Man and the fireball

The main event at Burning Man--the annual arts festival held last week in the Nevada desert--is the burning of the Man, which took place after a dust-storm delay Saturday night. The burn itself, attended by thousands of people, was a huge success, as seen in this photo of a fireball engulfing the Man.

Because the Man was placed on top of an extremely thick wooden pillar this year, it took a very long time for the effigy to fall, something that in the past was a very important part of the event. (See later slides for more photos of the burning of the Man.)