Burning Man — the wild weeklong festival held in Nevada's Black Rock City desert every year — is known for the spectacular, larger-than-life artwork created by attendees.

For this year's festival — which begins August 28 — the artist duo known as Hybycozo is creating a set of three glowing balls. From smallest to largest, they will be called "Marvin,""Starship Bistromath," and the "Heart of Gold."

The two California-based artists, industrial designer Sergei Beaulieu and former Google employee Yelena Filipchuk, launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the project. After less than two weeks, 310 backers had pledged over $33,000 to bring their vision to life.

Check it out.

SEE ALSO: 9 of the most insane temples ever built at Burning Man — before they were set ablaze

The team will transport the giant geometric sculptures to the festival in a large van, Filipchuk tells Business Insider.

Here's a model of the largest ball, "Heart of Gold," which will stand 20 feet tall. Gold orbs with LEDs will sit in the middle of each ball, emitting light that will be bounced and reflected, Filipchuk says.

Since the spheres will be in the desert, the team will bring external generators to power the LEDs.

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This weekend, over 70,000 people will descend on Black Rock Desert, Nevada, to sweat, dance, and find themselves at Burning Man.

The 30-year-old counterculture gathering has become a go-to destination for the Silicon Valley elite, including Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and startup founders looking for capital and mentors.

Attendees may have more in common than just an affinity for tech. Location intelligence company Foursquare and its "lifelogging" spin-off app Swarm looked at location data from "burners" to figure out where they like to shop and get their grub. The company's data team used both visits from Foursquare and the background location awareness built into Swarm, which people can use to check in and win free stuff.

Not all burners use Foursquare or Swarm, so the results aren't completely representative of everyone who attends the event. However, the techie spirit of the festival makes the data worth checking out.

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Burning Man attendees are 12 times more likely to visit Blue Bottle Coffee than the average Foursquare user.

The venture capital-backed, high-end coffee retailer turned coffee into a religion with its vintage brewing machines and artisanal roasts. It's a favorite among the Silicon Valley elite, and companies from Warby Parker to Ideo allegedly drink it in-house.

Burners like to catch dinner and a show at the famous Alamo Drafthouse.

Burning Man attendees are nine times more likely to go to Alamo Drafthouse, a destination arthouse movie theater chain where guests snack on popcorn topped with truffle parmesan butter and wash it down with local craft beer.

They get stuff done at WeWork.

Burners are six times more likely to visit or work out of a WeWork location. The $16 billion company rents office space to startups, but these are no ordinary digs: The suped-up coworking spaces feature chic décor and benefits like community events and free food.

Get ready for your Instagram feed to be taken over by "burners"— Burning Man 2016 starts this weekend.

This year’s 30th annual Burning Man will run from August 28 to September 5 in the Black Rock Desert, two hours North of Reno, Nevada. For those who don't know, Burning Man is part festival, part art installation, and part camp site, where tents and RVs litter the landscape and first-timers roll naked in the dirt as a sort of Burning Man baptism.

It looks just as crazy as it sounds.

The playa, as the location is called by festival goers, is already starting to rise up from the surrounding desert as artists and members of the Burning Man collective start to move in and build their temporary community.

Art installations, mobiles homes, and more are starting to roll in on Instagram under the hashtag #BurningMan2016.

And everyone's getting really excited.

You can find out more about Burning Man here.

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The 30th annual Burning Man kicked off over the weekend in the Black Rock Desert, and the pictures already look unreal.

The annual festival/art installation is taking place this year from August 28 to September 5 at its yearly site two hours north of Reno, Nevada.

Tents and RVs already litter the landscape. "Burners" roam between tents and art installations, and first-timers roll naked in the dirt as a Burning Man baptism.

It looks just as crazy as it sounds. Here's the latest on Instagram:

You can see more crazy 'grams by following hashtags like #BurningMan, #BurningMan2016, and #BlackRockCity.

There is also a Burning Man live stream:

Get the latest updates from the official Burning Man Twitter feed.

