Spark: A Burning Man Story Spark: A Burning Man Story Spark: A Burning Man Story is a 2013 independent documentary film with its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. That is about some 60,000 or so people that gather from around the world for a week at the annual Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert of Nevada to collaborate building a temporary city that operates on a "gifting" economy where nothing is bought or sold. Participants bring in everything; food, water, and shelter. The week features large-scale art installations and partying, at the conclusion of the week
Burning Man Sculptor Mary Grauberger, a friend of Harvey's girlfriend Janet Lohr, held solstice bonfire gatherings on Baker Beach for several years prior to 1986, some of which Harvey attended. When Grauberger stopped organizing it, Harvey "picked up the torch," and ran with it. He and Jerry James built the first wooden effigy on the afternoon of June 21, 1986, cobbled together using scrap wood, to be torched later that evening. In 1987, the effigy grew to tall, and by 1988, it had grown to . By 1988, Larry Harvey formally named the summer solstice ritual "Burning Man," by titling flyers for