As news of rising prices, intolerable weather and poor ticket sales have hit the Nevada desert event in recent years, some speculate its days could be numbered. This weekend, tens of thousands of people will head deep into the Nevada desert to Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis that rises out of the dust every year to play host to Burning Man. For 10 days attendees - or rather, "Burners" - come together on the playa, a vast expanse of flat, inhospitable land.
There are large scale art installations, mutant cars , performances, DJ sets and all manner of weird and wonderful events , from self-help talks to sex parties. Don't call it a festival though. No money changes hands at Burning Man (instead, it's about self-reliance and gifting), and the closest thing there is to a headline act is the event's climax, the burning of a large wooden effigy, the "Man" himself.
If any of that sounds appealing, then you're in luck because, for the first time in over a decade, Burning Man has failed to sell out (in previous years tickets have all been snapped up months in advance), prompting speculation that the event has lost its spark . The slow sales are the latest blow in what's been a rocky few years for Burning Man. The event was cancelled for two years during Covid (though an unofficial "renegade burn" still drew 20,000 people to the desert in 2021).
When it returned in 2022 the weather was scorching, with temperatures reaching an intolerable 100F (38C) and dramatic dust storms. Las.