The Ultimate Guide To Attending Burning Man Festival, Black Rock City
OH HEY FUTURE BURNER! 👋 So you want to go to Burning Man?
The fact that you even clicked to open this post probably means you have a tiny desire to explore Black Rock City for yourself and if you have a desire, I suggest you pursue it!
(Apologise to your parents and your bank account for me. #sorrynotsorry)
There are many stages in the preparation for attending Burning Man and the whole thing is a bit of a minefield if you’ve never been before.
Luckily for me I had the guidance of my crazy Kiwi girlfriends who are veterans of this festival and guided me, quite literally, from start to finish. I honestly wouldn’t have booked my ticket otherwise; it’s not the kind of experience you want to turn up for clueless. (However, I NEARLY DID .. but that’s another story).
Burning Man requires a serious logistical attack.
So get reading and get planning, and see you on the playaaaaa!
Step 1: Book Your Ticket (Or Try To Anyway)
The Burning Man ticket release comes in a few different stages which you can see the details for on the official website here. Tickets for this magic land are, as you can imagine, in HIGH DEMAND and sell out pretty quick.
Before the tickets go on sale you must create a ‘burner profile’ which you can do here.
This gives you a profile with a log in that you must then use to access the ticket sales.
As a self-employed independent fashion designer with fluctuating funds in the bank, I made the right decision by applying for a Low Income Burning Man Ticket. I applied in March 2018 and it got accepted about 3 weeks after failing to get tickets in the main Burning Man ticket sale. Winning!
Tip – If applying for the Low Income Ticket: Take some time to read about the 10 Principles of Burning Man and being a Burning Man citizen. Then think creatively about your application, make sure to mention some of those key principles and how you would fit into Black Rock City … what could you provide? ..etc!
You can read the official 10 commandments of Burning Man here.
When purchasing your tickets in the main March sale you can buy max x2 tickets and x1 vehicle pass. Vehicle passes are $80 which you can split between the people you’re going with.
The ticket buying process was quite frustrating. I entered the website on the second the tickets went out for sale and begun my attempt to purchase a golden ticket. The queue page was circling for about 40 minutes before it let me in to buy a ticket. When it finally did and I selected 1 from the general admission drop down it stated that tickets had sold out. As you can imagine my heart was racing and I was like NOOOO!
Tip: Keep refreshing the page once you make it past the queue. I think as people drop tickets out of their basket and don’t proceed with payment, the tickets free up again to purchase. Don’t give up!
Tip: If you live in Europe, to avoid the ticket posting fee (I like to avoid any costs possible haha), you can opt to pick up your ticket from WillCall when you enter the festival. This is actually awesome because there’s no way you can lose your ticket in the 6 months leading up to the event. If you lose it? You’ll be watching Burning Man from social media updates.
If You Don’t Manage To Get A Ticket In General Sale?
DON’T STRESS.
I think around 60% of the group I went with didn’t. It’s a long and stressful process. So many people buy tickets in case they want to go and then nearer the time things come up, they change their mind etc.
So, next options for tickets?
The OMG Sale At The End Of July.
Note: If you didn’t purchase a vehicle pass when you bought your ticket in March, you have the opportunity to buy one here.
Next option for tickets? Buy one from someone.
Throughout August people sell Burning Man tickets left, right and centre.
Tip: Source a friend in California that can pop a FB status up for you. It’s all about who you know.
Tip: Search #burningman #burningmantickets on FB and Twitter to locate people selling ticket
Step 2: Book Your Flights
Booked and sorted? Awesome!!! You’re off to the playaaaa!
I flew from the UK to LA with Norwegian airlines, then returned San Fran (Oakland airport … cheaper!) to London after the burn (purely to see some new cities!) and bagged myself a round trip for around £600 when I booked in June. Keep checking flights and get it booked to motivate your preparation.
The closest airport to Black Rock City is Reno. I personally road tripped from LA and stopped overnight in the Yosemites and then Reno to break up the journey. If you don’t want to hire a car or are coming alone there is a Burner Express bus that runs from Reno and SF to Black Rock City. Additional fees apply for taking bikes and you would need to purchase water in advance for pick up.
Your best bet is to rent a car or preferably RV and share it with some fellow burners!
In Advance…
Who are you going to Burning Man with?
This is something you’ll probably want to consider before you buy a ticket and is something you should consider wisely. Burning Man is a pretty unique and at times very intense experience and you want to be around people that have a similar vibe and are looking for a similar vibe to you.
What Are You Going To Sleep In, What Is Your Home?
People stay in anything from 2 man tents to camper vans, yurts, Haul (American removal vans) to full blown RV’s which is what we did. (Recommend highly!)
One thing I will say (if future years are anything like 2018) is that it’s HOT. If you’re down to party at BM then chances are you will party right the way through the night and then sleep in the day ready to go again.
