Burning Man: The Playa Will Provide

Nothing’s visible, but the small circle of ground in front of my tire as my aching thighs steadily push through thick sand.

Suddenly, a small light appears in the distance. It’s a dehydrated hitchhiker’s canteen, a glowing log cabin in a snowstorm, a home cooked meal for an upset stomach…without thought I pedal in its direction. As I approach with a desperate curiosity, I notice a Broadway like sign surrounded with Edison bulbs displaying show times: “12 a.m., 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.” It’s a small retro movie theater and one of the seemingly infinite surprises built in the middle of nowhere Nevada for Burning Man this year.

Inside there’s an intimate concessions area decorated with old movie posters. There’s a shiny glass case with neatly organized king size Snicker bars, Kit Kats, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and gummys. After three days of trail mix, it’s a salivating display.

A charismatic clown is happily gifting the snacks in exchange for a joke. Next to the entrance is a miniature rectangular opening cut into the wall.

I crouch through it; an inquisite Alice stepping into Wonderland. I find myself in a musky screening room with velvet seats reminiscent of an old Hollywood theater. At 4 a.m. it’s packed with familiar strangers sitting in aisles, cuddling on the floor in front of the first row and crowded in the back watching the 1940s American classic Citizen Kane.

I walk in and sit down. The milk chocolate satisfies my deprived taste buds like the most sentimental childhood dessert. As blood recirculates into my icy cheeks, I’m reminded of a favorite festival mantra, “the playa will provide.”

The playa, an endearing name for the piece of land Burning Man lives on each year, always manages in the most unbelievable of ways to give you what you need most, when you need it most. It’s a magic that can’t be fully understood until you’re dying of thirst and someone hands you a popsicle, you’ve been walking miles in the heat and you stumble upon a misting dome with couches or you’re feeling achy and a professional masseuse offers you a two hour long Swedish massage. It’s the beauty that’s born out of a community in which people invest themselves fully and expect nothing in return, but a thank you.