Hey there, dust lovers. Thank you so much for waiting patiently. Info about 2016 registration and ticket sales is now available at tickets.burningman.org. Here’s an explanation of what’s staying the same and what’s changing:
For the 2016 event, the price of regular tickets (including both Main Sale and Directed Group Sale tickets, which are sold to key BRC infrastructure creators) is the same as it was last year, $390 per ticket. The price of the approximately 6,000 discounted tickets we sell through the Low Income Ticket Program and to some honorarium art crews and staff members will also be the same as last year, $190.
But here’s the thing. Expenses related to producing Black Rock City increase every year. (You can see a detailed breakdown of those costs on this nifty pie chart as well as on our Form 990 and Annual Report.) We have to cover the incremental increase, but we can’t sell more tickets (according to our current permit with the Bureau of Land Management), and we don’t want to raise the cost of our lower- and mid-priced tickets.
Keeping prices stable for most participants is especially important this year in light of the Live Entertainment Tax. We haven’t yet received a response from the Nevada Department of Taxation to our inquiry. We had hoped to resolve this matter before selling tickets so that participants would not have to pay the tax, but the state is taking longer than we expected to issue an opinion. Unfortunately, this means we will have to collect the tax at the time of purchase, as per the law. At 9% a pop, this amounts to an additional $34 for each $390 ticket. The tax applies to all tickets at all price tiers. If the tax is found not to apply after ticket sales commence, we will issue a refund for the 9% collected.
Given all this, we came up with a solution for this year that will let us cover our costs while keeping ticket prices as stable as possible.
Leonardo da Vinci Art Tickets
In light of this year’s art theme and our new conversation about patronage, we’re introducing a small tier of 1,000 tickets at $1,200 for those who are willing and able to offer support this way. The $1,200 tickets will be called ‘Leonardo da Vinci Art Tickets,’ inspired by the patrons of the Italian Renaissance who befriended, supported, and celebrated artists. These are regular Burning Man tickets without any additional privileges or access beyond those afforded to $390 ticket buyers (e.g. entry to Black Rock City). You can’t pay more to get a ticket with any extra perks in BRC.
Five hundred of the $1,200 tickets will be offered alongside the Pre-Sale tickets to those that register for that sale. Another 500 will be offered through a link in your Burner Profile after the Main Sale is over. We’re also increasing the price of the Pre-Sale tickets from $800 to $990. The revenue from these ticket sales will let us keep prices the same for everyone else. The 1,000 tickets sold at $1,200 each will raise $1.2 million. So what does Burning Man do with $1.2 million? Last year we issued $1.2 million in grants directly to artists through Black Rock City Honoraria. Add to that an additional $1.8 million in support services, and the 2015 BRC art budget topped $3 million. Again, you can learn all about Burning Man’s budget and expenses in our Form 990 and Annual Report.
So What’s the Ticket Breakdown by Price?
Below are the estimated allotments for each of the sales. Exact allotments on the day of the sale may vary slightly depending on factors including organizational and community needs, but the slices of the pie look like this:
What About Vehicle Passes?
Vehicle passes, which will cost $80 in 2016 (and are not subject to the Live Entertainment Tax), are designed to encourage carpooling and reduce the number of individual vehicles traveling to and from Black Rock City. They are often a shared expense amongst friends and campmates. The good news? It seems to be working. According to the Black Rock City Census, in 2014 12.8% of participants arrived at the event alone in a vehicle. In 2015, that number fell to 10%. But to adequately address Black Rock City’s traffic challenge, we need to do better. Of course, carpooling is just part of the solution. We’re working on other initiatives as well, and we encourage you to think creatively about how to take on this challenge.
Let’s Do This
That’s all for now. Thanks again for your patience while we finalized our 2016 ticketing structure, and as we continue to challenge the Live Entertainment Tax. With that, it’s time to begin dreaming and planning for our best Black Rock City yet!
Specific info about 2016 registration and ticket sales is now available at tickets.burningman.org.
Your lobbyist(s) didn’t get that tax thing solved yet?
They worked so well last time you wanted the law changed.
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You win some, you lose some
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I hate money. :(
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Ticket page has typos-prices listed at 990 and 900 throughout. We’re just as excited to buy as you were to type :)
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Seems like everything else these days. Only those with the dough get to go!
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Not ideal but a compromise is a solution with which no one is happy… It must be a good compromise because I’m not happy. Thank you for resolving this. The prices are out of reach for many but I applaud the art tickets to allow weather patrons to voluntarily shoulder more burden. Thank you for your efforts and now it’s time to start planning (finally)
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You think ticket prices are out of reach for Americans? Try buying them with another currency. The American dollar is soooo high this year that that $390 costs a Canadian $565. Plus entertainment tax, plus shipping, plus vehicle. I’m staying home.
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I know, it’s ridiculously expensive for Canadians for camping in the middle of the desert (no disrespect, I love BM).
Could go to Cuba instead!
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Try again with the Mexican peso, last year 1 usd was 14 pesos, today 1 usd is almost 19 pesos… that’s a 35% increase on tickets and expenses (flight and everything else) just because of currency :(
If you guys know how a foreign burner can apply for the low income tickets, let me know… I’m having a hard time because of it
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While I do feel you Canadians, try studying abroad as a broke American college kid a few years ago in Europe.
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I’m Canadian and I was awarded a scholarship ticket one year. I can’t imagine the organization limiting those applications to US citizens only. That would be against their principles.
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80 per vehicle?!?!??!?! What about theme camps who need multiple trucks to get their infrastructure to the playa???
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It appears they will pay $80 per vehicle.
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Include it as part of your dues. If you have a 10 person camp and two trucks that 160 cost is 16.00/body. That’s pretty reasonable. I’m assuming if you have multiple vehicles for your camp’s infrastructure, your camp membership is likely above 10.
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I want to know how is parking fee is being spent to improve exodus.
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This
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or That. There’s always that.
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You’re still gonna be parked during exodus.
It’s just the extension line of the party!
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Exodus is improved by your staying an extra day and helping clean up.
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But you should get with This, cuz this is where it’s at.
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In Nevada as in most states, someone with a standard drivers license can tow 2 trailers as long as you are less than 70′ and weigh less than 10,000 lbs. Not a perfect solution, but it’s an option to maybe eliminate a vehicle.
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Someone posted pulling two trailers behind a single vehicle??!!!
For all intensive purposes this is a bad safety idea… for everyone on the road. I don’t know how many burner vehicles themselves break down, how many trailers break down or cause accidents (from overload, faulty & rusting unused equipment or inexperienced tow drivers) but to add a second vehicle trailer to tow your gear onto your first trailer? Now you a re just asking for more trouble. Not to mention you can’t back up…on your journey, at the gas station, nor once you get to BM.
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California and most other states preclude two-trailer hauling (if one is a “fifth wheel” that isn’t necessarily considered a first trailer though), So unless you are only hauling in Nevada, this is probably not a feasible option either.
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So we pay 30$ more to park, and 34$ more for a
-potential- tax? Seems arbitrary, overly complicated, and busted, like a lot of policies of Burningman.
Also, your chart published a number of weeks ago that allocates spending per ticket is preposterous. The high ticket price goes to fund all manner of ridiculous projects all over the world which have nothing to do with the actual event in Black Rock. After 12 years of attending, I kinda feel cheated by BMORG.
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Right?! It’s almost like they are trying to do more than throw a party! How dare they!
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Right there with you H3lix…right there with you.
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Think about the value you’re getting for your money when Crimson Rose or Larry Harvey goes to give a speech about how transformative Burning Man is… it will help you sleep at night, I know it helps me.
Knowing that the ethos of Burning Man is being spread one powerpoint at a time makes me glad I gave them so much.
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At Flipside we tell people they vote with their ticket money , perhaps you should vote ,the way you feel . Let freedom ring.
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If you’re paying any sort of parking fee ($30?) then someone is ripping you off.
The Nevada live entrainment tax battle has been going on for months. It is the reason for the delayed ticket information and out of the hands of the Borg.
Also, the charities and worldwide regionals are worthy of their cost.
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Don’t Go.
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How about the $1200 tickets help finance the $38 tax? If the tax is not levied how about using it to fund something like, I don’t know, helping poor people?
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It’s burning man. In your sincerio we take away art to give to poor people? In that case, why don’t we shut down burning man and just donate all the money?
