Burning Man in photos, from the fabulous to the far-out

The Burning Man event hit its high point Saturday night with the burning of the proverbial Man, which stood about 80 feet above the desert floor and was destroyed by fireworks and explosions.

The Burning Man event hit its high point Saturday night with the burning of the proverbial Man, which stood about 80 feet above the desert floor and was destroyed by fireworks and explosions.

The Burning Man event hit its high point Saturday night with the burning of the proverbial Man, which stood about 80 feet above the desert floor and was destroyed by fireworks and explosions.

Towering newly 100 feet above the desert floor, this effigy will be burned Saturday night as one of the centerpieces of the Burning Man experience. The structure was initially designed to rotate, but the mechanism jammed on installation and never worked properly.

Artists at sunrise on Friday set fire to this wooden pyramid, the first major burn of the 2016 Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. The structure, formally known as the Catacomb of Veils, was not finished due to weather delays at the beginning of the event.

An art car made to look like a TIE fighter from Star Wars glows while thousands of burning man participants await the burning of the wooden pyramids before them. Dozens of brightly decorated art cars serve as shuttles and mobile dance platforms during the Burning Man event.

The fire from the burning pyramids created multiple dust vortexes, which spun off toward the surrounding crowd watching at Burning Man.

A light beam from a laser in the crowd illuminates the top of a wooden pyramid at Burning Man minutes before the artists set the structure on fire.

The morning sun illuminates artist Laura Kimpton's @EARTH #HOME sculpture, which was used as the backdrop of a sunrise wedding at Burning Man.

The sun rises over the art installation Catacomb of Veils at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert.

The morning sun illuminates Carrie Jones' face as she holds hands with her new wife, Alyx Steele, during their wedding ceremony at Burning Man. The two, who live in Liverpool, England, will hold a second ceremony in the UK later this year for people unable to attend their Burning Man wedding.

Alyx Steele flashes the peace sign while the morning sun sparkles on the ring worn by her new wife, Carrie Jones, following their sunrise ceremony at Burning Man.

Alyx Steele and Carrie Jones try to untangle their wedding veil, which connects them and encircles their friends following their sunrise wedding at Burning Man.

Burning Man participants wear wedding dresses to celebrate their annual Wedding Dress Wednesday parade, in which they march out into the desert to fake-marry each other. A subsequent "divorce" is mandatory, and comes when the event ends.

Burning Man participants wear wedding dresses to celebrate their annual Wedding Dress Wednesday parade, in which they march out into the desert to fake-marry each other. A subsequent "divorce" is mandatory, and comes when the event ends.

Burning Man participants wear wedding dresses to celebrate their annual Wedding Dress Wednesday parade, in which they march out into the desert to fake-marry each other. A subsequent "divorce" is mandatory, and comes when the event ends.

Burning Man participants wear wedding dresses to celebrate their annual Wedding Dress Wednesday parade, in which they march out into the desert to fake-marry each other. A subsequent "divorce" is mandatory, and comes when the event ends.

Tutu Tuesday, a time-honored tradition at Burning Man.

Tutu Tuesday, a time-honored tradition at Burning Man.

Tutu Tuesday, a time-honored tradition at Burning Man.

Tutu Tuesday, a time-honored tradition at Burning Man.

Karina Hickey of Sydney, Australia, walks through the dust at Burning Man. She's walking along one of the main avenues in the center of the Burning Man desert known as the playa, and the light posts help guide travelers during the frequent and blinding dust storms.

Burning Man participants watch as a ghost from Pac-Man trundles across the desert.

A law enforcement officer speaks with a Burning Man participant after pulling over the heavily loaded vehicle near the camp entrance. Burning Man has volunteer Black Rock Rangers who serve as the camp's primary monitors, although there is also an official government presence in the form of BLM rangers and sheriff's deputies.

A first-time Burning Man participant dances alone in the dust.

An art car rolls through desert at Burning Man. Many of the vehicles have large sound systems and serve as mobile dance parties.

A sea of Barbie Dolls stand as part of an art installation at Burning Man.

An illuminated vehicle resembling the Space Shuttle rolls across the desert at Burning Man.

Volunteers at the Dust City Diner serve coffee and pancakes to anyone who wanders up to the mobile diner in the middle of the desert at Burning Man.

A member of the Battle Born Burners camp paints her hand with a henna tattoo.

When the lights go down, Burning Man truly comes alive, with fantastical vehicles, art installations and the lighted-up participants themselves.

When the lights go down, Burning Man truly comes alive, with fantastical vehicles, art installations and the lighted-up participants themselves.

Burning Man attendees ride atop a rotating wild boar sculpture. One of Burning Man's core principles is presence, encouraging people to be present with those around them, instead of engaging with their iPhones or other technology.

A man rides his bike through a dust storm as a sculpture of a wild boar looms in the background. The playa dust tends to clog electronics, making Burning Man a bad place to pull out your cell phone or camera.

A ceramic-and-concrete octopus rises from the playa dust at Burning Man. The artist said he wanted to design something that Burners would interact with.

