An inside look at Burning Man's 30-year evolution from beach bonfire to international mega-event

In late June, 1986, Larry Harvey and Jerry James joined a handful of friends on San Francisco's Baker Beach in search of radical self-expression. They didn't come empty-handed.

Earlier that day, Harvey and James had collected scrap wood and built an eight-foot statue of a man and his accompanying dog. Later that night, the group hoisted them up and set fire to both. Little did they know that a 30-year tradition had just been born.

Today, Burning Man draws more than 50,000 people to Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Over the course of a dusty, freewheeling week in late August, the festival celebrates notions of self-expression, civic responsibility, and art.

This year's Burning Man will be held from August 28 to September 5. Here's a look back at how one of the world's most surreal, iconic festivals came to be.