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It IS structured to help “poor people”. It allows for them to still keep regular tix and low income tix at an affordable price. And that parking pass fee? If you carpool with 3 other buddies, it’s only $20 a head- not the end of the world.
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It doesn’t seem that way. Low income and regular tickets are still subject to the 9% tax. And it ins’t stated explicitly where the $1.2 million bump from the VIP tickets will go. To fund art? To give to local communities? To pay for Larry and Marian to jet around the world giving speeches? I don’t know. Would be nice to know.
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I think there is an intended “risk” that the $80 will NOT necessarily increase the revenue that much. The idea is to REDUCE the number of vehicles, in essence assuming that if 1/4 of the people who bought parking passes last year car pool with someone else, then most of the additional cost will simply offset the lower number of vehicle passes sold. So it isn’t appropriate to “allocate” that money to be used for something because some or all of it may disappear (this is similar to what happens in cities that spend money on video ticketing and have their revenues drop from tickets when people start honoring red lights because of the fear of a video ticket). So in the end, the net revenue effect could be zero or at least very small increase.
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Holy fuck at $80 vehicle passes. Super lame.
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There are ways around the pass, like carpooling or Burner Express.
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yes except that you can’t bring luch things in the burner express. Not all the water, no bicycle. Otherwise I would do it in a heart bear.
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Four people to a car is an absurd idea. You can’t fit 4 people and all the gear needed for a week in the desert, plus food and water and bicycles AND all the art and things you’re supposed to bring to participate.
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Agree! How about a reduced rate for cars/trucks with more than one person riding? Seems to me that’d make sense and be further incentive than punishing everyone equally!
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Now that’s a good idea. If everyone complains about price, and you have a carpool issue; INCENTIVIZE the carpooling by REDUCING EXPENSE for those that do. That is truly a RADICAL idea. +1
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So in other, MORE HONEST, words; ticket prices are going up by almost $80 this year. More for the car pass, more for the state. The price of a ticket is how much you have to spend to get a ticket, not the number printed on the front of it.
And how the H do y’all think we’re supposed to get our bar structure and a ton of booze to give away up to the playa? By carpooling? On Green Tortoise? The carpooling thing is fine for people who (literally) bring nothing to the party, but in our camp we kind of max out at two people per vehicle if everyone wants a seatbelt.
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I hope this helps…?
“In 2012, the Burning Man organization began renting near-playa shipping containers to theme camps for storage of their infrastructure elements. We will be increasing the space available for containers this year and into the future — the more stuff that comes in large containers means less individual vehicles are required. [UPDATE: We are at maximum capacity for the program now, but will announce on the blog and Jackrabbit Speaks when we’re ready to take new applications for the program.]”
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Burners are very hard on things, so usually whatever you brought needs some maintenance before it can be used again the next year. If you stick it in a container you can’t do anything with it until it’s on the playa the next year. This isn’t a remotely functional solution. Plus there’s rent and that’s more than the vehicle passes.
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Good solution. Hopefully I get a ticket this year!
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So for two people that’s $938 us…..
We Canadians are experiencing our dollar tanking, and at today’s exchange rate, that’s $1,290 just for the tickets….. yikes!!
I’m predicting the lowest Canadian demographic in years!
:/
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Fellow Canuck here. It’s heartbreaking to think that I likely won’t be able to make it home this year due to our declining currency = insanely expensive conversion :( Might have to hang tight and hit a regional to get my fix for 2016.
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If you’re near the west coast…. May I suggest “Otherworld”?? Victoria, BC regional event
Beachfront, it’s a small (450) and intimate event!
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I know what the org’s pat answer is: REGIONALS people. Come or don’t come they don’t care. If you’re gonna start whinin’ this early maybe best not to come. Tickets are just the tip of the iceberg of the hell realm that lies ahead on the playa especially if the weather doesn’t cooperate. But my best vacation is your worst nightmare. Heh heh
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Come to Lakes of Fire ;)
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Agh! The pre-sale vehicle-pass-only loophole has been closed…yes I totally used that last year. All in all an OK small increase this year, good job. If you’d add a vehicle pass, bottle of good bubbly, and gold foil printed thank you note to the Leonardo da Vinci Art Ticket…I might bite ;-)
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Yea, that’s a good idea too. I mean, c’mon! for $1200 you don’t have to VIP the experience, just offer something a little more than the standard atomic fireball we all get when the tickets ship. Make us feel good that we did good, not just the mention of something we may never see in a country we may never visit (likely because we spent $1200 a ticket to BM).
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That’s half the point, Jacob. You get nothing extra for paying extra, because that money is a form of patronage. What you’re getting is whatever the honorarium goes to in the way of sponsored art projects.
That’s your extra. Throwing some cash down to make the city stranger.
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You said:
“With that, it’s time to begin dreaming and planning for our best Black Rock City yet!”
Do you understand?
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dude, I really wanna have a good time this year, it’s been 5 years since I’ve been. Im going to pretend that the more negativity there is revolving around burningman, the better the party is going to be. party on wayne.
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party on Garth.
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I think it is time we moved out of Nevada. This is getting too costly for the org and the people.
Having to do the art, load it in is costly enough without jacking up the ticket prices. BRC is supposed to be for everyone and not just the people that can scrape the money together.
I think there are many options of where to build a city without having to build a state also.
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Well put. There must be someplace on PRIVATE land that has the stark beauty of the Black Rock Desert. All the bureaucracy and everyone that wants a piece of the pie has made this event more inhospitable than the environment that we build the city on.
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I was out traveling Eastern Oregon last summer. Here’s a ‘someplace’ that might work.
42°57’48.2″N 117°42’06.1″W
And a plus for Canadians – it is a day or two closer to our low Loonie.
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Mexico!!! No entertainment tax and best of all, no BLM
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But what about the dust?! I need my dust fix!? (I’m fast forwarding to 30 years from now, with grandkids on my knee, and saying, “Well back in MY day, we had to breathe dust at Burning Man!”)
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For stark, beautiful mountains and flat plains in between, Arizona is full of those and is something to consider to replace NV’s taking us for a golden goose to squeeze further!
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@Rose, yea, but in Mexico you also have every criminal from the US that ever made it there, plus one of the most corrupt systems (illegal corruption is always worse than legal corruption, legal is slower and has more paperwork)(and our jails are much nicer). I’d rather take my chances in the US. John Law’s presence and bureaucracy around BM is frustrating and annoying, but I’ll take it over trying to get to and from Mexico with all my burner shit any day.
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Neither Florence, nor Burning Man, are about patrons and patronage, although you wouldn’t know it from the constant BMORG “there is no art without the wealthy” spin. Sees to me that Leonardo was about…Leonardo and his amazing talents. So too with Burning Man. It’s not about the wealthy; we don’t need the wealthy. We don’t need to give them special camps which follow none of the 10 principles year after year but get placed anyway.
I understand BMORG is looking for wealthy patrons to buy it’s own land for BM, and to fund the worldwide expansion of BM “principles of governance” (take the people’s money and give them no say in what is done with it). But I’d appreciate a little transparency with this instead of the constant messages about how thankful we should be toward the rich.
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Good word. The moment art went from priceless to ‘sell to the highest bidder’, its prostituted self was lowered to less than priceless. So, raise that money from the wealthy, then burn the art. No matter its beauty, BURN IT. Please.
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Hard news, I know, but an artist’s gotta eat too. A prostitute’s just someone selling a thing they know how to do, from a cook to an artist to your average wageslave pushing spreadsheets around.
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Sit in 70 mile lines for 11 hours like last year? Pay high dollar tickets and another ticket just to park? No thanks. Burningman was fun at one time, now it’s just another popular attraction that has gotten too popular.
It’s an incredible amount of work just to prepare to go.
I think I will go to an island in Greece instead…:)
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Time for a private ownership membership system.
If RV camp sites can buy, own and sell memberships according to the free market, why not BM?
Like Europe. When they sell a piece of art over a certain amount, a royalty is paid back to the artist, or in this case BM. SO that subsidies a class of memberships reserved for at the greatest need and lowest cost. Then expand the commerce options at center camp.
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*BURNING MAN TIMESHARE OPPORTUNITY*
What a fabulous idea. And as far as the commerce in center camp what do you suggest? I personally would love to see a whole line of Bobblehead burning man dolls.