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Burning Man 2016 officially started on Sunday.

Even as photos of this year's festival have started trickling onto social media, many are still baffled by what exactly goes on at the week-long event.

Three years ago, I went to Burning Man for the first time. Last year, I returned for round two.

While I had attended manydifferentfestivalspreviously, Burning Man was unlike anything I had ever seen.

Burning Man, as the website proclaims, is "an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada."

The festival is a choose your own adventure of early morning meditation, late nights lit up by neon and pulsating music, art installations, bicycle adventures, and much more.

The first year I attended in 2013, so did more than 61,000 other people. By the time I went back in 2015, attendance had grown to nearly 70,000 participants.

Here's what happens inside the wild world of Burning Man.

It all started with this: a cheap leopard suitcase I purchased on the streets of New York City. Everything you bring to Burning Man is at risk of getting seriously dirty or of disappearing. I felt OK sacrificing this.

I packed it full with costumes, sunscreen, sunglasses, flashlights, food, and other items on the official checklist. Everything is in plastic bags to keep it clean from the impending desert dust.

Upon arrival in Reno, Nevada, the closest airport, I hit a Walmart to grab last-minute necessities such as jugs of water. Walmart was clearly prepared for all of the "Burners" driving from Reno.

Susan Sarandon won Burning Man 2015.

Last year, the 69-year-old Oscar winner went early to help construct a "Totem of Confessions" and drank Timothy Leary's ashes after leading a procession in honor of the godfather of LSD.

But Sarandon is no stranger to Burning Man.

The actress first went to the festival in 2013. After the experience, she spoke to The Daily Beast about why she loved it:

It’s fabulous. I went all around on a Segway and a bicycle, which was great, and even though people sometimes recognized me and said, 'Oh, it’s so cool you’re here!' it wasn’t like walking the streets of New York. The art was amazing. You’ll find fantastical stuff like four-story women, and when the light comes up, a half-naked woman with a parasol. Despite the fact that there was more of a police presence there, it was a lot of fun and I’d definitely go back. 

Sarandon took a hiatus from the festival in 2014 for the birth of her granddaughter, but returned with a vengeance in 2015.

She documented last year's festival on her two Instagram accounts:

"Getting ready for the big night. The procession to the Totem of Confessions with Timothy Learys ashes."

"Getting down with the dust!"

"My bike."

"These boots were made for Burning Man."

Sarandon first went to the festival two years ago. After the experience, she explained to The Daily Beast why she loved certain altering aspects of it:

Well, it’s pretty psychedelic to begin with. But, yeah, I’m not new to the idea of mushrooms. I don’t really like chemical things, really... But I’ve done Ayahuasca [psychedelic tea] and I’ve done mushrooms and things like that. But I like those drugs in the outdoors — I’m not a city-tripper. My attitude about marijuana or anything is, 'Don’t be stoned if you have to pretend you’re not,' so I’d never do drugs if I was taking care of my kids. I like doing it in the Grand Canyon, or in the woods. It does remind you of your space in the universe—your place in the universe—and reframe things for you. I think you can have some very profound experiences.

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On August 28, Burning Man officially kicked off. The annual festival, located in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, is home to a pop-up community of over 70,000 people who wear crazy costumes, create elaborate art displays, and throw wild parties.

This year, the artist collective Big Imagination Foundation gutted a Boeing 747 jet, tricked it out with lights and lounges, and transported it over 500 miles to the desert.

The team raised over $86,000 on Indiegogo for the project, which will host art and dance events throughout the week. Check it out.

SEE ALSO: Giant, laser-cut glass orbs will glow at Burning Man this year

The Big Imagination team converted the 1985 Boeing 747 plane into a fantastical work of art, which will also serve as a performance space.

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 Source: Indiegogo

Their creation on wheels is the largest "art car" in Burning Man history. The festival has long welcomed these elaborate, decorated "art cars," though they have to be registered in advance.

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The jet contains three separate pieces: the plane's front, middle, and lower fuselages. Once the the artists purchased the plane, they gutted it and cut off the tail and wings.

