Burning Man year that the event was held in the middle of the Black Rock Desert with no fence around it. Before the event opened to the public in 1996, a worker named Michael Furey was killed in a motorcycle crash while riding from Gerlach, Nevada, to the Burning Man camp in the Black Rock Desert. Harvey insisted that the death had not occurred at Burning Man, since the gates were not yet open. Another couple was run over in their tent by an art car driving to "rave camp," which was at that time distant from the main camp. After the
Burning Man passed away in 2018, leaving the Burning Man organization responsible to name future themes. The burning of a temple, as well as the Man, has become a tradition activity at the event. It takes place the evening after the burning of the Man. Sculptor David Best's temple projects were ritually burned from 2000 to 2004. The tradition of participants inscribing the surfaces of the piece with personal messages has continued through all of the iterations of the temple. Burning Man primarily features large scale interactive installation art inspired by the intersection of maker culture, technology and a connection to nature.