Burning Man turns to DJs to sell tickets
Rave camps are asked to announce line-ups in last-ditch effort to stimulate lagging event sales.
By Adriana Roberts
After two miserable years of weather in Black Rock City, tickets this year for the temporary town built deep in the remote Nevada are still available for purchase. For the first time in 13 years, Burning Man hasn’t sold out.
The company that runs Burning Man — known colloquially as BMorg — had gotten accustomed to ticket demand far exceeding supply, which first happened in 2011 — dubbed the first “Ticketpocalypse” by burners. And the organizers have obviously been budgeting for that assumption.
So you know BMorg is scrambling when Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man, says in a press release about the annual first-come-first-serve last-minute OMG Sale, which launched on July 31:
“We are pleased to have fulfilled demand for our earlier sales and be in a position to offer greater access to more people as the event nears. This ticket sale is an exciting opportunity to connect more people interested in Burning Man and the arts and culture.”
This sort of benevolently-worded, positive press spin is typical of BMorg, but most people saw right through it and translated it to mean: “Oh shit, we haven’t sold enough tickets!”
That’s exactly what Syd Gris of Opulent Temple thought, especially after receiving an email from BMorg on August 11, which got sent to all large-scale sound camps, asking them to post their DJ line-ups early.
“We’re trying this out this year in the spirit of greater transparency and providing the community earlier information,” said the email. “The work we all do for Black Rock City deserves to be seen and enjoyed.”
Gris didn’t bite: “Unleash the sound camp line-ups to drum up interest,” he said in a Facebook post. “The stepchild sound camps are often the go-to when things get rough around BM town.”
This might seem like a small ask outside the Burning Man community, but within burner circles, this represents a seismic — and hypocritical — shift in playa policy. Back in 2014, when the EDM sound camp White Ocean posted their DJ schedule early in July, with a line-up that included big-name DJs like Paul Oakenfold, BMorg practically had a meltdown, and took great pains to make sure it never happened again.
“It’s uncouth,” said late Burning Man creator Larry Harvey, in an interview I did with him at the time for the BRC Weekly, Black Rock City’s newspaper.
“Next year it will be a requirement for camps to not post their DJ line-ups in advance. I have no objection with them spreading it word-of-mouth at the event. But if they publish their line-ups, they will not be welcome at Burning Man.”
Goodell followed up with the BRC Weekly to clarify. “We’re not a regular festival and it sends the wrong message,” she said at the time.
“What happens when potential participants want to follow a DJ, and that’s their motivation for coming to Burning Man? It affects the culture when the typical ‘festival-goer’ decides to attend because they want to see a DJ, since that person is less likely to be acculturated if they chase the music only.”
It wasn’t just White Ocean; When popular art car Mayan Warrior announced early in 2015, Burning Man made their policy official in a nice-but-stern email to all theme camp and mutant vehicle organizers: “If you absolutely must announce your line-ups ahead of time, we ask that you wait until the week before the event.”
“The practice of posting on-playa DJ lineups causes an upsetting sensation that there’s ‘un-Burning Man-like’ activity going on,” the email said.
It then dissed the EDM festival community at large: “These kinds of promotions create notoriety in a community that doesn’t necessarily share our principles, and specifically commodifies and commercializes artistic experiences. Burning Man is an experiment in temporary community, not a traditional festival like the others. So when our participants post splashy DJ lineups, EDM sites and forums talk about us as though we are.”
Syd Gris was taken by surprise when Burning Man reversed this long-held policy this year: “We can’t help but find it interesting when the event was selling out, they were definitely all over Opulent Temple and other sound camps not to post our line-ups until right before the Burn,” he told me.
“It wasn’t because they were afraid of unprepared ravers showing up, because the event was already sold out. It was a continued effort to minimize the public perception that Burning Man has elements of a music festival,” he said. “Which we all know — shhhhh! It does!”
“Sound camp communities were tapped to help raise money and awareness for fundraising campaigns for BMorg during COVID,” Gris added.
“Now we’re being tapped under the silly guise of ‘transparency’ to help again with low ticket sales by letting people know top-tier DJs will be there playing on an amazing array of homegrown stages. I assume BMorg would deny that, but it seems most people are seeing what we’re seeing.”
Oh, what a difference 9 years and 3,000 unsold tickets make; At $575 each, along with an additional 1,500 vehicle passes at $150, the OMG Sale represents a potential shortfall of nearly 2 million dollars for BMorg, and it’s doubtful that Burning Man’s budget allowed for that sort of deficit.
That’s not even counting the thousands of tickets that participants are desperately trying to sell in the secondhand market. There are so many tickets available that many sellers are having trouble unloading them at face value, with many selling for less than half what they paid.