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Burning Man's reputation for hard partying and harsh desert conditions didn't scare away an older crowd from this year's week-long festival in Black Rock City, Nevada.

Burning Man is filled with people of all ages, from very young to very old. And more people than ever before are starting to bring their parents to join in the fun.

Scott, 36, had been attending for six years when in 2015, he decided to bring his dad, Rick.

"It's a place where you can connect with yourself, and he gave up some things to be my dad, so I wanted him to experience that," Scott, who traveled from Redondo Beach with his father, told INSIDER while checking out some of the many art pieces the desert had to offer.

And during his time at the festival Rick experienced it all.

"We've been doing a little bit of daytime activists and a little bit of partying," added Scott. "He's been up every day at sunrise."

Rick, meanwhile, says that despite tent living being "a little dustier than I like," his experience has been "amazing."

"The last year my son has dedicated to his father," said Rick. "It's a very moving thing to be connected to your son and see each other as friends and not just a dad."

I found another father-son duo last year at a place called The Petting Zoo. A 49-year-old dad from San Francisco brought along his 16-year-old son and 23-year-old nephew.

"We are having so much fun," the dad told me. "We haven't seen all the debauched sexuality and drugs that have been represented about the festival, but what we have seen is a die-hard crowd that loves people."

Another older gentleman from San Francisco said, " I was at the second Burning Man at Baker Beach, and now here again this year."

His buddy said 2015 marked his fifth time. "We love it here — we love the art and the survival skills it requires to be here comfortably and the very nice people we meet here."

"But we're burnt out," he added, laughing.

Joan Bloodworth, from Madison, Wisconsin, is 81 years old; 2015 was her first Burn.

"Yesterday, I wasn't so sure about everything, but today I feel wonderful — everybody is so friendly," Bloodworth said. "I keep getting gifts, and I'm taking in the sights."

Bloodworth decided to attend at the urging of her daughter.

"My daughter and her husband from Berkeley have been coming for years, and she said this was the year she wanted me to see it. He was a foreman, so he got one of these little cabins I stay in. I'm sleeping on the floor, but it has a refrigerator and air-conditioning, and it's wonderful."

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Note: We obtained permission from parents to photograph all kids for this article if their faces are visible in the photographs.

With its harsh desert conditions and reputation for wild parties, Burning Man isn't the first place one would think to take a family vacation with small children.

But much to my surprise, last year's festival was filled with kids and people of all ages.

Children mostly took advantage of kid-friendly daytime activities, like a human version of Hungry, Hungry Hippos, where they got to participate in the game:

Or cheer on friends:

There, I talked to three sisters who were at the festival for the first time.

The girls told me they were having fun, but that the bathroom was too far from the tent where they were staying. 

As the official Burning Man website states: "Everything in the Burning Man Survival Guide applies double to kids. Water, food, shade, sunblock, comfortable clothes, and knowing their (and your) limits are all important to being able to enjoy the experience."

These girls were well equipped with food and drinks ...

Gear to fight the dust...

And accessories.

Another family I spoke to came all the way from Warsaw, Poland, to attend their first Burning Man accompanied by their young daughter, Stella.

"She's running around and having a great time," Stella's mom, Ela Kanior, told me Saturday morning at Center Camp. "Everyone wants to talk to her and play with her."

But the desert terrain does have its challenges. "It's been tough with the dust," says Kanior, "but for Stella it's great fun being in a tent." 

As for how it's affected the parents' experience at the festival, Kanior says, "For us, we need to take care of her and make sure she eats. Last night she fell asleep and we still rode around on the bike with her at night."

"At home she a routine," adds Kanior. "Here, her bed is a bike trailer."

Vanessa and her 8-year-old daughter, Itzci, traveled from San Francisco to attend the festival. It was Vanessa's third Burn and Itzci's first.

