Burning Man Festival Draws Record Attendance
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- The annual Burning Man festival on the northern Nevada desert drew a record crowd of nearly 54,000 people, more than the 50,000 allowed under a permit with federal land managers.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials say they plan to address the issue with organizers after the dust clears from the weeklong celebration of art and radical self-expression, which ends Monday.
BLM spokeswoman Lisa Ross says a peak crowd of 53,735 was reported late Saturday afternoon, which was nearly 4,000 people more than the maximum limit set by her agency.
She says she thinks organizers sell over 50,000 tickets on the premise that not everyone will show, and BLM officials will talk to them about the matter.
A phone call to Burning Man spokeswoman Marian Goodell was not immediately returned.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
