Here's what it's like to bring your parents to Burning Man

Burning Man's reputation for hard partying and harsh desert conditions didn't scare away an older crowd from this year's week-long festival in Black Rock City, Nevada.

Burning Man is filled with people of all ages, from very young to very old. And more people than ever before are starting to bring their parents to join in the fun.

Scott, 36, has been attending for six years and this time decided to bring his dad, Rick.

"It's a place where you can connect with yourself, and he gave up some things to be my dad, so I wanted him to experience that," Scott, who traveled from Redondo Beach with his father, told Business Insider while checking out some of the many art pieces the desert had to offer.

And during his time at the festival Rick experienced it all.

"We've been doing a little bit of daytime activists and a little bit of partying," added Scott. "He's been up every day at sunrise."

Rick, meanwhile, says that despite tent living being "a little dustier than I like," his experience has been "amazing."

"The last year my son has dedicated to his father," said Rick. "It's a very moving thing to be connected to your son and see each other as friends and not just a dad."

I found another father-son duo at a place called The Petting Zoo. A 49-year-old dad from San Francisco brought along his 16-year-old son and 23-year-old nephew.

"We are having so much fun," the dad told me. "We haven't seen all the debauched sexuality and drugs that have been represented about the festival, but what we have seen is a die-hard crowd that loves people."

Another older gentleman from San Francisco said, " I was at the second Burning Man at Baker Beach, and now here again this year."

His buddy said it was his fifth time. "We love it here - we love the art and the survival skills it requires to be here comfortably and the very nice people we meet here."

"But we're burnt out," he added, laughing.

Joan Bloodworth, from Madison, Wisconsin, is 81 years old; this was her first Burn.

"Yesterday, I wasn't so sure about everything, but today I feel wonderful - everybody is so friendly," Bloodworth said. "I keep getting gifts, and I'm taking in the sights."

Bloodworth decided to attend at the urging of her daughter.

"My daughter and her husband from Berkeley have been coming for years, and she said this was the year she wanted me to see it. He was a foreman, so he got one of these little cabins I stay in. I'm sleeping on the floor, but it has a refrigerator and air-conditioning, and it's wonderful."