What festival did the first Google Doodle commemorate?

The first Google Doodle commemorated the Burning Man festival.

In August 1998, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin placed a simple stick-figure design behind the company's logo to mark their attendance at Burning Man in Nevada. The doodle also served a practical purpose: it told users that the founders were away and might not be immediately available if the company's servers experienced problems.

That first design was very different from the elaborate animated games, interactive illustrations, and cultural tributes now associated with Google Doodles. It was essentially a temporary logo modification rather than a full creative program.

Google later expanded the idea into a regular tradition celebrating holidays, historical figures, scientific discoveries, artists, and major events. The term “Doodle” refers to the altered Google logo itself, while Burning Man is the specific festival honored by the first one. It was not created to commemorate Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, or Coachella.