David Bowie's ashes were scattered around a music festival

An art installation burns at sunrise during Burning Man at the Black Rock Desert of Gerlach, Nevada. David Bowie's ashes were scattered at the music festival. Photo/AP

David Bowie's ashes were scattered at Burning Man.

The 69-year-old musician passed away in January following a secret cancer battle and, earlier this month, his godchild brought a portion of his ashes to the annual festival where they were spread.

A source told E! News: "David's godchild and David had long talks about Burning Man and what it stands for, and David loved the message behind it."

Some of David Bowie's ashes were scattered at last week's music festival Burning Man.

Bowie's wife Iman gave permission for the ashes to be scattered and the star was remembered with a small ceremony of 70 people at the Temple, a huge structure for attendees to pay tribute to their departed loved ones.

An attendee said: "We played [David's] music the entire drive from our camp to the Temple and back. Most of us had the Bowie [lightning bolt] face paint on."

The Temple was burnt down at the end of the week-long event.

Burning Man is an annual festival that takes place at Black Rock City - a temporary community erected in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada - and has been described as an experiment in community and art.

Meanwhile, Iman, 61 - who also lost her mother Marian Abdulmajid in April - made her first public appearance since her double loss at Tom Ford's Fall 2016 collection show at New York Fashion Week last week and revealed she is slowly coming to terms with her grief.

She told Joe Zee for Good Morning America: "It's just been a tough year, but I'm holding up."

When Joe praised her as a "survivor", she replied: "Not as much as you think."

The Somalian beauty also revealed she has a special necklace in tribute to her husband, which was made by designer Hedi Slimane.

She said: "I'm wearing this until my death. Hedi Slimane made it for me. It just says 'David.' "

- Bang! Showbiz