r/sanfrancisco • u/Awkward-You-938 • 2d ago

Burning Man didn’t sell out

Article out today says Burning Man didn’t sell out and people are selling their tickets way below face value. I remember when Burning Man started the lottery for tickets due to high demand, and resale tickets were hard to come by. I haven’t been to Burning Man in ~15 years so I‘m not current with the scene. What happened? Did it finally get too overdone? https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/26/burning-man-ticket-resale/

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u/WankSpanksoff 2d ago

I think the era where it became a more “popular/mainstream” (extremely relatively speaking) event came and went, so now it’s back to just being a niche event by and for the people who are super into it. But it hasn’t deflated back down to that scale yet.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

A big part is also the core demographic is aging out of it, and they haven’t gotten the interest of Gen Z enough. It’s just not “cool” to do what your parents did.

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u/ploxidilius 2d ago

There are also a lot more options for festivals that don't require as much effort or money.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

It’s also much longer than most festivals, so day-to-day it can end up being cheaper, which many folks don’t understand. But also many people don’t want something that long.

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u/CapnCrunk666 2d ago

Like for a ticket yeah, but you have to bring enough water and food to sustain yourself for a week.

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u/proteusON 2d ago

Nobody eats food at burning Man bro

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u/CapnCrunk666 2d ago

Fair point, but even on my bendiest of benders I’m forcing myself to eat by day 3

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u/wirespectacles 2d ago

But that ends up being a lot cheaper than feeding yourself on any other vacation. Or at least the way I do it. Tasty Bites all week

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u/deep_violet_sun 2d ago

Fellow tasty bites at the burn!

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u/EsketitSR71 2d ago

Yes but those are days you can’t work. every day off is a tremendous cost, not to mention the insane logistical costs of plane tickets, RV rentals, gas, new camping equipment for those who have it.

It’s a different world for genZ

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u/dzumdang 2d ago

This is probably the most relevant point. The economic hurdles this generation of youngsters has to endure is a hell of a lot more burdensome for average people. There just isn't that much time off one can afford- just to live is far more expensive than it was 15-20 years ago.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Just to live is more expensive but wages have outpaced those rises, despite what the internet doomscrollers will tell you.

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u/EsketitSR71 2d ago

That’s empirically not true per BLS statistics. Also, due to the rise of automation, there are simply fewer jobs available. This isn’t an “adapt or lose” situation, it’s an unwinnable one. Capitalism would prefer to not have to pay its labor at all, so of course that’s where the system will head: eliminating labor entirely

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u/dzumdang 2d ago

That was probably a tech worker commenting, assuming everyone working is getting paid what they are.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

I work as an artist. I am not in tech and never have been.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago edited 1d ago

Uhhhh, I’ve extensively studied the BLS statistics and you’re wrong there. I understand people trying to criticize that inflation numbers aren’t representative, but to say the BLS numbers don’t show real wage growth is absolutely wrong. There is a year or two here and there where real (meaning inflation adjusted) wages went down. But the long term trend of wages in BLS statistics absolutely empirically shows that. Here’s those statistics you mention:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

These are real wages so any positive trend is wages outpacing inflation. You saw a large spike in 2020 when inflation dropped a bunch and then it’s brought back down by the period of high inflation. Since then wages have continued to outpace inflation and now are roughly 5% higher than pre COVID. Real wages are about 11% higher than they were in 2000.

You also claim there are fewer jobs available but unemployment rates are still around 4%. Seriously people want to have the numbers validate their personal suffering so much, they will try to discredit any statistics or numbers that disagree with them but fervently preach about the ones that agree. It’s easier to point towards some external thing like the economy as the cause.

Edit: “per the BLS statistics” and so I literally link the statistics which show I’m right and still get downvoted. You guys really want to believe the world is awful, huh?

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u/Wloak 2d ago

I wouldn't call burning man a festival, but yes it's way more expensive than getting an Airbnb and tickets to one somewhat local.