Also, perhaps we can defray some of the cost of acquiring the Rangers to wear if you discreetly placed commercial logos on their cost-a-uniform. Home Depot? I mean what burner doesn’t visit that store every year? Also perhaps PBR. That is definitely in keeping with the spirit of Blackrock city.
Perhaps we could also put up a viewing platform where folks that can afford a ticket could drive out and look upon the city from some elevated observation platform. It could be like the Super Bowl city of burning man. “Can’t afford a ticket? Come on down anyway and for $35 you can see how burning man Natives live in their natural habitat.
Oh, a whole slew of potential opportunities are now coming to mine
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So much for the principle of decommification….the party must go own regardless of the price!!!
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Yay! one more ticket chance for me!
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For the Canadians..find a suitable location for the event in your country so that the tickets can be sold in your dollars and donate enough to BMOrg that they dare not relocate.
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We have snow carving contests but they just have the same draw.
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390 +34.+80 =504 ea 1008,to bring the wife when I was working it was a bit of a struggle ,now that I’m not ……..I love being able to help build the city prior to the event,but reduced or free tickets are at will call after the open so that won’t work. I’lll apply ,assuming that part has not changed,it wasn’t mentioned ,who knows I could be struck by lightning …………nudefish
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I believe will call opens around 5 days before the event. My tickets have benn will call the last few years, and I’ve always gone EA.
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I have one simple question. In regards to the vehicle pass. We have a fairly large camp as well as a very large mutant Vehicle that we bring. Just the infrastructure for the camp and mutant vehicle, we needed 6 vehicle passes last year. The mutant vehicle is not a coverted bus that we can drive up..this vehicle us towed up on trailer. We arrive 4-5 days before gates open and we leave 3-4 days after the temple burns. If the reason for the vehicle passes is to encourage car pooling and to minimialize traffic upon entry and exodus why would we be force to pay these fees, plus have to worry that passes won’t be sold out? When we arrive there’s no traffic and when we leave the playa is near empty. If anything, it would be a wonderful gesture to at least grant er um gift Mutant Vehicle owners a parking pass considering our art doesn’t qualify for the BM Art Grants. Just a thought.
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Obviously they should do that.
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A very good thought.
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Love this idea!
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Yes
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I Totally agree and that’s coming from a non art car owner. I’d hate to have the artists and creative people that have the talent, time and funds to create these amazing pieces, be discouraged from participating. They are already “paying more” for the cause as it is.
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Agreed!
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Perfect
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BOTTOM LINE…Bringing art installations or being an approved theme camps thatbactually offee something to the residents of BRC should get your cheaper car passes.
As tructured now the car permit pricing disproportionately affects burners who contribute the most. People who don’t actually contribute anything to the playa just come to party have the option of all just cramming together into one big vehicle. But for the rest of us actually bringing art or structures or other things to share with the other citizens of Black Rock City end up getting screwed.
BmOrg always sets up the incentives all wrong. I swear you’re doing exactly what you would want to do if you were trying to discourage people from bringing anything substantial to Black Rock City.
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Couldn’t have said it better. seems like the car fee hurts us that come in early (by our self) to set up infrastructure. Even if it is just for a theme camp.
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Congratulations Burning Man!
You’ve officially went past our limit for entry cost.
The math: $390+34+80+15+5=$524
Thats your ticket, tax, vehicle pass, processing and shipping. The price is now too high.
I offer the idea that they make the Temple be the man this year to celebrate the death of Burning Man.
Bye Bye, we’re sad and will miss you!
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The $34 is paid by the patronage tickets, not by the folks buying the 390. You can do willcall and save the shipping.
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Nevermind, they cover cost increases, not the tax.
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Shitty situation handled as well as possible. An $114 add-on for vehicle pass and ticket tax seems nominal compared to other costs (transpo, supplies, camp infrastructure, time off work, etc) incurred by the event. Thank you.
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It’s curious to me that one can purchase up to eight tickets at the higher prices in the presale (and up to four vehicle passes), but only two tickets and one vehicle pass in the general sale.
While I get that there are far more people that will want to only pay the lower price, it still makes me think that there is a specific target market in mind for those that have the means and the need to purchase so many higher priced tickets as a way to guarantee their attendance; perhaps the need to travel with one’s personal staff is very real.
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8? Where did that number come from? The limit was four last year.
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From the text on http://tickets.burningman.org….”You can buy a maximum of eight (8) tickets in the Pre-Sale—up to four (4) $990s and four (4) $1,200s— and up to four (4) $80 vehicle passes.”
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It’s more than curious, it’s bullshit. People who can afford the VIP prices can guarantee a rather large camp. For instance, a wealthy couple can purchase 16 tickets between the two of them. That’s a good sized camp right there. The rest of us are limited to two per person, and that’s if we’re lucky enough to get through.
I realize demand far exceeds supply here, but let’s make it a little more fair. If you’re gonna have expensive VIP tickets (and for fuck’s sake, let’s NOT call them VIP tickets), those tickets should be subject to the same per person limit.
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I think the reason you can buy more of the more expensive tickets is because if you were to scalp them you make less profit, so there is less incentive (or was/could be). Likewise, the reason you can only buy two in the main sale is because you wouldn’t want some fucktard buying up 8 tickets to put on ebay for $1000 ea. would you? But then only buying one at a time is lame. 2 allows you to come and bring a fuck buddy / wing (wo)man. Now as to why you can get 2 vehicle passes, that’s bullshit logic if you’re trying to reduce traffic, but so is the pass, so whatever. Also, if you buy a few of the expensive tickets, you might be in the position where you are buying the tickets for a critical everyone-must-go crew, and probably other costs (like water, food or hauling) are taken care of by the other members. At least, those are the reasons why that I always thought it was like that.
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how much did you save by terminating Bettiejune’s postion?
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yeah. (ragefart ‘cuz i’m so all about supporting the little people.) don’t forget bettiejune, and skinnyjeans lumberjerk, and wears-two-radios-always, and you-think-she’s-a-chick-but-aren’t-really-sure-so-you-always-call-it-hey-what’s-up, and that other person i judged since i’m so cool…
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Always both desired and wanted to go to burning man as I followed it for years. Never could afford the time off. It is or was a bucket list thing. Now I get lost in the words of cost and pluralism’s. More and more I picture going to the Zoo. I wonder if I could watch someone in the like of art fuck a monkey. You could franchise this gig and place it in 7 other states. I like flying with the rainbow where we just invade a national forest. You can’t cause you may burn it down.
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Wow it’s going to cost an Australian $680 Aussie dollars for a ticket and a vehicle pass. Our dollar is really weak at the moment. Factor in the BM tickets, Vehicle pass, flights, RV hire (which goes up every and year…the sharks) and the burning of money prior to the event on food/booze etc. It’s a small fortune. Ive gone 3 years but every year it just seems to go up and up in price. Looks like there’ll be fewer Aussies than ever before on the playa this year it’s getting completely ridiculous price wise. Not worth it anymore we end up paying $4000 US or more. Is it actually worth it!!
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get a job in the financial sector. fix your weak economy. bow down to the might of the USA, sponsored by Burning Man. then you can afford tickets to your sanctus sanctorum sanctity.
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bitter and jaded , who taught you to troll? You kind of suck at it , nothing personal . I am sure you were bad ass on chat avenue .
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I’ve met no shortage of completely righteous Aussies on the playa.
Currency fluctuations are out of the hands of Burning Man (consult Wall Street and world financial markets for that). Its a bit odd that the American dollar is strong against the Canadian and Aussie dollars.
I hope you can work it out and get to the playa. I always appreciated the epic quest (and huge cash outlay) it takes to get to BRC from anywhere, especially the other side of the world.
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I hate to say it but Bali is a better value for the Aussie thrill seeker..
Cheers Mate
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So… you spend a bunch of money flying in from Australia, buy a bunch of crap for yourselves to consume, and rent an RV. There’s an ever-increasing number of people jetting in to BM from around the world who bring practically nothing to the party. Would BM be a lesser event if you guys don’t show this year? – Not in the slightest.
Nothing personally against you as an individual but people flying in (not in every single case, but most) contribute practically nothing. It’s about PARTICIPATION not showing up, buying a bike at walmart and gawking.
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That is such an incredibly ignorant and rude thing to say! One of the biggest arts pieces on the Playa last year (Own Way) was built by a Russian camp, who flew in from Russia and spent almost a month extra in the desert building it. My own camp spent a ridiculous amount of time and money shipping stuff over to the USA from Europe, just to build an amazing experience for everyone.