A statue of a bear waves hello to passers-by at Burning Man.

A man rides his bike across the playa at Burning Man, with the partial fuselage of a Boeing 747 behind him.

Members of the Journeylizm camp work to establish an Internet connection, which works off microwave transmission.

Members of the Journeylizm Camp erect an antenna at their encampment at Burning Man. Journeylizm where visiting reporters, documentarians and photographers camp during the event.

A ceramic fish swims in a dust storm at Burning Man.

A hydra -- yes, it probably breathes fire -- under construction at Burning Man.

This chicken -- rooster, technically -- stands ready to cross the road at Burning Man.

Pilot Scott Bruce, wearing underwear and a gold cowboy hat, walks to his airplane at Black Rock City airport located in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

For just over a week each year, an airport springs up out of the northern Nevada desert to serve Burning Man. Known as 88NV, the airport handled about 2,700 flight operations last year, and expects to do the same again this year.

The charter control tower at the Black Rock City airport was designed to meet FAA specifications, and FAA observers often visit the airport during Burning Man to monitor operations at the private airport.

The charter flight control tower at Burning Man is designed to look like the Man himself.

Workers on Friday are were putting the finishing touches on the Black Rock City airport.

Burning Man participant and pilot "Cherry" sits next to his airplane, bike and tent on the apron at Black Rock City airport. Although bikes are the most common mode of transportation at Burning Man, private pilots have a strong presence here.

Dozens of private pilots will fly into the Black Rock City airport over the course of Burning Man.

A Cessna 182 casts a shadow on the Black Rock City playa as it climbs away from the airport. The planes take off and land directly on the hard-packed dust surface, although they must halt if it rains.

8/26/1610:45:32 AM Charles Petrie, who goes by the Burning Man nickname of Calamity, talks to visitors inside his RV at the Black Rock City airport. Petrie is the airport operations manager, responsible for building, operating and tearing it down again -- only to do it all again the next year. Petrie, 67, is a computer scientist and non-pilot who is building an off-grid home near Austin. He says his computer science background helps him manage all the details that go into building an airport from scratch.

A pilot who goes by the Burning Man name of "Cherry" rides a gyroboard toward the airport.

A Burning Man flight medallion hangs from the neck of a pilot at Black Rock City.

Black Rock City airport charter liaison "Venture," right, discusses the layout of the airport with a fellow volunteer, "Owl."

Black Rock City airport managers have a strict protocol system for tracking what planes belong and which ones might have been piloted in by rogue flyers who intend on jumping the fence late at night. Burning Man volunteers patrol the fences.

Thousands of "Burners" are entering Black Rock City, even though the event doesn't officially begin until this weekend. Many people enter early to help build elaborate camp structures or art installations.

A charter flight shuts down its engines after landing at Black Rock City airport before letting arrivals deplane.

Two Burning Man participants watch charter airplanes on the apron at the Black Rock City airport. While privately run, the airport is monitored by FAA officials. In order to maintain private control, the airport must have no scheduled flights, and can only accept planes seating up to 30 passengers. More than 2,300 passengers flew through the airport in 2015.

Workers at the Burning Man airport stand watch from a control tower between flights.

This ridge to the east of the Black Rock City airport provides a landing challenge for pilots.

Burning Man participant "Buena Chica" laughs with a pair of new arrivals to Black Rock City, who landed minutes earlier on a charter flight.

A truck leaves a long trail of dust as it drives along the Black Rock City perimeter fence.

Vehicles lined up at the Black Rock City entrance gate as "Burners" await entrance. Burning Man organizers have been trying to reduce the amount of vehicle traffic by emphasizing carpooling, buses and charter air service.

The "Center Camp" structure is clearly visible in the center of Black Rock City as Burners begin to fill in the area around it with tents, RVs and camps.

This aerial photo shows the law enforcement camp area at Burning Man.

8/26/1611:08:47 AM Pilot Scott Bruce stands near his airplane at the Black Rock City airport. Like most pilots, Bruce camps at the airport instead of the main Burning Man encampment.

A whimsical sign greets arrivals at the Black Rock City airport.

Black Rock City's airport handled more than 2,300 passengers in 2015, and expects to see as many if not more this year.

A view from one of the Black Rock City airport control towers shows the arrivals area for charter customers arriving at Burning Man.

A charter flight taxis toward a parking bay at Black Rock City airport. The airport this year is handling planes as large as 30 passengers.

Longtime Burning Man participant and pilot "Fractal" poses with passengers after a scenic flight above the city.

Sara Young of Bellingham, Wash., poses for a photo taken by her husband, Joel, as they arrive at Black Rock City off a charter flight.

A federal law enforcement officer waves as he drives past the control tower at Black Rock City airport. Because the airport is private, Burning Man workers can have law enforcement ban rogue pilots from the area. Burning Man volunteers serve as ground crew, "customs" agents and airport security.

A sign greets arrivals at the Black Rock City airport.