"I read a blog about a single mom who brought her kid to Burning Man and that's how I decided to bring her," Vanessa told me as we were both hiding from the desert heat inside a café with gifted refreshments. "There's nothing especially hard about having a kid here. It's good for her because she's a city kid. She needs to feel what it takes to survive with earth."

Itzci, who likes to spend her time drawing, told me she enjoys biking around but it gets cold at night so she puts on a lot of blankets. She didn't tell anyone at school she was going to Burning Man.

Below is Luca. He was perfectly happy hanging out in this stroller while his parents danced nearby during a daytime party. His mom told me Burning Man is "very kid friendly" and that her 16-year-old son grew up coming but he couldn't make it this year.

This is Bailee from Reno. It was her first Burning Man experience as well, and she was staying with her mom, Coral, in a tent. Bailee was very friendly and engaging, and clearly having a good time. 

Many parents who bring their children to Burning Man stay in an enclosed camping area for families called "KidsVille," where families bond with each other and have access to trampolines and toys.

"Adults love the lack of structure at Burning Man, but most kids need some structure and security to be comfortable with their surroundings," warns the Burning Man website, which also provides a downloadable Family Survival Guide.

KidsVille aims to provide a bit more structure for families with programs like the Black Rock Scouts, who host "playa-cational field trips, events, and volunteer opportunities" in hopes of "Educating tomorrow's burners, today!"

And no age is too young to become a "Burner." According to the festival's website:

Anybody under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian aged 21 or older at Burning Man. Children 12 and under will be admitted for free, but (as of 2015) must have a Kid’s Ticket... Children ages 13 and older require full-price tickets. Be prepared to show proof of age.

But kids at Burning Man are nothing new. 

In fact, wee ones have been attending the festival since its inception in 1986, and parents have reasons beyond not being able to find a babysitter for bringing their kids along to the weeklong festival.

"The burner parents who bring them believe this experience to be truly enriching, a culture they are very much a part of that they want to share with the closest people to them," luminary activist and photographer Zipporah Lomax, who has gone to Burning Man every year since 2000, told Slate. 

"I think the basic truth is that kids are truly at ease out there," she added. "In some sense, it’s as though we, the adults, get to spend a week remembering how to be like them—to meet them in that imaginative space in which they naturally exist."

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Unlike the world outside the gates of Burning Man, the annual week-long festival operates as a gifting society.

According to one of the The 10 Principles of Burning Man, the festival "is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value."

While the idea sounds lovely, it also means that festival-goers must come prepared with whatever they need because there's no corner store to pick up a forgotten toothbrush, extra food, or goggles to fight dust storms.

But there are two luxuries that attendees can buy — ice and coffee.

Inside Center Camp Café— a popular, centrally located social hub — people can wait in long lines to get their caffeine fix.

Once you make your way to the front of the line, you can choose between hot or iced coffee, tea, and lemonade, which will all put you back $3.

If you want an iced chai, however, you better be prepared to shell out $4.

Abuse and advice are free, but baristas are usually so busy they barely have time to make pleasantries.

A fresh iced coffee is pretty priceless when you're in the middle of the desert and running on little sleep.

And it's good coffee, too.

Many people grab one of the local Burning Man newspapers and read it as they sip their coffee under the acre of shaded tents of Center Camp.

When you're done with your coffee, any excess liquid is poured into this bin and cups are stabbed onto poles to make sure there is no garbage floating around.

At Burning Man, everything you bring into the desert festival must also come back out — including any liquids like coffee, tea, and even dirty dish and shower water.

The Center Camp Café also offers a wide open space for people to practice yoga. It's an especially popular place in the mornings.

"The Café is the single largest volunteer community on the playa," according to the Burning Man website. "The construction, coffee shop, performance events, clean up, art, decor and lighting of this amazing space rely on the devoted efforts from hundreds of volunteers."

Other than coffee and tea, ice is the only other luxury available for purchase. A rarity in the desert, ice allows attendees to "keep your food, beverages, and heads cool during the long hot desert days, as well as putting an icy tinkle in your evening cocktails,"boasts the site.

Also available at Center Camp, the proceeds from ice sales go "directly to Gerlach-area charities and community groups."