Sure, there are always tourists. The tourists come from both the States and abroad. So don’t go putting all your eggs in one basket and telling us that we contribute nothing.
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Wow, way to jump to a quick judgement and assumption around non-US participants’ contributions. I have spent the last 10 years volunteering with a core department of BM, and have encountered a high number of Europeans, Aussies, Kiwis, etc in our ranks, busting their assess. They build the city, they tear it down at the end, and they tirelessly serve the City from their heart during the event. And pay a metric fuck ton more to be able to attend than any US attendee. The investment (time, money, effort, hassle) these people make year after year to be a part of our community is not insignificant. So many folks in thread are balking at a $35- 120 increase in cost, and are throwing in the towel and checking out of our community. For our international attendees, this is a mere drop in the bucket, and their dedication unwavering.
I encourage you to re-examine your assumption that “more stuff= more participation” (this mindset is very American, btw… “more stuff= more better”). In fact, try decoupling “stuff” from the equation altogether. BRC doesn’t need another bar, or another sexy time camp with a trampoline out front, or another conspicuous display of ego or over compensation. What it can definitely benefit from however, is a thousand-fold increase in people giving their time and hearts to volunteer in the City in some capacity or another.
To this end, I’d rather have all the dedicated international attendees qualitatively participating, than the chintzy, burdensome raver kids passing out booze and party favors.
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Was it actually stated that the $34 is paid by the $390 ticket buyer and not added on to the most expensive ticket tier buyers?
And Aussies-it’s a very expensive air ticket for all Euros, N and S Americans and Africans to come to your land. Add in some touring and there are no cheap trips to Oz!
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Obviously they should do that.
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Shot yourself in the foot this time folks. This 8-time, volunteer, theme camp organizer and former BM cheerleader/ambassador to the world is officially out of cheers and recommendations. Now I’ll be fending off remarks about the hypocrisy of daring to espouse ‘principles’ while picking pockets. So very disappointed.
Good luck.
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Larry is disappointed in you. 8 times and you’re not aware that this is YOUR party? That you’re responsible for YOUR experience? Pshaw.
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I don’t know how some of the repliers’ costs to attend stay so high every year; mine decrease (or have decreased to a stable level).
I don’t drink or smoke or do drugs, so I don’t have that expense. I’m not in an RV, I bring a “real bike,” and I don’t buy all new hear every year.
Also, if your budget is so tight that a potential $34 increase scuttles your whole plan to go (not taking into account currency fluctuations. I love Canadians, I’m sorry you’re getting the shaft) then maybe you couldn’t really go in the first place.
Every year there is ticket drama. Every year there are scores of poorly-written screeds about how Burning Man is a giant, for-profit corporation. Every year there almost as many replies and articles about Burning Man should move *somewhere else,* or how it costs nothing to build the city … yada yada yada.
Every year there is drama, but every year it works itself out and Burning Man is fucking epic. Every year many people work their asses off a month before and a month after building the city, running it and taking it all down after (without a trace).
If I can work out the ticket thing, I’ll be there. Come say hi … we can go do rad shit.
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You’re the coolest burner here.
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Bend over. Apply generous amounts of lube. Swallow deep and say “I’m Home” !
Love to all.
Oh ya My gmail buddies gotta have there paid va-caa ant the dusty Disneyland then go back to the silicone slide and chow-down Vegan Sliders while saving the baby polar beers from getting an arctic sun burn.
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$34 tax + $80 vehicle pass, + $390 ticket = $504 ouch!
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Reading comprehension, my friend. You do not pay the 34, the “patrons” do.
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Reading comprehension my friend. Everyone pays the 9% tax.
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Plus $7 handling fee plus $12 Will Call or mailing fee
= $523
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My feeling is yes it’s expensive and yes it’s a lot of work, but that’s what keeps the losers out. I don’t care about bringing in more people anymore. I’d like to see the prices rise to the point where the population stabilizes around 40,000. It’s like when people complain about a hit of L – that it has gone up to $10. Holy shit ten dollars to have the most incredible experience available on the planet during our lifetimes !? Are you fucking kidding me ? Ten dollars will hardly get you a sandwich anymore … So it’s going to cost $500 bucks for the ticket and another 500 to get there and another 500 for food and supplies, maybe another 500 for rental car / bike, meals in Reno, a hand job behind the thrift store … call it 2000 altogether. What other epic lifetime cool vacation / experience can you have for 2000 ? Some people spend that much per year on coffee, and all it gets you is wired and fat.
Suck it up fuckers. It’s going to be epic and you will love it.
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Oh there are plenty of losers, ravers, druggies (insert label here) etc. High prices won’t stop them if they have credit cards.
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Yea, I heard about this guy who was well into dealing drugs and partying and was going to buy a main sale ticket for $1000 because he has loads of cash and wanted to go. The people I was talking with claim he was shady. If you knew these people, them describing someone as “shady” is a pretty big deal.
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I was just in India last month, and there were lots of Australians there. Varanasi has a real BM 24 hour burn going on, and you can get a rickshaw for 100 rupees to get close and walk the rest of the way. That’s $1.50 US. So to all the Australians moaning about prices (Canucks too), consider North India. Get your spiritual on.
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Wow. Once more, burners demonstrate some truly special radical self-entitlement.
The tax: well. I’m not sure what else the Borg could do.
Move the event? Not even remotely possible for this year, or, probably next. (Anyone who thinks otherwise is invited to submit their plan and budget, including legal compliance, insurance, moving all the stuff that is currently stored around Gerlach/Empire, replacing the vendors, and figuring out how to replace all the volunteer labor that for various reasons won’t relocate, and the absurdly long list of other things I haven’t thought of in the last 30 seconds.) Thereafter, possible, but incredibly unlikely.
Civil disobedience? Don’t be daft.
Lobbying? That’s about what’s left. And it doesn’t happen quickly.
The vehicle pass: two things.
(1) It is optional. Yes, I *know* you’re a special snowflake and needneedneed one. This might be a good time for some lateral thinking if that $80 is painful.
(2) The Borg told us the price would ramp up. I fully expect them to cost more next year. The point is precisely to convince some number people that they cost too much in comparison to some other arrangement. It seems like it is working.
So yeah. If you want a vehicle pass, your cost went up. Otherwise, well, it also went up, but (a) the Borg can’t help that and doesn’t get the gold, and (b) the price has been going up for years; what did you expect? That is what happens when more people want to go than can be allowed.
You really want to go and can’t pay? You still have options. Register for the low income sale. Volunteer with one of the departments that, in one way or another, trades labor for a ticket. Get in with an art project that covers it. Work for a plug and play camp.
OK, maybe not that last one.
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Every brownnoser and BM cult member loves using the term radical self-entitlement. When you look at the salaries and expenses of Burning Man inc you see how much money is being mis spent and squandered. If those costs are controlled ticket prices don’t go up. The only reason for the high vehicle pass fees is to give that money to Nevada to pave their roads. Their roads are already paved from fuel taxes and all other taxes that visitors/tourists and Burners have been paying the whole time. The traffic only spikes for a few weeks per year. They could also mitigate it by changing the whole road to north (Gerlach) bound most of the time for the 2 weeks before the Burn and south (1-80) bound most of the time for the 2 weeks after the burn. Burners make up almost all the traffic in that month.
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You cannot seriously suggest that the event takes over that entire stretch of highway for that time? Ya know, there are actually people who live along that region, including native americans. (I think it might be illegal to limit access to tribal land, along with being unethical.) It doesn’t matter that there are fewer of them compared to burners. Not only would limiting access to the residents be an a**hole thing to do… it would turn residents (who vote for County and state Representatives) even more against the event. Duh.
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The car passes limit people in terms of how much they can bring for camps, art, etc. Think about smaller theme camps, unofficial or official, who bring things for others to experience. Ya know, burning man? Experience, sharing? The car pass limitations are gonna stifle that real quick.
Also, there is no accounting for what the higher and higher costs actually go towards for the event. It ain’t going to the art. It’s going into pockets. Borg pockets. At the expense of regular folks and the *quality of the event*.
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Err… can someone please explain to me what the “*50% of the $390 tickets sold through public sale, 50% sold through direct sale” means.
