Attendees dance during the annual Burning Man Festival in the early morning of Sept. 5, 2023. Thousands of revelers were stuck in the mud for days last year.

Attendees dance during the annual Burning Man Festival in the early morning of Sept. 5, 2023. Thousands of revelers were stuck in the mud for days last year. / AFP via Getty Images

The Burning Man festival typically draws a sellout crowd of at least 70,000 revelers. But this year, the sprawling cultural event, which takes place over a week starting in late August, is facing an unusual drop in demand.

For the first time since the festival started selling out in 2011, the organizers are offering tickets to last-minute buyers without requiring preregistration. Also, the resale market is flooded. On sites like StubHub and SeatGeek, customers can currently get their hands on a ticket for less than half of the regular price.

Festival organizers are saying the "spontaneous" ticket offering is intentional.

In an email to NPR, Burning Man spokesperson Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley said the festival came up with the instant gratification option in response to the global trend for last-minute ticket buying, adding that this “encourages immediacy and makes it easy for more people to immerse themselves at the heart of the global Burning Man cultural movement.”

Blame the weather and the economy

Members of the Burning Man community said the slowdown is happening for a couple of reasons, including severe and unpredictable weather.

Hudson Valley, New York-based Burner Jaky Levy blames the record-breaking heat of 2022 followed by the mud-bath-inducing rains of 2023 for putting people off in 2024.

"It takes so much work to already get there, that after all your things get drenched and ruined, a lot of people just don't want to put themselves through that again," Levy told NPR.

Other festivals like Coachella and Lollapalooza have also been struggling with ticket sales lately. One of the main reasons could be the economy. And Burning Man's sluggish sales may equally be a result of potential attendees feeling like they can't afford to attend.

Attendees look at a rainbow over flooding on a desert plain on Sept. 1, 2023, after heavy rains turned the annual Burning Man festival site in Nevada's Black Rock desert into a mud pit.

Attendees look at a rainbow over flooding on a desert plain on Sept. 1, 2023, after heavy rains turned the annual Burning Man festival site in Nevada's Black Rock desert into a mud pit. / AFP via Getty Images

Festival demographic data shows a big increase over the past decade in attendees with personal incomes of $100,000 to $300,000, and a steep decrease in those who earn less than $50,000. Many of those high-earning Burners work in tech — an industry which has been beset with layoffs lately, which could partly explain the drop in ticket sales.

The event is expensive: A standard ticket in 2024 costs $575. And there are plenty of additional expenses, ranging from parking and camp fees to RV rental and flights. A 2023 BBC report included attendees who said they spent up to $8,000 to attend Burning Man.

A changing culture

The Burning Man festival has evolved a great deal since its scrappy beginnings in San Francisco in the 1980s.

Beyond the escalating costs and bad weather, longtime attendees said the vibe of the event has changed over the past decade or so — and not necessarily for the better.

"We've definitely seen a tendency toward these huge expensive camps, almost concierge camping — what are called 'plug-and-plays' — where people pay to attend," said Marisa Lenhart of Alameda, Calif., who has been a festival attendee since 1999.

Instead of contributing a skill, service or product to Burning Man’s community-minded gift economy, Lenhart said the plug-and-players are paying others to haul in their lavish accommodations and clean up after them. Even though the festival organizers have been trying to tamp down this behavior, it’s causing some die-hard Burners to stay away.

Vehicles seen departing the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nev., in September 2023.

Vehicles seen departing the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nev., in September 2023. / Reuters

Lenhart herself isn't among them, though. She said she still plans to lead Death Guild Thunderdome, the big camp she’s been running at Burning Man for years.

"What keeps me going back is Thunderdome," she said. "The community around this group of people who are my absolute friends and family in every way that matters."

Though, Lenhart added, her group will have fewer members this year.

A silver lining?

The slump in ticket sales isn't all bad news for those who return year after year.

Oakland, Calif.-based Burning Man attendee and artist Tim Bremner said it might signal an end to the jet-setting plug-and-play crowd.

"With this turn of maybe not selling out, I think people are hoping, like, 'Oh, they got bored of it,' " he said.

Bremner added the instant gratification ticket sales also potentially mean an influx of new people who might otherwise not be able to go. He said buying a last-minute ticket was what made it possible for him to attend his first Burn, back in 2001. (The festival stopped allowing people to buy tickets without preregistering when the event started to sell out in 2011.)

"They'll probably get a new generation of interested folks, which is pretty cool," Bremner said.

Members of this "new generation" have been posting comments and questions on the Burning Man 2024 Facebook group about the upcoming event. Some shared their excitement.

"I'm a newbie," posted Katie Kritzell. "Happy to share laughs, great vibes, the cost of gas, and snackaroonies!"

Other self-described first-timers, like Mike Morrow, took a more cynical approach, prompting questions from members of the community about whether Morrow was indeed a Burning Man virgin.

"Looking at the mild weather forecast and the high probability of a low turnout with shorter lines, smaller crowds, and maybe even a decent exodus," Morrow wrote, "I’m wondering if I should skip this year and try again another year when the weather or crowds might be bad so I can get the 'true' Burner experience."