Have you ever heard of the Burning Man festival? Chances are the answer is yes. It’s one of the biggest festivals in the country, bringing tens of thousands of attendees every year.
Most images you see of Burning Man are in the thick of the festival. You see masses of crowds or part of the stage, but you never get to see the actual scope of the festival… Until now.
The European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission was able to take photos of the Burning Man Festival while some 70,000 attendees were enjoying the event. The results are eye-opening. You can see the entire “settlement” from this satellite perspective. Thousands of camper vans, tents, and festival infrastructure in a crescent pattern, stretching across the Nevada desert. It proves what a monumental task it must be to set up and create this monstrosity of a festival, which lasts one week per year before disappearing.
While the Sentinel’s main mission is to track large environmental changes on the Earth (think icebergs, brushfires, dust plumes, and pollution), it was a unique opportunity to photograph one of the biggest festivals on Earth.
Related: The Best Festivals in Every State.