Last year I really tried to get tickets, logged into the “inticketing” website the second it went on sale, but the waiting time was going up instead of down, until at some point it just said “sold out”. Same happened to the year before. Was that the direct sale or the public sale?
I’d really like to come again, so what are really the options here? Does the above mentioned 50% go to people on Facebook that resell them? Is the websale here on this page only offering 50% tickets and where can I line up for the rest?
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Directed sale allocation is to established theme camps’ members, etc. giving them another opportunity, but not guarantee, to buy tickets. Hope that helps
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Also, each person only needs one ticket, so at least 50% of ticket are resold or given away. Which doesn’t mean scalping, as most of the resells will be at cost. So, network with your local burners and find a ticket if you don’t get one through official sales.
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This is because the tards in charge of ticketing cant code. They used a system that has been gamed by those who are unscrupulous. When one person gets “in” they take that code and push it to thousands of others who then also get in. They buy out all the tickets while you wait patiently in line, only to lose.
I was in 15 seconds after opening 2 years in a row and waited an hour and a half to be told they were sold out. Emails exchanged came back with “We are awesome people and nothing is wrong and everything went great, sorry!”
They know this is happening, they let the code be used more than once knowingly as long as the credit cards are different.
Then there are the entitled douchbaggs who get early camp tickets and bring the same tired old art every year to get a close camp spot and tickets, but don’t even bother to properly staff their camp on esplanade, build anything new, do anything. They just load up on their private art car, tell everyone it’s full, and party.
Also, I think if they took a vote, 95% would tell them cat passes are a retarded idea when you have to bring so much gear, carpool?!! Bitch, there isn’t a square inch left in my car, or on the roof? Oh, well, I’ll just leave my cool shade structure at home and carpool, yes, encourage people to bring less except the entitled camp people’s. Way to keep it fresh…
I would love to see burning man without the big entitled theme camps, see it morph and change, go back to its roots a bit about you never know what to expect.
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I have been involved with an esplanade camp for many years and we NEVER repeated!!! Several years after we did something really cool (later copied by others) I tried to get them to bring it back and they refused…
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I’m glad you figured out a way to get a handle on those Plug-n-Play camps that contribute absolutely nothing: get them to pay more money through the ticket system! I’m sure that’s going to work really well in halting the decline of the event.
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Come on people, the ticket price is the 2nd lowest part of my burningman budget (food is the lowest). I mean, my plane ticket to get there costs more than entry. and i am just sitting in the same boring seat for hours. the insurance alone on the rental costs more than the ticket, and that’s for my rental to just sit there gathering dust. Bringing Art to the playa definitely costs more than a ticket, but wouldn’t do it any other way. I am glad BM is still functioning and believe they are still trying to manage ticket costs (can you really make the case that they are ripping us off?), so i just wish people would stop grumbling so much. Do you grumble about ponying up for the family picnic?
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Are they ripping us off on the ticket prices? Only if you buy a $1200 “Patron” or $990 pre sale ticket.
The parking passes are a different matter. The increase in price on those is obscene and there is no justification for it.
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What does 50% directed and 50% public sale mean? Well according to tickets.burningman.org there will be 25,000 tickets in the directed sale to groups that the BMORG deems worthy, and 30,000 tickets sold in the main sale to anyone who is lucky enough. I suspect the missing 5,000 tickets (to make it 30k/30k) get directed through other invite only sales which only the cognoscenti are even allowed to know of their existence.
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Those worthy groups are called theme camps. Join one early enough, and you might get a chance to purchase one!
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So how does one learn more about “theme camps” or other methods of maybe getting an “in” if we’re new at this totally?
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I am uncomfortable with the use of “Leonardo da Vinci” for the name of the tier of 1000 tickets being sold for $1200/person.
My unease is not squarely because of any particular dollar value, so much as merely using the name of this (tremendously gifted and influential) person seems misplaced here and like commodification, and it is at least questionable he would have been supportive of this representation, if he were alive today.
Please use something else :)
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Yeah… I’ll be honest. I’m actually relieved at the structure this year and am glad BMOrg made the moves to not raise the price on 90% of tickets… but that name is tacky and classless.
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The increase on the cost of parking passes is obscene. There is no real justification for raising parking passes this much. What exactly is being done with the money made off of the parking passes?
It really seems like increasing the parking pass price by so much is really just a new way to shut more people out and make more money. Saying 10% is too many people to drive alone is bullshit. How many of those people that were the only one in car were people driving in loaded trucks full of stuff for their camp?
I don’t care about what is happening with the cost of tickets, and if someone is willing to buy a $1200 ticket and trust the BOrg’s use of that extra money fine (I say donate to the artists directly – BOrgs numbers on that don’t quite add up).
The parking passes are bullshit and contribute to the scarcity problems. Justify why the parking pass had to increase so dramatically this year. Linking to an old blog post is no explanation or answer to this. Show some actual real numbers to justify the parking passes – I don’t think that has ever happened.
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Totally agree. Vehicle pass always felt as a scam from starters, and the more expensive it gets the stronger the feeling. And “encouraging a carpooling” is no explanation for this extortion. Try to carpool with even small part camp setup, bicycle, food & water supply for a week+ and the rest of 2 page list of crap. There is still enough positives to go, however the dead line is dangerously clear in sight.
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It doesn’t matter if I can afford the $80 or not, it more the idea of feeling like I’m being ripped off. Adding the fact that it’s impossible for some of us to carpool due to timing or available space in the vehicle it feels like a rip off AND a punishment. $40 was more than enough punishment.
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It is beginning to appear that BM is going to be a victim of it’s own success. The prices of tickets is so high , if you can get them, is only for the wealthy. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of wealthy snobs, I have tried for the last 2 years to purchase tickets with the ever increasing wait till it was sold out. This year I do not think I will bother trying to get tickets. There are other fun things I can do without BM. I always thought BM was for the people, it has instead become a thing for wealthy snobs who can afford the high costs of attending this dubious event.
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The dusty Disneyland is open for business and drawing a line in the sand called the “Digital Divide.” If you got the Bit Coin you can play. If you got the idea you can entertain all the rest of us. If you got the brawn you can haul away our trash and make the rest of us fell good about our contributions.
Love always
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Do the skeazy, money grubbing $1200 “Patron” tickets mean that the option to donate money when buying a ticket will be completely removed from the main sale?
It has been two years in a row of people sitting in the queue only to be presented with the only option being donating money. It has been said each year this won’t happen again, but it does.
So since you are getting so skeazy and money grubbing to “offer” $1200 “Patron” tickets, can you just completely remove the line to only donate money from the ticket sales? People who lose out on getting a ticket don’t want to sit in line to be asked for donations for something they don’t get to enjoy.
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If the $390 plus vehicle pass it too much, you could always go spend that money on 1 ticket to go see Beyoncé and Jay Z. :p I still feel like BM tickets are one of the best deals in town.
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That’s how I feel, too. But I get it, people who are getting priced out of Burning Man are people who would not even consider a high priced concert ticket. And that is (was) the point of Burning Man, as an alternative to mainstream events. When I first started going to Burning Man, I was not in the financial shape to afford a ticket at today’s prices. I’m fortunate enough to be able to afford it now, but I’m very sympathetic to those who can’t.
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Vying for a vp last year for our smallish Theme Camp where each member stuffed their vehicles with the supplies and infrastructure, not even getting enough in the first place, that it truly sucked the joy out of the process. Theme camps that are giving to the community need to be considered differently than folks just attending, that don’t necessarily give back to our community, AND have more room to carpool! (a discouraged 10 yr. vet.)
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1. Inflation is a bitch.
2. Art requires patrons. Even davinci was a hustler.
3. Lol @ vehicle pass. Lol @ bm is for the rich. If you can get everything else together to go, 80$ is a drop in the bucket, unless you are a worthless, playa-will-provide, love-and-light hippie parasite that only brought three liters of water and a tent with no stakes to live in the desert for a week+. Theme camps that need eight trucks, how much are your truck rentals for 2-3 weeks? 80$ per truck seems like a joke when your camp dues are already paying for 5k+$ of transpo. Not gonna say it wouldn’t be nice if project infrastructure vehicles got a free pass on that one, but compared to the scope of even a modest camp or project, 80$ is a joke. A good camp can fundraise that in minutes. And anyone bitching about how bm is only for the rich just needs to get organized and get some fucking community effort going so that you can not only bring yourself, but something cool for other people to look at.