While purchasing a coffee means you also buy a cup, gifting beverages outside of Center Camp works a little differently.

A common gift throughout the playa is alcohol, as long as you show an ID to prove you're 21 years old and can provide your own cup.

People set up free bars that serve specialty drinks like pickle back shots:

Other gifts include things like freshly cut watermelon:

Or fried chicken:

Gifts can also come in the form of an experience. Many camps set up activities for festival-goers to participate in, like human Hungry, Hungry Hippos:

Or a gym:

"When gifting is the currency, rather than money or bartering, a strong sense of community evolves," one veteran burner explained to Festpop. "Think about how you feel when you receive an unconditional gift. You feel an instant connection to that person, and a sense of gratitude."

In 2014, North American companies reportedly spent $1.23 billion to sponsor music venues, festivals, and tours.

But not Burning Man.

According to the third principle of the festival: "In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience."

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Burning Man — the annual festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert — kicked off August 28. Though tens of thousands of people travel there by car, those who can afford it choose to touch down on the playa by private plane or helicopter.

Every year, volunteers build Black Rock City Airport from scratch on a dusty road a week before the festival starts. As USA Today notes, crews section off runways, make customs checkpoints, and direct planes and 'copters when they arrive. Neither the FAA nor the TSA is officially associated with the BRC airport, but they keep in close contact with airport's managers.

Not every Burner that uses the airport is ultra-rich, but most of the Burning Man's wealthiest attendees arrive there. Paris Hilton, for instance, flew into the playa by helicopter with a group of friends mid-way through this year's festival.

Helicopter companies also offer special charters just for Burning Man. Black Rock Helicopters, for example, is advertising a ride between Reno, Nevada and the Black Rock City Desert on a S76 jet. The Facebook video below, which boasts that the helicopter has room for eight people and 600 pounds of cargo, makes it look pretty luxurious. Girls in the ad even wear fashionable lingerie and native-American–style headdresses, despite numerous other Burnersrecent pleas against the cultural appropriation.

Though Black Rock Helicopters doesn't post the price for its service, Burners often pay between $500 to $2,500 for other similar, luxury charters (depending on the plane and distance). Here's one from Santa Barbara Helicopters, which decorated the craft's interior with colorful pillows and rugs for Burners.

In recent years, some Burners have spoken out about the exclusive nature of people flying in on jets. Larry Harvey, the festival's founder, wrote in 2014 that wealthy Burners who throw their own exclusive parties on the playa clash with the fundamental principles of Burning Man: self-reliance and community. 

But a fancy ride sure looks good on Instagram.

SEE ALSO: Giant, laser-cut glass orbs will glow at Burning Man this year

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Burning Man is currently in full swing, with burners pilgrimaging across the world to rage in the dust and sun of the playa, two hours north of Reno, Nevada.

And while celebrities are no strangers to Burning Man, this year one celebrity you may not have expected has decided to join the fun — heiress, singer, and former reality star, Paris Hilton.

It all started when the 35-year-old Hilton got #BurningMan #Braids from her boy @ChrisDylanHair. He #KilledIt.

She flew a private jet with friends to the Black Rock City Airport just outside the playa.

While first timers are asked to roll around in the dust naked — a sort of Burning Man baptism — Hilton opted to keep her clothes on:

And then, she raged.

She even ran into models (and sisters) Poppy and Cara Delevingne in the dessert.

But the reason people go to Burning Man? The community Instagram opportunities.

Excuse this commercial break for Hilton’s Instagram ad for her Gold Rush perfume.

"Reunited with my #SpiritSister@BrandiHowe on the #Playa. #BurningMan"

Keep on keepin’ on, Paris. You can follow her adventures in the playa here.

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Burning Man, the enormous festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert each year, is home to giant art installations, wild dance parties, and of course, a mega-tall wooden structure of "the man" that's set on fire at the end of the event.

But every year, the festival also experiences wild dust storms that blur the landscape and cover cars and RVs. To cope with the dust, many people wear face masks and goggles. 

