Burning Man 2026: Satellite images show how the Nevada desert transforms into Black Rock City

Black Rock City is rising from Nevada's desert as 70,000 burners are expected to descend upon the playa.

Getty Images Satellite images show Black Rock City rising from Nevada's desert.

About 70,000 burners are expected to attend this year's festival.

Satellite images capture entry lines, camps, artwork, and the temporary airport.

Burning Man is transforming Nevada's Black Rock Desert into a temporary metropolis once again.

Thousands of participants began entering the gates at midnight on August 30, hauling the food, water, shelter, and supplies needed to survive a week in the remote playa about 80 miles north of Reno.

Roughly 70,000 people are expected to attend the art festival, described as an annual experiment in radical self-expression, communal effort, and civic responsibility.

Burning Man has also long attracted prominent Silicon Valley figures, with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman among its past attendees.

Early arrivals spent the Sunday raising shade structures, building camps, and installing artwork as hammers, power tools, and dance music echoed across the dust.

This year's creations include a metal octopus and a shattered Eiffel Tower, along with the Man, a human-shaped effigy, and the Temple of the Moon, a 170-foot-wide sanctuary for reflection and remembrance.

Both structures are made to be burned in separate ceremonies near the end of the event.

Temperatures are forecast to hover around 80 degrees during the first half of the week, though gusty winds could whip up the playa's notoriously punishing dust .

Here are this year's satellite images showing the progress of Black Rock City .

Laying the groundwork Satellite image (c) 2026 Vantor Before Burning Man opens, survey crews mark Black Rock City's clock-face plan on the empty playa.