4. Aussie/Canada, sorry guys, world economy is a bitch =/. In a few years it’ll probably swing the other way again.
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You know, some people spend literally everything they have to attend Burning Man, and many of those people contribute a lot. I was one of those people when I first started attending, I’d literally tap out my bank account. An $80 increase would have been very tough to accommodate back then.
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Boot licker: explain the logic that ONE gas hog 60 ft RV or truck + trailer weighing 10,000 pounds costs 1/3 the permits (1) of 3 small high MPG passenger cars that are 12 feet long each and weigh 2,000 pounds each? 1 permit for massive vehicle and 3 for three small ones. Which causes more traffic and road damage?
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That’s a good point. 1 vp for a 5 ton vehicle versus 3 vp’s for 3 tons of compact cars. The wear and tear factor is proportional the fourth power of the weight. So a vehicle with twice the weight on the axle will contribute 16 times the wear and tear. [that ratio would only exist if the truck had 10 axles, otherwise it’s worse].
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Don’t confuse inflation with price gouging.
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The vehicle pass charge is total BS. BMorg can give out vehicle passes for free (OK for a small administrative fee) and still limit the number of vehicles going to the middle of nowhere a/k/a Black Rock City.
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Wow – I don’t know of many places I could go to get so much for so little. Really – a week and a half of time on playa and one of the most amazing transformational experiences one can have for $500 or less – it’s a great deal. Quit bitching!
Frosty
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Which flavor of kool aid is your favorite? (Since you are completely ignoring issues of class, common sense, logistics, contribution, lack of transparency, etc etc.)
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So, I get the tax issue, unfortunately nothing I personally can do about it, but I understand why that has to be added (currently).
As for the vehicle pass…WTF is up with it going up in price? You’ve limited the total number available, so why increase the price? Makes NO sense at all. Why not just decrease the number available? Just feels like a money grab, so please explain WHY it’s going up. If there’s a real, sensible reason I’ll grumble but understand, but right now it doesn’t feel right.
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+1000. Its a money grab. Where does the car pass cash go exactly?
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3 years of vehicles passes (14-16): $4,910,000 revenues
Cost to BMOrg of each vehicle pass: $0
= $4,910,000 profits
This doesn’t even show up as a line item in the “now transparent” accounts.
We don’t know how much was spent on art over that period, but in 2014 it was a record $911,955.
Maybe BMOrg could publish a follow-up post, “Where Does My Vehicle Pass Money Go”?
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it is hard to get a ticket when you try so try and if you fail like me last year waiting 3 seconds to hit the button it was sold out, then you have no way to go and be free of trying and hope everyone has a good time.
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Low Income Ticket Program application opens on the 2nd of March? Are you sure there is no mistake? I think it should be the 2nd of April.
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Motorcycles are still exempt from vehicle pass as in past years, right?
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Humm – I didn’t realize the powers that now run BM were related to the Koch brothers network. the times they are a changing
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Dear BM. Just don’t pay the tax!!! Seriously what will they do kick us out??? First off if they did fine there are plenty of other places to have it. Second they wouldn’t dream of losing their cash cow and the neighboring towns would throw a fit. Seriously the tax doesn’t apply to us and you need to take a stand. Stop being a pushover
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390 is super cheap for a week long festival event. The hardest part will be getting a ticket, but thanks to the exchange rate, it will be a bit easier for Americans this year. Without the Canadian influence it would be interesting to see how the event changes, or if it changes things at all. That’s just how the cookie crumbles this year, bmorg has nothing to do with the exchange rate obviously.
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$390? I think It comes to about $525 after you add the tax, processing fee, shipping, and vehicle pass.
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Comes to more than that for supplies, travel,etc
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We should seriously talk to the Paiute Nation about holding the Burn somewhere inside the confines of their territory so we don’t have to deal with the State of Nevada and BLM.
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The Pauites wouldn’t take kindly to those folks that wear fake headdresses, or nudity, on their lands. Those fake headdresses are so freaking offensive and gross. Burners would ruin their lands, not worth it them.
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$390 isn’t all that bad for a week of fun. Consider the price of a superbowl ticket is $5,000
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The only people that attend BM for $390 are those that get low income tickets and live really locally (within 50 miles) so they can sleep at home. For everyone else its several thousand dollars all in.
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I’m a single guy, I camp in my minivan. What I hear is that I should not attend because I can’t carpool, am not part of a “theme camp”, and I don’t contribute enough? I do feel lucky that I was able to attend the last 4 years and it was an epiphany each time! Have fun all you carpoolers!
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Yeah man, it’s becoming a crafted event for the priveleged. They don’t watch regular folks like you or me.
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*want
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Good job folks. Thanks for the info. Shouldn’t those presale tickets be called “Medici” tickets? :)
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The Medici were patrons of the arts
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People, costs usually go up every year for any event. They can pass this increase on to you as a higher priced ticket or they can increase the cost of the parking pass. The parking pass is not subject to Nevada’s new entertainment tax and so the entire increase goes to the BM cause. Genius! Also, on a per person basis, raising the cost of the parking pass would typically be less than raising the ticket price as it is spread across more people. I think the BM Org is very reasonable. What’s a crime is Nevada’s greed.
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classic brownnoser cult member comment. They could also raise the car pass to $390 and lower the ticket to $80. Then the tax would be lower.
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What’s the brownnoser cult and can I join. They seem happier and generally more content. Is it like scientology but with brown noses or something? *waits eagerly for reply*
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What is the cost per plane “parking pass” ? Did this cost increase as well ?
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People who fly in should have to pay a HUGE fee. They essentially bring nothing for the community. They’re takers who give nothing to the event. And they leave their moop for other people to worry about when they go. Yes, they make things a little less crowded at gate, but they still generate a large carbon footprint.
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Thanks for the information . the gifts i give and receive last all year and there is no event i enjoy more especially as a low income ticket person who drives a great distance. love you burner staffers and all volunteers
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I feel like you are the kind of person who really embraces the spirit of BM.,not just attending so you can say “I was there”.I think the act of gifting is something we carry in our hearts all year.I love the people I have met and keep contact with many.I have not attended since 2002 because I moved from California back to Hawaii so the extra travel expense is too much for me, but I attend in my soul and watch as many post as possible via internet.The ice maker I brought for making shave ice was so welcomed by all, I wish I could be there this year to cool you all down!
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Let’s move BM. In all seriousness, it’s time to leave the playa and create this city somewhere else. That way our community isn’t as tied into one states/city’s/county’s regulations. Of course this will never be the end all be all. But let’s take our creativity on the road. And if we are serious about expanding our culture for the greater good, this move needs to happen. It would send a message to Nevada and it would make each and every burner dig deeper into the wells of our creativity. Way deeper than some floozy theme we are given each year.
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No way could we add a third person to our pick up truck since we construct our site for a tent environment and additional construction materials secure us from being blown away. As a greeter I witnessed singles in cars but most were packed to the roof with supplies. My experience was that c. 35% of these burners were from other countries. I am more dismayed by big theme camps on the Esplanade that left Friday before the Man and Temple burns. Guess their early in passes meant early out as well. Their vacant sites were more than disappointing.
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what a joke…. the burn is dead…
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So Burning Man ranges between $500 and $1000 now, roughly. Plus taxes. Gotcha.
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Again….. this structure favors the rich.
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Yes, I think that is what the BORG wants…. obviously. If they wanted to create a more welcoming-to-all atmosphere they would. But they want that money, man. Those high price salaries and jet setting don’t pay for themselves. You do!
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As the process becomes more complicated the rip offs become more difficult to find. Why not simply give the same price to all?
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To answer your second message: it makes those ripoffs harder to find, exactly! That’s in their favor, what they want
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money is odd..hard to believe that $1,200 x 1,000 + 1,200,000.00.
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I know what you mean. Wow, sock away $1,200 1000 times and you have 1.2 million! I am 68, wish I had known this sooner.
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In the past the VIP ticket prices offset the low income ticket prices. Now VIP tickets are $100-$300 higher then last year and low income tickets are the same as last year. Low income buyers have to pay $64 more in car tax and entertainment tax So a worse deal for the rich, the middle class and the poor.
