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- Elon Musk called Burning Man the "best art on Earth" despite chaotic weather conditions.
- The Nevada arts festival was hit with heavy rainfall, which turned the site into a muddy swamp.
- Organizers began to let stranded festivalgoers leave the site at around 2 p.m. local time Monday.
Burning Man may have been a partial washout this year, but that hasn't stopped at least one of its high-profile fans from singing its praises.
Elon Musk, who has been known to attend the arts festival in the past, praised the event as the "best art on Earth."
In a Sunday post on X, formerly Twitter, Musk said: "Burning Man is unique in the world. Hard to describe how incredible it is for those who have never been." The billionaire made the remarks in response to a joke video of a Balenciaga fashion show in Paris that was falsely labeled as Burning Man.
The Nevada festival was hit by heavy rainfall this year, which turned the desert site into a swampy mud pit. On Friday, attendees were ordered to shelter in place and conserve resources as the weather closed roads in and out of the festival. Organizers said they began to let traffic leave the site at around 2 p.m. local time Monday, asking attendees to delay exits until Tuesday to control traffic flow.
Festivalgoers have been reporting wildly different experiences of the event.
Over the weekend, some attendees attempted to escape the pop-up Black Rock City on foot, describing long, difficult hikes through ankle-deep mud. Several false rumors also circulated, including one claiming that an Ebola outbreak had impacted the festival.
However, the severe weather conditions didn't seem to stop other revelers from enjoying the event. One festivalgoer, Angie Peacock, told Insider she was having fun even though things hadn't gone to plan.
Burning Man has long been a favorite among billionaires and tech elites. This year, Musk's brother Kimbal was spotted among the revelers, along with Google cofounder Sergey Brin, attendees told The Wall Street Journal.