If you sleep in the day like me you’ll want shade for sure but will be CRAVING aircon.
I recommend a Hexayurt and a generator for aircon all the way. Unless you can afford an RV, then do that 100% !!
See Euphoric Threads complete packing and shopping list for Burning Man here.
Think About Being Part Of A Big Camp..
And perhaps enquire about joining a themed camp…
It is definitely possible, you just have to choose one.
If you get accepted onto a camp you will usually have to pay a contribution which goes towards the camp bar / offering / art car fuel or you will be asked to do a few shifts at the camp bar, for example. It depends on the camp.
We simply paid I think $100 each to be part of a smaller rogue camp with a bunch of legends from LA, our camp was called BEAVER DAM, located 9 + J.
Not all camps (like our one) make themselves public and for a selection of them it’s a case of a ‘who you know’.
Many of the guys I went with were friends with an awesome Aussie camp called ‘Camp Bang Bang’ I would definitely recommend joining if you can get accepted!
Make sure to check out the public camps you can get in contact with here.
For the extra money, in the grand scheme of things, I think its definitely worth joining a larger camp. Our camp had a few interesting art cars to travel around in, but most of the time you are off cycling, partying and exploring, or passed out in the RVs. Our camp was purely to share generator costs and have help with unloading RV water wastes etc .. ohhhh the logistics of an RV!
Start Buying (or making) Outfits…
As soon as you have bought your tickets and are getting plans into place, start getting creative!
Myyyyy god didn’t I have fun! Euphoric Threads galore!!
As a fellow creative I went a bit mad, glue gunned and gemmed the shit out of everything, made some sick hats and goggles. So if you ever need any extra unique and handmade Burning Man accessories – Give us an email!!
At Euphoric Threads we would LOVE to custom make you your Burning Man outfit. Drop us an email!
Honestly once you start shopping you’ll want everything so starting early spreads the cost out and gives you time to look and time for delivery / size swaps.
To make it easier for you, we have completed the ultimate packing list for Burning Man.
Travel Insurance…
Make sure you have it!
Remember: Don’t take anything to Burning Man that you would be soul destroyed about if you lost / broke. The dust get everywhere including in-between buttons and inside camera lenses and shit goes down.
Tip: GoPros are the perfect camera for the playa!
As It Gets Closer To The Burn…
Ensure you have everything on my ultimate packing list. Make sure you have done all those Amazon orders and purchased all of those LED lights!
Check out where your friends are camping and make note in case you don’t get or want signal on the playa. Use that awesome Facebook app I mentioned in my last post, where you can to log in and pin where you are staying and then you and your Facebook friends will be able to find each other. Genius!
A Couple Of Days Before You Leave…
Complete the mission that is the massive food shop (leave the water until you get to Reno if you’re road tripping in!) We took a trip to CostCo, holy shit its humungous … stock up on it alllll!!
Pick up your bike if you’ve ordered one (or you can pick that up in Reno at a Walmart with your water too!)
Pick up your rental vehicle if you’ve hired one (probs the first thing you’ll do!)
Girlies, get waxed, lasered and shaved – you’ll be living in hot pants, bikinis and heat so it’s the most comfortable and convenient option to go for!
Check the weather and acquire any last minute essentials you need accordingly.
Make sure you have all medication you will need for the week if you need any!
En Route To The Playa…
(A Lot Of People Stop Off And Leave Pick Ups For Reno As It’s The Biggest And Last Town On The Way)
Pick up bikes at Walmart (I didn’t pre-order my bike like most people did, we were lucky enough to walk in the night before and purchase the cheapest cruiser bike for $88 from Walmart in Reno!)
I remember our last meal all together was at Reno Casino …. ALL YOU CAN EAT , so good. Probably the MOST food I ate on my entire trip – perfect way to line our stomachs before a week of debauchery.
Pick up your water for the week too ! (picking it up in Reno means you can travel lighter for the majority of the way and pick up water at the last possible location)
Note – About 40 minutes before you get to the playa there are some clever bunnies that have set up roadside stalls and are selling everything you’ve probably forgotten plus extra costumes. They aren’t actually too badly priced and yeah, this will be your last option to buy anything before you enter the burn!
On The Playa…
I don’t want to tell you everything now, do I? The mystery surrounding what actually goes on on the playa and the survival of it is half of the fun! .. Just know that we have you covered on preparation and we’ll see you on the other side!
When You Leave…
As the Burning Man commandment states: you shall ‘Leave No Trace’.
Tip: You cannot leave your bin bags at Black Rock City (under any circumstance) but as soon as you drive out of the festival there are trash drop offs.
“ Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them. “
Big love to all you burners heading to Burning Man 2019. Make sure to get in touch if you want some custom made Euphoric Threads festival outfits!