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Only the non-profit profits
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Hello everybody. The BM its the same thing that climb the Everest. For to go there, we must be little bit fool in our head. I know, the money… the eternal money… But, remember… are you enough fool for to go there ? If its yes, then you will find the solution. On the top of this furious mountain or on the land of this nowhere Black Rock city ? Me, i’m enough fool for trying to go there. I have 6 months for prepare this. But, only if i can have a ticket ! tic… tic… tic… ticket ! Bye everybody.
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We’ve gotten a few questions about this, so to clarify, the 9% Live Entertainment Tax would apply to all tickets at all price tiers, not just the regular-priced tickets. Again, once we have an update from the state about the tax, we’ll let you know.
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Wouldn’t charging for RV passes be the best solve? LIB and other amazing gatherings do, and they also have a cap on them. Just a thought. Could make lots of money to fund more art……
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Thank you for voicing this suggestion!. Me and my art crew have been suggesting it to them for years…surprised they haven’t done anything with it.
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Lots of creative ways to squeeze more money out of us again. HOW ABOUT ONE ALL INCLUSIVE TICKET PRICE FOR EVERYONE. I am really tired of subsidizing all the people that CLAIM THEY can’t afford a regular ticket. Pony up the full ticket price or don’t go until you can. Maybe get an education and a well paying job.
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As much as I have enjoyed my times at BM it has now been priced out of the range at which I feel it is of value. I can understand the 9% tax as that is mandated but the vehicle fee really pisses me off. Never had to pay that in the years I attended in the past. As some maintain, I guess it really is becoming a class conflict event. The little guy doesn’t get a break. Sad that it has come to this given the original spirit of the event.
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All this well meaning bitching reminds me of the old guy laying in his deathbed looking up at his family gathered around him as he says, “I should have bought more crap.”
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What about a plane pass? You know, for those rich types that don’t drive.
Like, who *drives*?? OMG!
More classicism.
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I mean only making cars pay, but not planes. Cuz the poor should pay but not the rich, right?
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Planes don’t pay? I guess you haven’t flown in. There is a landing fee. Each person, even charter passengers have to pay.
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Ha, meant “classism”
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I’m soooo glad I went back in the day. This event now bears no resemblance to its former self. Change isn’t always for the better. Like those sad downward spiral mugshot photo series.
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Sure the prices are high, but the kool-aid is so refreshing, don’t you think?
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Am I right in thinking that the €990 Pre-sale tickets would be +$89 if the Live Entertainment Tax is applied at 9%? Me and my buddies are, hope to be, first time Burners based in the UK and need to make a call if we go for the pre-sale to guarantee 4 tickets for us all or wait until prices drop. While the exchange rate is in our favour, every penny counts when you factor in the flights. Any advice much appreciated!
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Nicky: If you can afford to pay the $990 USD per ticket then just do it. I’m a 7-time Burner (My first Big Burn was in ’07) and can tell you that the most distressing factor in going to or wanting to go to BM post-2011 is the mental stress associated with BM Ticket Scarcity. Don’t wait for the € to USD exchange rate to drop or for lower priced tickets (non $990 USD) to go on sale or become available via re-sale. If you chase “cheap” BM tickets for the next 6+ months you and your camp mates will end up crying blood. In recent years it has been so depressing to watch 1000’s of would-be Burners beg, cry, scream and hustle for BM tickets on the re-sale market.
If you’re a virgin international Burner it’s 99.9% likely that you won’t come across “cheap” BM tickets between now and when BRC opens to the public this year. If you can do so, buy the $990 USD tickets and then book your airfare, hotel stays, etc. BTW, if you can do a few days in Reno pre and lost burn it’s the way to go.
Break a leg and Dusty hugs!
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It’s interesting that the greatest amount of reaction and the vast majority of comments to these blog posts always concern money!!!
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This particular blog post specifically talks about money. so what’s your point?
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RIP the burn i used to know, so very grateful i knew you when you were small, when we were a tribe that nobody even knew existed, when the hugs were for real.
last year saw the kids on phones, the kids in street clothes, sad amounts of moop, the increasingly militant staff and i left after 48 hours.
i’m not crying because it’s over, i’m smiling because it happened. so long, buddy, thanks for an amazing, amazing run. you did great.
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I hear ya, I agree
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Vehicle Passes did not work. The traffic going in last year was as bad as it’s ever been. Stop congratulating yourselves on solving the transportation issues. Everyone knows this is a bitch ass money grab. It sucks to have bought nearly $1000 in tickets, innumerable investment in supplies, projects, and clear your calendar, and still feel uninvited. One more pain in the ass to have to deal with. The worst is that people who contribute big art, theme camps, and give away large volumes of stuff get affected by this misguided plan more heavily than others. It incentivizes stinginess and scarcity. Anyone creating and sharing big has to suffer through 3 difficult ticket processes. Regular tickets, early access passes, and vehicle passes. Then they coordinate placement, art car registration etc. Miscommunications? Problems? Great, there is nobody at hq, and you get to have your people wait in d-lot concentration camp.
Yes, if people give up on contributing, someone else will take thier place. But this is deeply disrespectful of those who are the heart of the event, sacrificing much to bring these experiences to the playa. BMORG, remember your place as stewards of the event, lubricating communication between burners and governments.
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Termination: Your comments about the financial price/burden/penalties paid/born by “Big Playa Givers” (my words) is sadly on the money and echoes so many of the posts that preceded yours. If I make any expansive valid critique of BMORG in this post I’ll risk getting Trolled by some of the hacks from eplaya. Instead, I’ll just say that I feel for the big Theme Camps that put up with too much unnecessary BSC from certain corners of THE BORG. I know a lot of great Burners who fall into that category. Dusty hugs.
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The influence that the tech world is having on Burning Man is really starting to become apparent. I see that BM has adopted Uber’s price gouging… I mean “surge pricing” model.
Notice how Radical Transparency isn’t one of the 10 principals?
I still think it’s BS that they don’t reveal who these “infrastructure” camps are that get special treatment and get to buy guaranteed direct sale tickets.
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Surgings a nice term for sticking people up the bum. Funny how the top echelon that is BORG has distanced itself from the common masses of burners. Hard to call it a community, or “home”. Shell out thousands to go to a home like that?
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I hope the tides turn & people stop throwing their money at this BORGy beast and do other things instead . I have.
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I suggest every year, to the Borg, that they create a hefty RV tax. If people can’t be bothered to create even a basic shelter and instead bring what is a massive anti-contribution, artistically, socially, visually, then they can certainly be required to offset it with something to fund more art or give the artists larger grants so they’re not all going into debt for burning man. It’s a bit sad to see the neighborhoods fill up with the metal boxes that and no efforts to cover the logos anymore. Make ’em pay. Or come in a tent.
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Here we go… 30k main sale tickets (2 each) and 10k vehicle passes (not 15k), creating a guaranteed shortage/black market for the vehicle passes, perfect…
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There’s no limit on plane passes. They are ensuring that more people will be the flying-in rich types. Just what they want. Diabolically clever, huh?
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I have been going to BM since 2010, and I STILL don’t understand WHY THE HELL anyone would be awarded a low income ticket?….. If you can’t afford to pay full price, then stay the fuck home and earn some money, you stupid, lazy ass hippy!
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you were probably first in line for my free massage
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This comments thread contains every flavor of perception of BM that we’very seen online since 2012. The official BM Blog post about the tickets prices for this year-site burn is par-for-the-course for The BORG: it contains both very useful facts and willful avoidance. I feel endless appreciation. For those in The BORG and the BM volunteer ranks who make BRC and BM a reality. Equally, I am baffled at the fact that The BORG continue to repeatedly fumble simple issues. Why do they not exclude established theme camps from needing VPs for their infrastructure? Why do they not tell us where the money for VPs really go? Outside of thone questions I’may not going to attack the event or The BORG.
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I just get the sense it’s a social experiment to see how much BS people will put up with, such as the vehicle pass issue of increasing cost and decreased availability without any idea of where the money will be going. Not to mention the very real impacts on how are people going to haul all their structural supplies and creative contributions to the middle of nowhere. VPs are an expensive crapshoot that cripples the entire point of going. (I also think there are real safety issues in having people stuff their cars with dangerously increased loads and drive out there.)