Burning Man's organizers set up an official livestream, which has been broadcasting the playa since the festival began on August 28. At times, it's difficult to see anything on the stream through the dust, except for the occasional shadowy outline of a giant sculpture, some Burners on bicycles, or the looming shape of one of a wooden temple structure.

Take a look at the livestream, which resembles a scene from "Star Wars" or "Mad Max."

Despite the sandstorms, which have been passing through the playa all week, Burners are still partying on.

SEE ALSO: Burning Man has a temporary airport for the 1% who take luxury rides to the playa

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There are many different ways to do Burning Man.

While wealthy tech titans like Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg erect fancy luxury camps in advance, many others arrive to the playa with no plan and pitch their tents where they find space.

But "fancy camps," as they're called, have become more prevalent in recent years.

One camp last year was especially buzzed about because of its celebrity clientele that included many models and actress Susan Sarandon.

But despite perks like a private chef, the glamorous campers still had to use an outhouse.

Check out one fancy camp at last year's Burning Man:

While most camps at Burning Man are a random mix of tents, yurts, and RVs ...

... with living-room-like gathering tents like this, ...

... there's also the occasional "fancy camps" that offer incredible communal areas.

In recent years, people have started bringing drones and riding helicopters to Burning Man, the giant annual arts festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

These drones, planes, and helicopters have allowed Burners to capture some amazing aerial photography.

Check out some of the bird's-eye-view photos of this year's festival, which started on August 28.

SEE ALSO: Burning Man has a temporary airport for the 1% who take luxury rides to the playa

Burning Man takes place every summer in Black Rock City, a temporary settlement erected by the festival's participants.

Burners' camps form a massive semicircle.

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Although the majority of Burners get there by car, some take more adventurous routes. Here's a man parachuting into the playa:

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One of Burning Man's luxury camps was ransacked by vandals on Wednesday night, according to a post on the camp's Facebook page.

The White Ocean camp hosts dozens of free techno-music concerts at its stage on the outskirts of the playa, while also providing lodging and food for its star-studded lineup of DJs.

Sometime during or after the group's famous "white party," where ravers dress in all white, vandals entered the camp. They allegedly pulled and cut electric lines, causing food to spoil, stole personal belongings, glued trailer doors shut, and flooded the camp with 200 gallons of potable water, the Facebook post from Thursday reported.

"We have felt like we've been sabotaged from every angle, but last night's chain of events, while we were all out enjoying our beautiful home, was an absolute and definitive confirmation that some feel we are not deserving of Burning Man," the post read.

White Ocean was founded in 2013 by DJ Paul Oakenfold and funded by entrepreneurs Timur Sardarov (the son of Russian billionaire and oil magnate Rashid Sardarov) and Oliver Ripley. The pair also launched a New York-based private holding company called Ocean Group.

The camp has drawn criticism over the years for engaging in behavior counter to the "self-reliance" spirit of Burning Man. It's considered a "plug-and-play" camp, where burners from London, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco drop in and enjoy luxury accommodations, rather than rough it in a tent on the desert floor.

The Reno Gazette Journal reports that hired help assist the camp with production and concierge services around the cafeteria and lounge space.

White Ocean wrote on Facebook that after notifying Burning Man organizers of the incident, they were told, "it makes sense that you have been sabotaged as you are a closed camp and not welcoming." Burning Man has a contentious relationship with these plug-and-play camps, as they create an unwanted atmosphere of exclusivity, while also bringing top artists to the desert.

The music-lovers over at White Ocean don't see it that way.

"We provide one of the most state of the art stages on the playa and feed hundreds of non white ocean [sic] burners a day. Does this qualify as a non welcoming camp with no contribution to Burning Man?" Thursday's post read.

The group has contacted local authorities to investigate.

Read the full post below:

SEE ALSO: 6 things people who go to Burning Man have in common

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Burning Man celebrates its 30th anniversary this year in the most Burning Man-way possible, with mind-bending art installations, techno-music, pyrotechnics, and naked people.

