Take a Tour of Burning Man on the Back of a Drone

It has been said that describing Burning Man Festival to a person who has never been is like trying to explain what a particular colour looks like to a person who is blind. But perhaps this is no longer the case. Aerial footage has been released of the recent 2013 Festival, taken from a drone.

Held two weeks ago, Burning Man was captured on camera by San Franciscan filmmaker Eddie Codel. Taken from a DJI Phantom Quadrocopter — a pilotless mini-aircraft with four propellers — fitted with a GoPro camera, the impressive HD footage is currently one of the best and fastest available introductions to the famous festival.

This 360-degree tour pans slowly over the festival during the daytime, functioning to communicate a snapshot of the immense size and sparsity of the constructed city. It reveals close detail of the installations and artworks set up in the desert and at times comes very close to people.

Held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, Burning Man draws in a crowd of approximately 50,000 each year. First established in 1986, the seven-day event welcomes attendees from all over the world, encouraging radical art and self-expression through the construction of a temporary community. The city is built the week before Labor Day, on an ancient lake bed, 100 miles north of Reno.

Perhaps it's true that to truly understand Burning Man, one must participate. In the meantime, however, the drone tour certainly gets you very close.

Via Mashable.