Wicker man since 1986, an effigy of a man has been burned during Burning Man, a week-long annual event currently being held in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Wicker man A wicker man was a large wicker statue reportedly used by the ancient Druids (priests of Celtic paganism) for sacrifice by burning it in effigy. The main evidence for this practice is one sentence in Julius Caesar's "Commentary on the Gallic war", which modern scholarship has linked to an earlier writer, Poseidonius. Modern archaeological research has not yielded much evidence of human sacrifice among the Celts, and the ancient Greco-Roman sources are now
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.