Safety third, sunscreen first: Bringing public health to the playa

Guest post by Madalyn Larson

When you think of Burning Man, you probably initially think of dusty vehicles with bikes strapped to them, people stocking up at Whole Foods for a week out in the desert (seems expensive!), rental vans with tape on their windows, or maybe even the actual fire that burns the Man.

But does public health cross your mind? It should.

Every year in August and September, tens of thousands of people from across the world flock to the Black Rock Desert, fondly known as Black Rock City, to construct an entire civilization from nothing. People build camp structures, dream up and create intricate art, plan their outfits and what they are going to eat and drink for a week, amongst so many other things.

“Safety Third” is a common phrase you hear out on the playa and with so many elaborate (yet potentially risky) ideas that come across a burner's brain, safety might not always be of the utmost priority because, well… art, dance, expression! You get it.

This is where the public health expertise of the Dusty Dillas, a local Reno camp established in 2024, became a gift to those on the playa. The Dusty Dillas bridge the divide between “Safety Third” and uplifting the health of all burners, during their one free, uninhibited week out in the dust.

One of the special ways the Dusty Dillas gifts public health to the playa is through a unique partnership with the Nevada Cancer Coalition (NCC). Speculatively, the Black Rock Desert was chosen for such an event due to its harsh-wants-to-kill-you environment, such as the playa and the strong Nevada sunshine. There are two things on the playa you can never have enough of and those include: water and sunscreen.

For two years, NCC has graciously donated all sorts of sunscreen goodies to the Dusty Dillas to then gift to fellow burners to keep them protected from the sun. These goodies include sunscreen packets, zinc face sunscreen, and even lip balm.

One Dusty Dillas campmate said, “It is such a joy to run around and hand out these sunscreen pouches to burners passing by. They usually say how grateful they are because now they can stay and play out on the playa and not have to go back to camp just yet to re-up on their sunscreen - they have a pouch on the go!”

This year, one Dusty Dillas campmate had a rude awakening when she was diagnosed with infiltrative basal cell carcinoma weeks before they were headed out to the dust.

“Is it safe for my skin to be in such conditions, when I literally have skin cancer?” she asked herself.

She grappled with the risks and recognized that there are ways to keep herself (and fellow campmates) safe even in such intense sunshine. It’s always a fear, each burn, that you won’t have enough of whatever you need. With tools like NCC’s sunscreen donations, there was no doubt the Dusty Dillas would be sun safe along with every burner who came through on our quesadilla shifts or who we happen to meet along burn week.

Did we mention, the Dusty Dillas is a quesadilla saloon embedded with public health expertise? What a quirky duo.

The Dusty Dillas are so grateful to NCC for the opportunity to promote and “live into” sun safety while enjoying our burn. Public health may not be as catchy as “Safety Third” but it sure is important to consider to keep one another safe and happy out in the Black Rock City.