1996 Interview With Burning Man Co-Founder Larry Harvey at SOMAR in San Francisco

Here’s my unedited interview with Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey from July 1996 as we were setting up for the pre Burning Man event at SOMAR (now SOMArts) in San Francisco. Larry talks about the origins of Burning Man, Burning Man’s relationship with the media and why he chose the theme of Hell (Dante’s Inferno, HELCO) for the 1996 event (he’s sitting on Satan’s throne during the interview).

Sadly, Larry passed away on April 28, 2018 and tomorrow night (July 14) he will be honored at “The Man With The Hat: Celebration of Larry Harvey’s Life and Legacy” in San Francisco at the Castro Theatre.

Scott Beale
Scott Beale

Scott Beale is the founder of Laughing Squid and is based in New York City. When not running the blog, Scott can be found posting on Threads and sharing photos on Instagram.