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Thousands of festival-goers took to the Mojave Desert this week to attend a post-apocalyptic gathering featuring decked out cars, guns and outfits inspired by the dystopian film series Mad Max.
The festival hosts a variety of wacky events, including “fight to the death under Thunderdome,” burlesque shows, and drinking games, but everyone in attendance must wear a costume, including staff, journalists, and volunteers.
Photos show creative costumes full of dystopian movie references and themes, with many choosing to uncover everything as they partied under the sun.
According to the website, the festival is “offering makeovers at the event-sponsored post-apocalyptic beauty salon.”
The festival includes other post-apocalyptic activities, including ‘Jugger’, shown here, from another cult film from the 1980s
The festival hosts a variety of crazy events, including ‘fight to the death under Thunderdome’, a tribute to the famous Mad Max scene
All festival visitors are required to appear in full costume, including staff, volunteers and journalists
The Edwards, California Carnival was founded in 2010 and received media attention for its tribute to the Mad Max franchise
Revelers are encouraged to join several “tribes” during the event that compete and have exclusive meeting spots
The festival grew from hundreds of visitors to thousands and was received with growing enthusiasm
Other activities include car cruises, costume contests, a film festival, a post-apocalyptic bathing suit competition, and a bounty hunters role-playing game.
Founded in 2010, the Edwards, California Carnival garnered media attention for its tribute to the Mad Max franchise, even receiving a video greeting from director George Miller, along with a preview of pre-production.
Mad Max – the movie that made Mel Gibson famous – was released in 1979. Max Max 2 followed in 1981, after which Mad Max Thunderdome closed the series in 1985. The character was then rebooted in 2015, with Tom Hardy starring as Max opposite Charlize Theron, who played Furiosa.
The first series of films was set in a post-apocalyptic Australia where groups of murderous criminals roam the countryside in search of fuel from unsuspecting victims.
The event’s founders, Karol Bartoszynski, Jared Butler and James Howard, wanted to create a “fully immersive fan event that would truly feel like you’re living in a movie.”
And the trio succeeded, as the festival grew from hundreds to thousands and was met with growing enthusiasm as fans flocked to the desert from all over the country.
Their set includes the “iconic” Wasteland Gates greeting all who show up for the five-day event, and beyond that lies a fully themed Wasteland City resembling the patchwork villages common in Miller’s films.
Revelers are encouraged to split up into ‘tribes’ who go head-to-head in wasteland themed games, including Jugger, a ‘post-apocalyptic take on armed football/rugby based on an 80s cult film’.
The party includes a fully themed Wasteland City that resembles the villages common in Miller’s films
Many of the events feature role-playing games that mimic the scenes or events that appear in media depictions of post-apocalyptic society
Revelers grace a variety of wacky outfits, including studded glasses, spiked boots and an abundance of leather
While the festival has a Mad Max theme at its core, other dystopias are being celebrated and festival-goers are inspired by many different things
According to the website, the festival offers “makeovers in the event-sponsored post-apocalyptic beauty salon.”
Musicians and DJs from around the world fly to the event to soundtrack the festivities, and the organizers have brought Hollywood set and prop designers to give workshops.
Mad Max was George Miller’s first 1979 film that was released to critical acclaim as audiences around the world flocked to see Miller’s visionary take on the collapse of society.
The movie was so popular that at one point it was considered the highest-grossing movie ever, as it was filmed on a budget of $400,000 but grossed $100 million worldwide.
Three sequels followed in the 1980s until Miller decided to continue the story of lead actor Max Rockatansky with his 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road, which also received critical acclaim for its practical effects, set design, and storytelling.
The release of Fury Road only propelled Wasteland Weekend’s popularity as attendees now had more inspiration – many appearing in makeup inspired by the film’s lead actress, Imperator Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron.
Attendees wear an outfit inspired by Imperator Furiosa from the 2015 revival of his George Miller franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road
The original 1979 Mad Max movie was so popular that it was at one point considered the highest-grossing movie ever
The creators of the festival wanted attendees to feel like they were in a Mad Max movie
While many of the props and sets include weapons, no firearms are allowed at the festival and each one on display is a replica or deactivated