 "Wasteland Weekend: There's a 'Mad Max: Fury Road' inspired festival in California")
For the past seven years, every September for four days, the barren desert land east of Bakersfield, California transforms into a modern day post-apocalyptic scene. Heavily influenced by the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, with hints of Dune and Fallout — Wasteland Weekend sees people come out in full Mad Max memorabilia with a destructive streak to match. [caption id=“attachment_3506473” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modified car at Wasteland Weekend. Image from Twitter.[/caption] This gig isn’t for the faint hearted. Taking place in the Mojave Desert, the festival goers divide themselves into ’themed tribes’ such as Vermin Vagabonds and Skulduggers as they wage bungee-battles against each other in a world that seems far removed from the one that we reside in. One must be fully committed to the cause if they are to attend this festival and the attendees are required to stay in character throughout the weekend. People are known to prepare their costumes and vehicular modifications (something that is ’encouraged’, as per the Wasteland Weekend website) months prior to the festival, and during the four days of the fest — its each man for himself. The scorching sun transforms the ‘wasteland’ into a hotbed, literally. “There’s a spiritual aspect to Wasteland Weekend and the people who attend it,” longtime participant Mike Orr told the Daily Mail . “You have all this armor on and spikes and everything like that…it’s emulating the end of the world. It’s an escapism. You come here and you can be whatever you want to be.” Jared Butler, Wasteland Weekend’s cofounder told Wired that, given the actual end of the world, “some [participants] will be well prepared. The others, well, they’ll be poorly prepared, but they’ll look fabulous.” Last year saw 2,500 attendees at this fan-crazy fest which happened to be the largest amount of people that have ever been in attendance. Mad Max: Fury Road won six awards at the 2016 Oscars, making this post-apocalyptic movie the highest award winner of the night.
This Mad Max inspired festival in California is not for the faint hearted!
Advertisement
End of Article
 "US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth")
 "US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'")
 "China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands")
 "Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit")
 "US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth")
 "US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'")
 "China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands")
 "Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit")
](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/wasteland-380.jpg){kind=link}