The woman who mysteriously died on the first day of the Burning Man festival, just hours after thousands of people gathered at the tottering desert camp, has been identified.
Kendra Frazer, 39, was found unconscious at 11:29 a.m. Sunday when “immediate life-saving efforts were made but were unsuccessful,” organizers said.
Frazer’s next of kin have been notified, but police could not say where the woman was from.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office arrived and confirmed the woman’s death, and began an investigation “until the cause and cause could be determined.”
“Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this loss,” festival organizers said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities as they investigate this incident.”
The woman who mysteriously died on the first day of the Burning Man festival, just hours after thousands of people had gathered at the tottering desert camp, has been identified
Authorities said 39-year-old Kendra Frazer was found unresponsive at 11:29 a.m. Sunday and organizers said “immediate life-saving measures were taken but were unsuccessful.”
“The name of the participant is being withheld at this time until the next of kin of the deceased has been notified,” said Jerry Allen of the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased.
“This is the first death reported on the playa this year, and unfortunately it happens on day one.”
Burning Man organizers said counseling services were available at the festival for anyone who needed them.
“The safety and well-being of our staff and the community is paramount. We are cooperating fully with local authorities as they investigate this incident,” the report said.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office investigates all deaths that occur within its jurisdiction.
Since the festival moved from San Francisco’s Baker Beach to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, there have been about six other deaths.
Last year, Leon Reece, a 32-year-old Californian, died of suspected drug poisoning after being found unconscious on the festival grounds.
Burning Man organizers said counseling services were available at the festival for anyone who needed them
Since the festival moved from San Francisco’s Baker Beach to the Black Rock Desert in 1990, about half a dozen other deaths have been reported.
The festival, which combines wilderness camping with a week of art for the sake of art, kicked off early Sunday morning after gates were closed for 12 hours due to rain and mud.
An estimated 20,000 people were already on the beach before the gates officially opened to all ticket holders.
Burning Man runs through September 2. Organizers expect more than 70,000 people to attend this year’s event.
The city is known for its colorful themed camps, towering sculptures, drum circles, art cars and avant-garde theater performances. The city grew from a gathering of about 4,000 people in 1995 to 50,000 in 2010 and is now temporarily the third largest city in Nevada, after the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno.
There are fears that the iconic festival is on the decline, as demand for tickets is at an all-time low a week before the event starts.
Last year, partygoers fled Nevada’s Black Rock Desert after torrential rains turned the event into a mud pit. And now, the magic seems to be lost.
Tickets for Burning Man are normally in high demand, but for the first time in its history, the festival has now released last-minute tickets.
As organizers of the week-long festival, known for drug use and massive orgies, desperately try to sell tickets, a Facebook group is packed with people trying to sell their tickets.
The festival, which combines wilderness camping with a week of celebrating art for art’s sake, kicked off early Sunday morning after gates were closed for 12 hours due to rain and muddy conditions.
A security guard keeps people at a distance during the annual Burning Man Festival on September 4, 2023
Prices start at $575 before taxes and fees, with vehicle passes costing about $150 more. This time around, people are willing to sell them for less than face value or “best offer” for the August 25 festival.
Burning Man has a reputation as an anti-capitalist festival, but many loyal festival-goers are now complaining that they are being ripped off for full-price tickets.
One person even offered him $200 for a ticket, to which he replied in frustration: “Decommodification works both ways.”
According to the ’10th Principle of Burning Man’, or the festival principles‘Decommodification protects Burning Man culture from being misused for the promotion, endorsement, or marketing of any person, product, company, or any commercial enterprise.’
Last year, partygoers attacked each other during the festival after organizers pleaded with people trying to leave the squalid camp to be patient amid panic over food and water shortages.
Initially, those present were ordered not to leave, as the access roads had become impassable due to a light rainfall.
Those who chose to leave before ‘the burn’, where the festival’s eponymous statue is set alight, had to wait in line for five hours until they reached the public road.
People were asked not to attempt to leave the festival, as celebrity attendees including Chris Rock, actor Austin Butler and DJ Diplo managed to escape.
Heavy rain and muddy conditions delayed staff responding to an emergency call for Reece, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The festival suffered from a massive heat wave and strong winds in 2022, making it difficult for the ‘burners’, as festival-goers are called, to experience the festival.
The gathering, which started in 1986 as a small event on a San Francisco beach, has a budget of $45 million and is attended by celebrities and social media influencers.
There are no financial transactions, guests are encouraged to barter to get what they need. Longtime Burning Man attendees complained that the festival had been gentrified and ruined in recent years, before the drop in demand in 2024.