This year's Burning Man festival has a frightening theme

Burning Man doesn't even start until August 30th, but it's already off to a rocky start.

First, there was the infestation of giant green bugs that, according to Burning Man's official blog, "bite, crawl all over you, and get up and in you."

The bugs have apparently since "dried up and blown away," but in a new blog post from Saturday, festival organizers sarcastically warned that "Bugpocalypse was just a warm up to our possibly most menacing problem. The clowns are waiting with painted smiles to welcome you to Black Rock City."

Burning Man's official art theme this year is "Carnival of Mirrors," hence the imminent scary clown costumes.

According to the blog post from the weekend, "This is not going to be a good year for clown fearing folks... prepare for Sad Clown Town."

They wander around town even now, shapes in the darkness, ducking behind containers, appearing then disappearing at meetings. They’ve applied their make-up that is becoming caked with alkaline playa dust and is slowly fading each day. Prepare for Sad Clown Town. And beware Plug and Players, the clowns have your number. Locate, Tag, Track and Acculturate. Participate or clowns will eat you. My advice is to befriend a clown as soon as possible upon arrival. They are a hive mind and they can sense your intentions and fear.

...And don’t worry about the bugs. Clowns are far scarier.

This year's festival will be set up a bit like an old-fashioned carnival, complete with a funhouse at the center that "will contemplate the puzzle of self-consciousness."

At the heart of this disorienting maze, a final passage will reveal a courtyard that surrounds the Burning Man. Photo booths will here record the faces of participants, merging them into a swirling stream that will envelop the entire body of the Man. The brittle mirror and the occulting mask will melt away, and at this point there’ll be no gag, no swag, no souvenir of self; the show will be you.

The "Carnival of Mirrors" theme was first announced on the Burning Man website with this creepy video:

Don't forget your ticket of entry:

SEE ALSO: The Burning Man bugs are gone — here's how they disappeared

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