Burning Man tickets not sold out for first time in a long time

For the first time in thirteen years, tickets to one of the world's largest festivals, Burning Man, have not sold out before the event, the BBC reports .

The event will traditionally take place in the Black Rock Desert in the American state of Nevada from August 25 to September 2.

According to the publication, the first sold-out at the festival happened in 2011, when about 55,000 people visited it. Since then, the number of participants has grown, and in 2022, 80,000 people visited the event.

In recent years, the media has increasingly written that the festival has come to an end. Long-time visitors to the event told the BBC that they attribute this situation to the loss of the concept and weather conditions.

According to the BBC, the festival grounds include "luxury hotels" for $100,000 and very wealthy visitors who fly there on private jets. Festival participants complain that this contradicts the concept of Burning Man.

The festival's website lists 10 principles that participants must follow: giving, non-commercialism, radical inclusivity, radical self-belief, radical self-expression, collaboration, civic responsibility, respect for the environment, participation and spontaneity.

The BBC writes that even the organisers acknowledge the "commodification and exploitation of Black Rock and Burning Man culture" in recent years.

Other participants told the BBC they suffered from weather conditions in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the festival site experienced record heat of 38°C, with dust storms. And in 2023, heavy rains began during the event, with three months' worth of rain falling in the Black Rock Desert in one day. The heavy rains turned the sand into thick clay in places, and tens of thousands of participants were unable to leave the desert.

The festival organizers, in turn, called on participants to save water, food and fuel, as the entrance and exit to the site were temporarily closed.

"I've been coming to this festival for 30 years and the last two have been terrible. I had heatstroke two years ago. I can handle mud, rain or heat. I come prepared. But this has broken me. It turns out the Black Rock Desert is a really stupid place to party!" long-time festival-goer Adriana Roberts told the BBC, adding that many "old-timers" feel the same way.

According to the publication, the number of participants visiting the festival for the first time is growing every year. Thus, in 2023, “newbies” accounted for 43% of all Burning Man participants. This is 15% more than in 2022.

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