Actor Joel Kinnaman married long-time girlfriend Kelly Gale at the Burning Man festival this week, and they just shared the happy news on Instagram. The couple tied the knot at some point during the week-long festival in an intimate ceremony right in the desert, according to a report by PEOPLE. They were joined by a small gathering of friends and witnesses, all cheering behind the camera.
Burning Man 2024 took place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2 in Black Rock City, Nevada, and we know now it featured at least one wedding. Kinnaman, 44, is best known for playing Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad, among other movie and TV roles, while 29-year-old Gale is a Victoria’s Secret model. Both dressed in white and went barefoot for the occasion, standing on a small white rug. Kinnaman sported a sheer white robe and pants, while Gale’s white dress featured a hood to keep out the desert wind and sand. She wore a metal bodice and headdress as well.
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Kinnaman and Gale went public with their relationship in 2019, and announced their engagement on Instagram in January of 2021. They have never been shy about sharing their affection on social media, with heartfelt posts to mark birthdays, anniversaries and Valentine’s Days. Fans were happy to see them finally wed, and left comments complimenting this one-of-a-kind wedding.
Burning Man is one of the most famous festivals in the U.S., held every year on Labor Day weekend in Black Rock Desert. Attendees all contribute to a temporary city far out in the wilderness, and the whole event centers around the burning of a massive man-shaped effigy. Unlike other festivals, the performances are not scheduled at Burning Man, but are organized and created spontaneously along with many of the art installations and even the architecture itself.
The idea of Burning Man is to demonstrate the possibility of a true egalitarian community, while the history of the festival marks its best attempts to hold to its ethos. In 2004, festival co-founder Larry Harvey described ten guiding principles for Burning Man: “radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.” However, in recent years critics have said that celebrity interest and social media have cheapened the festival and made it less accessible than ever.