Over 70,000 "burners" descended on Black Rock Desert, Nevada, this week to sweat, dance, and find themselves at the annual counterculture gathering. It's become a go-to destination for celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite.

If you've never been, check out these Instagram images to see what it's like.

SEE ALSO: Vandals just decimated Burning Man's 'fancy camp' founded by the son of a Russian billionaire

Every inch of the playa presents an opportunity for a new profile picture.

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Even when it's totally obscured by dust.

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Some burners danced from dusk until dawn.

This year's Burning Man— the wild festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert — culminated on the night of September 4.

The festival was founded with the principle of "leave no trace," meaning everything that's brought to the festival must be taken home or destroyed when it ends.

Burning Man has a traditional grand finale: the ritual burning of a tall statue of a man (which gives the fest its name). But after that's over, other structures are also given over to fire, including a massive wooden temple structure, different iterations of which have been assembled during the festival most years.

Burning Man's official livestream captured the moments when the giant building went up in flames. Starting around the 12-minute mark, volunteers ignite the temple's center, and the fire eventually swells into a massive bonfire.

Hand-built by sculptor David Best and his crew, this year's 2,500-square-foot, wooden temple was 100 feet tall. Best is well known for the Burning Man temples he creates — he has made eight of them since 2000.

This year's extravagant temple featured a large altar, plenty of sitting room, and a huge chandelier that hung from its ceiling. Around a courtyard were eight altars for people to "express their emotions, reflect on the losses of friends and family members, and celebrate the lives of people around them," the temple crew wrote.

After the temple burned to the ground, the festival's some 70,000 participants packed up and left the desert — a departure surge known as "the exodus."

SEE ALSO: 8 aerial photos that show the madness of Burning Man from above

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In late June, 1986, Larry Harvey and Jerry James joined a handful of friends on San Francisco's Baker Beach in search of radical self-expression. They didn't come empty-handed.

Earlier that day, Harvey and James had collected scrap wood and built an eight-foot statue of a man. Later that night, the two hoisted it up and set it on fire. A crowd of 20 formed to watch it burn. Little did they know that a 30-year tradition had just been born.

Today, Burning Man draws more than 60,000 people to Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Over the course of a dusty, freewheeling week in late August, the festival celebrates notions of self-expression, civic responsibility, and art.

This year's Burning Man was held from August 28 to September 5. Here's a look back at how one of the world's most surreal, iconic festivals came to be.

SEE ALSO: 20 insane structures built at Burning Man

For the first three years of Burning Man, the festival was held on San Francisco's Baker Beach. By 1989, however, Golden Gate Park Police had learned of the event and prohibited any actual burning. The event was a fire hazard, they said.

In 1990, Harvey and James decided to relocate to the second-largest and flattest piece of land in the US: Nevada's Black Rock Desert. At first, people didn't really know what to do once they got there. Some found hot springs. Others played music. But by the end, the 40-foot statue still burned.

By 1997, the secret of Burning Man was out. Wired called it the "New American Holiday" and CNN dubbed it "the world's most dangerous art festival."

Burning Man, the wild, dusty arts and culture festival that takes over the Nevada desert at the end of each summer, has become a cultural phenomenon since it began in San Francisco in 1986.

It moved to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, and attendance has grown exponentially since then — last year's event boasted an approximate attendance of 70,000. Burning Man 2016, which wrapped up September 5, is estimated to have been equally huge. 

Though the festival has gained a reputation for its party culture, one of Burning Man's mainstays is the incredible artwork that festival goers can find while wandering around. Teams spend months and even years designing, preparing, and raising funds for their projects. From elaborate temples to massive structures to illuminated domes, Burning Man is an architectural feast for the eyes. 

Take a look at the stunning works of design and construction that have been created through the years. 

SEE ALSO: Watch an extravagant wooden temple at Burning Man go up in flames

Temple of Stars (2004)

Big Rig Jig (2007)

Basura Sagrada (2008)