Business Insider/Aly Weisman More than 61,000 people attended Burning Man in 2013, which just a decade ago drew half as many people.
Despite photos of this year's festival starting to trickle onto social media, many are still baffled by what exactly goes on at the week-long event.
Two years ago, I went to Burning Man for the first time.
Despite having attended many different festivals previously, Burning Man was unlike anything I had ever seen.
Burning Man, as the website proclaims, is "an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada."
The year I attended, so did over 61,000 other people, many of them in the tech industry. This year, over 70,000 people are expected - myself included.
While many people go for the full seven days, I previously only did four, so my experience may have been different from others. But the beauty of Burning Man is that everyone can have whatever kind of experience they want.
For me, I loved biking around during the hot desert days looking at all of the beautiful art installations constructed in the middle of nowhere and taking advantage of strangers' generosity by way of wine tastings, zip lines, and fried chicken.
For others, the festival comes alive at night. As the sun goes down, the lights of Black Rock City come up and the pulse of the music keeps people awake until well into the following day.
Since most people who haven't been to Burning Man seem to be confused by what it actually is, here are some photos that sum up my trip two years ago. After a hiatus last year, I'll be heading back to the Burn in a few days, so check Business Insider for full coverage.