morning, after performing with Major Lazer at the festival’s Robot Heart stage. He had played a sunset set on Thursday evening before continuing to party until roughly 6.30am on Friday, at which point he decided to leave the event. With the festival’s entrance and exit closed due to the wet conditions, he set off on foot, eventually reaching a road outside the main festival grounds where a vehicle picked him up.
The journey took considerably longer than expected. Later shown sitting in a car speaking with a friend, Diplo was told that a navigation app estimated the walk should have taken around 39 minutes. “It was like 2 hours, but okay,” he responded, laughing.
A repeat of 2023’s mud chaos
Diplo’s latest experience inevitably drew comparisons to 2023, when he and comedian Chris Rock went viral after walking several miles through flooded, muddy conditions at Burning Man before being rescued by a fan driving a pickup truck. That year, roughly 73,000 people became stranded at the festival after rain turned the event into what was widely described as a muddy catastrophe.
This year’s rainfall was far less severe by comparison. The Black Rock Desert received only around 0.22 inches of rain, but because Burning Man takes place on a dry lakebed, even that limited amount was enough to turn the playa into thick, sticky mud, making normal vehicle travel extremely difficult. Unlike in 2023, Diplo completed this year’s six-mile trek without the same dramatic rescue.
Repeated closures during the festival
The weather has caused several separate closures throughout the week, rather than a single continuous shutdown. Strong winds and whiteout conditions temporarily closed the festival’s gate on Thursday, followed by further rain-related closures on Friday, with the event’s airport also temporarily shut. Organisers advised anyone who had not yet arrived to remain in Reno until conditions improved, and urged those already on site not to attempt driving on the playa while it remained wet.
Missing the festival’s key ceremonies
Diplo’s early departure means he will miss two of Burning Man’s central rituals: the burning of the Man on Saturday night, and the Temple ceremony on Sunday. This year’s event marks Burning Man’s 40th anniversary, running from 30/31 August through to 7 September, with an estimated 70,000 people gathered in Black Rock City under this year’s artistic theme, “Axis Mundi,” a reference to the symbolic “axis of the world” connecting heaven, earth and the underworld.
A difficult year for the festival
Beyond the weather disruption, this year’s event has also been marked by tragedy. A man in his mid-50s died after suffering a medical emergency and was pronounced dead at the festival’s on-site emergency centre. Authorities said there were no initial signs of foul play, with the medical examiner set to determine the official cause of death.
A separate serious incident occurred earlier in the week when an attendee fell from the 55-foot Nest Tower structure, sustaining serious injuries after striking a metal crossbar. Local reporting indicates authorities have also made 34 drug-related arrests at this year’s festival, along with one arrest connected to domestic violence.
This year’s event also unfolds against the backdrop of last year’s unsolved killing of 37-year-old Russian national Vadim Kruglov, who was found dead with a stab wound as the Man burned in 2025. His killing remains unsolved.
What happens next
Despite the disruption, Burning Man has not been cancelled, and organisers expect the traditional burning of the Man to go ahead on Saturday night, provided weather conditions allow. The festival’s main gate will close for the mass departure, known as Exodus, on Saturday evening, with the event officially concluding on Monday, 7 September.