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I find it so odd that everyone continues to talk about the “rich” – those who can afford the big-price tickets. As if these “rich” are actually purchasing them in the first round! Clearly those who operate big plug-n-plays pull together credit cards, buy up the $990 and $1200 tickets and then include these tickets in the price of a place at their camp? What is being touted as “art patronage” is really just good old-fashioned entrepreneurship. I can’t hate the pay camps – they play with what is offered. It is the offering, dear BOrg, that is despicable.
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Can we use the money from VP’s to subsidize the burner bus? That would give some people a cheap (or maybe free?) ride in and eliminate even more traffic. Boom, double whammy.
Traffic is usually sited as the #1 reason for the current cap on ticket sales. Less traffic could mean in increase in the number of available tickets (eventually).
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Thanks for the update guys – very excited that you are doing so much to keep the prices at $390 – All the best with all the hoops you have to go through with the state of Nevada!
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Hello everybody,
A lot of peoples said a lot of things, and it’s ok.
I’m a virgin BM… or BM virgin, anayway.
I dont know about you, but i know about me.
I’m from Quebec city… Canada… yeah.
I saw some great festivals music there… expensive too… Scorpions, Rammstein and Rolling Stone… anayway.
And i feel this… how much is my right price for to be close with these specials peoples, like you dust lovers ?
Then, i will be there, in your BM summer 2016.
Welcome around my camp.
It will be fun.
Bye everybody.
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Burning Man isn’t a Music Festival. At all. Don’t go, you won’t like it.
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Those who are shocked and appalled by the costs are welcome to not go. This leaves more tickets for everyone else.
I’m by no means rich. I plan hard to squirrel away money, maintain my equipment (which is a fun way to practice Decommodification), and above all prioritize what’s important to me during an experiment in temporary living.
Burning is free. It can be done anywhere. Going to Black Rock City is not free. It’s also not a right but a privilege for those who can afford or prioritize the cost of participating.
Many comments here read as if attendance was in fact a right, and that it’s a grave travesty if someone can’t afford to go.
As a Burner since 2001 I’ve Burned on and off the Playa alike. Regardless of my location it is as magical and meaningful as I decide it to be, no matter what resources I’ve poured into it.
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Can anyone tell me what specific information is going to be needed to pre-registration for ticket purchasing?
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So I guess this settles it, the tax applies?
http://www.rgj.com/story/life/arts/burning-man/2016/02/05/nevada-upholds-live-entertainment-tax-burning-man/79906078/
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I don’t much care what the price is so long as BRC continues to exist. In my opinion it’s priceless. I’ll do whatever it takes to get my goofy ass out there.
Find potential funds with these handy tips:
Skip the bar one night a week.
Sell some crap you don’t really need.
Mow some lawns.
Scrap metal is everywhere.
Make art, people will buy it.
Kill your television.
Quit smoking. Or grow your own.
Do a campaign on Kickstarter offering to tattoo the donor’s names on your arm. This has worked in the past.
Enter ALL the contests.
Dump your pocket change, including ones and fives, into a bucket every night.
Plasma, your body has tons of it and other bodies don’t have enough. Everybody wins.
Do what you need to, it ain’t Burning Man if you’re not out there with us!
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so you’re willing to sell plasma, huh? If only people had that much dedication to actually worthwhile causes – like supporting animal rescue organizations, supporting candidates who fight for renewable energy policy, and similar good causes.
You know, good causes beyond getting yourself to what is essentially a party. Even if you think of it as “transformative”, you aren’t actually changing the world, as much as you tell yourself you are.) Not an attack on YOU personally, fellow who is willing to sell plasma, more of an observation on all of it. Again, whatever, right?
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Really seems like everyone is trying as hard as possible to bitch and whinge about every aspect about this. Lighten up!
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Dear dustbunny, I’m not bitching or whining at all. I’m making the observation that it’s foolish and misdirected passion to sell plasma to go to burning man, when all that passionate dedication could go to worthwhile causes that need it, like animal rescues and supporting renewable policy legislation. The opposite of bitching. It’s making much needed reasonable observations about the real needs in the world, beyond this party/event/thing, etc.
And what realized back in 2001 when I first went to bman, was burners don’t want to hear real problems. (So much for wanting to change the world, righr, when you can’t stand reality!)
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I’m an American living in Taiwan with a citibank Visa card. I want to buy two of these art tickets but how can I do that if ticket fly doesn’t accept credit cards not issued in the US? How does anyone abroad get past this rule? I registered for the pre-sale I’m worried that I will be blocked from buying tickets.
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Hi, Eric. Please send your question to ticketsupport@burningman.org. They can help you out.
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Got through the presale queue at 12:07 and found no more vehicle passes. Reloaded the page a few times and finally caught the vehicle passes blinking in. Bought one. I am still miffed that they don’t seem to have figured out how to limit to one vehicle pass per ticket ordered. I could have bought four vehicle passes for one ticket but decided that wouldn’t be fair.
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Hi there, an. This year, our ratio is 1 Vehicle Pass for every 2 tickets. In the Pre-Sale, since the ticket limit per order is 8, the Vehicle Pass limit per order is 4. Thank you for being a good citizen of Black Rock City and not buying more than you need!
As for no Vehicle Passes appearing at first, that’s just the nature of the rush at the beginning of the sale. They were all in people’s carts, and they shook loose as people finished their transactions, adjusted their numbers, closed the many browser windows they were trying to load up in, that sort of thing.
Make sense?
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Well, that didn’t happen for me or I didn’t know that was going to happen. It just told me that no more vehicle passes were available. When I tried to log in again it said that my ID code was already used and I couldn’t proceed. Kinda freaking about this.
I feel like being kissed on the cheek. Not right man.
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3:15 PM, opening day for pre-sales, and all ticket types and vehicle passes still available. I love the $25 – $500 Donate to Burning Man button so thoughtfully included with your ticket purchase!
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I have an idea, since the government seems to want to screw BRC just move it. I am sure it can be moved to a private ranch or even out of the country if need be. Pay a rancher or farmer to use their land and keep the governments hands out of it. Has this ever been considered? South Dakota Harley run does it. Most of the camping is done on private property.
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I think the vehicle passes blinking in and out needs to be fixed before the main sale. Because it was the pre sale I had the luxury of waiting for the vehicle passes to arrive and time to take a breath before buying a ticket without vehicle pass. The main sale doesn’t afford such luxuries.
And I still think a person who buys one ticket shouldn’t be allowed to buy or put 4 vehicle passes in their cart even though a person who buys 8 tickets should. Just a matter of smartening up the validation. Maybe that will help with the vehicle passes blinking in and out; otherwise there are going to be lots of cheeks kissed in the unpleasant way.
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Can someone explain the difference between the $390 ticket and the $990 ticket?
Respectfully,
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If you have read each and every open forum comment and reached here, CONGRATULATIONS! You have just won the WTF Gift Me My MF Ticket Extravaganza! Please enter your full name, address, credit card number including security code in the next comment and 2 tickets will be mailed to your door! Winner Winner Playa Dinner!!!!!
If, however you skimmed the original post, then started reading comments before losing all faith in the self reliance of burners, please put the bottle down and lock up the medicine cabinet… The WeltSchmerz goes away after a couple years.
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Hey Guys! Why don’t you take Amex for payment? I would pay more to use my Amex (I keep seeing people mention they hate it). I know Amex charges more but could you offer an option to use your Amex and pay a bit more? Will you please consider this in the future. As a travel person those points on my Amex would help to other travel to other Burner events and to spread love and learn about love throughout the world.
Thanks :)
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Ideally, the price structure supports all classes of citizens, and we pay proportionally to what we make. That’s fair. However, I have a couple of very wealthy friends that attend BM annually who don’t even CONSIDER registering and paying presale prices… Instead, I have very deserving and hard-working burner friends that save away all year and spend everything they have to buy presale, because it is THAT important to them. Here’s an idea for BMORG:
1. Add to burner profiles a field for Average Annual Income
2. Add a similar pie chart indicating which incomes fall into average and top percentages, similarly to the low-income stipulation
3. Encourage burners to respect our tiered society and pay a fair price, whereby allowing the general public to more easily obtain tickets that they can actually afford. Actively PROMOTE radical inclusion by every attendee in this way.
Make us aware. Maybe we don’t even know. )'(
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If you are worried about ticket price just register for the general sale. You probably won’t get a ticket anyway and you saved all of that money?
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And after all that. And logging in at 11:45 I did not get any tickets as they were sold out in one hour. My que made it 90% of the way and cancelled…..SOLD OUT.
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