Neonbunny Lapine, camp lead of Camp FUR and promoter of Frolic, San Francisco’s fursuiter party said that Burning Man over-budgeted this year estimating a certain attendance, and are now doing what they can, even if it means slightly sacrificing the commodification principle.
“Overall I think this trend of extra tickets is a good thing,” he told me. “People should buy tickets when they decide to go to Burning Man, rather than hoarding them when they go on sale because they think it’s a hot commodity.”
Still, many in the burner community fault BM organizers for trying to spin this DJ policy change into something that sounds from the heart. “They went well out of their way to forbid sound camps from promoting DJ line-ups,” said Eggchair Steve, creator of the now-defunct but legendary Eggs Bar in Center Camp, about to head into his 30th burn.
“To suddenly change their tune when they can’t sell out their tickets for the first time in 13 years? The optics are pathetic,” he added. “The fact that sound camps are refusing to, and even creating fake lists, is heartwarming.”
Indeed, many sound camps and art cars are trolling the BMorg back. Speaking of “heartwarming,” Robot Heart — probably the most famous art car at Burning Man with the biggest name DJs gracing their decks — handled this new policy in a very classy way.
Rather than doing a fake list, they instead posted it in the form of a game of Hangman, where only one letter from each DJ is shown, requiring fans to guess the artists like it’s Wheel of Fortune.
“As we turn the bus on ten times this year,” they wrote. “We honor the 10 Principles, and in the spirit of those founding principles, here is our lineup for the 2024 Burn.”
Having gone to Burning Man every year since 1993 — longer than nearly everyone who runs it — I have enough personal connections to people within BMorg to try to get a quote from someone within the org for this article. However, as would be expected during this “unprecedented time,” no one is talking to the press about it. They aren’t touching this with a 10-foot pole.
But perhaps a recent Facebook post from Danger Ranger, aka Michael Mikel, one of the three founders of Burning Man from the late ’80s, points to what may be the new normal for the annual event. In a re-post of a message from last year, he writes how “The Great Reset” is complete, and that “tickets are abundant once again.” He was referring to last year’s glut of tickets on the resale market. But this year, tickets aren’t even sold out.
Perhaps, after 38 years, the Bay Area-bred art bacchanal in the desert has finally peaked — Burning Man may now be on the other side of the bell curve.
Adriana Roberts is a DJ and performer with her Bootie Mashup parties, as well as a writer and trans influencer.
The Bold Italic publishes first-person stories on topics that are on the brains and lips of San Franciscans. We’re a hub for conversations to be heard and discussed, and we celebrate all that’s great about living in San Francisco and the Bay Area. We hope our continuing conversation will get you thinking, talking, and inspiring you to share your opinions with us on living in San Francisco.
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What we’re doing this week
Patiyochella 2024
Uhh — everything is a festival nowadays.
Patiyochella is a backyard music festival happening this weekend at 7th West in Oakland. Originally started in a San Francisco backyard, it's now a popular annual event. This year's festival will feature live performances from bands like Alvie & The Breakfast Pigs, offering a laid-back, community-centered atmosphere with music, art, and cultural experiences.
WHEN: August 24th, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
WHERE: 7th West, 1255 7th St, Oakland, CA 94607
Sunset Night Market
The Sunset Night Market returns to San Francisco's Irving Street on August 30, offering a mix of AAPI food, local vendors, and community activities. This year’s market spans from 19th to 26th Avenues, running from 5 PM to 10 PM.
Attendees can enjoy a variety of street foods, shop from local artisans, and experience live music and cultural performances. The market is a family-friendly event, inspired by the night markets of Asia, bringing together the best of San Francisco’s diverse culture. Check out The Bold Italic’s last coverage of it and their video reel.
WHEN: August 30th from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
WHERE: On Irving St. between 19th and 26th avenues
TreasureFest
TreasureFest is a community event where locals and visitors could explore and enjoy a day of shopping, eating, and entertainment. It started as a monthly flea market, with endors selling vintage goods, handmade crafts, art, and other unique items. Now there’s food trucks, live music, and activities for all ages.
WHEN: August 24th and 25th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: 500 Avenue N, San Francisco, CA 94130
Salsa in the Streets
"Salsa in the Streets" is a summer block party held in San Francisco. It’s free, open to all ages, and features DJ JuanLove spinning Cuban salsa music. A special guest, Cuban dance instructor Pablo Dinámico, will also be there to lead a dance class and get the crowd moving. Tacolicious will be offering al pastor tacos, cold cervezas, margaritas, and agua frescas at happy hour prices.
WHEN: August 24th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
WHERE: 741 Valencia St., in front of Tacolicious