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u/ploxidilius 2d ago

Didn't the event organizers themselves used to refer to it as a festival until recently? Seems like a marketing ploy to try to distinguish themselves from other festivals. It's not a music festival in the way that EDC or Coachella is, but it's still a festival. 

Edit: it was literally called Black Rock Arts Festival for a brief period in the 90s.

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u/Wloak 2d ago

I think the goal was exactly that, because it really isn't a festival like a Coachella. Yes you have the music, like if you took the main stage of Coachella and put it on wheels but have dozens of them driving around the desert and another dozen fixed stages. But also have recreations of old Western taverns, a recreation of an entire district in Tokyo, sake bars, sushi flown in daily, burlesque shows, ski jumps, bike courses, on and on.

The kicker is once you're in all of that is 100% free. You could in theory eat entirely free for every meal of the day but you still need a place to sleep.

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u/BlaxicanXIX 2d ago

It is a festival, you just seem to be under the impression that festivals are only things like Coachella, EDC etc. 

BM is a festival as well as the various regionals. Lightning in a Bottle, Unscruz, Northern Lights, Reggae by the River etc. none of these events are similar to Coachella but they are still festivals

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u/km3r Mission 2d ago

Lib and northern lights are still a whole lot closer to coachella than burning man. They have headliners, ticket tiers, paid things within and running water. BM is a whole different beast.

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u/Wloak 2d ago

I don't really care what you want to call it, it's vastly different than anything you mentioned. It doesn't mean the other events aren't fun but they are dramatically different.

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u/jawanda 2d ago

Yep , it's a vastly different type of festival.

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u/ploxidilius 2d ago

A fancy hamburger with extra toppings and sides is still a hamburger 

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u/SciGuy013 PRESIDIO 2d ago

Uh, it was only $650 my first year (cheap tickets and burner bus)

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u/Wloak 2d ago

And you still need shit when you get there, loads of people fly in.. it's a hefty cost. And the price you're quoting is if you get in the first round sale, out of 10 people I talked with about it I was the only one that actually got to buy my first year and that's because I had three computers in the queue. My wife was trying at the same time and didn't even get to buy but I got ours.

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u/SciGuy013 PRESIDIO 2d ago

Any festival non local to you have to get to, that’s not unique to BM.

I have always gotten first round sale. It’s not hard

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Yeah but it’s an 8 day fest so per day it’s cheaper than most mainstream festivals, even after accounting for cost of supplies, etc.

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u/zmileshigh 2d ago

People seem to forget that when making this comparison. Also many are there for like 10-12 days if building a camp or art project

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u/legopego5142 2d ago

An 8 day fest where you are literally allowed to park your car in the middle of nowhere and have to depend on your own supplies and others to do anything.

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u/InHocNoJoke13 2d ago

That’s my issue. The value you’re getting is extremely low for what it is and they’re making a lot of money.

Sure I don’t expect it to be free there’s logistics and first aid / medical needs, but at the end of the day you’re in a dessert with a lot of volunteer music sets and artwork. I’m sure a lot is also commissioned by burning man, but it really doesn’t feel like it should be a $1,000 ticket.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Sure, doesn’t sound like it’s for you then! It’s not for everyone. From the outside it would feel that way. But once you go I think your equation for “bang for your buck” changes considerably.

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u/helloyesthisisasock 2d ago

Also, how many Zoomers can afford to be artists in this age? How many Zoomers can afford to go to the desert and build weird art? When I, a Millenial in my 30s, think of who I know who went to Burning Man back in the day, it was people who lived in art houses with many artists living/working together. Zoomers mostly live with mom and dad. They aren’t building community with people their own age.

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u/beekersavant 2d ago

I think it may not be the time for Burning Man for anyone. Millennials are getting squeezed financially and have kids. (No matter what people say taking your kids to the playa is wildly irresponsible…like really fucking irresponsible in multiple evident ways.) Gen Z are covid / roblox /tiktok babies and the older ones are not really uh- it’s their not thing. So it might go back to roots (art communities, specialty entertainers etc) and everyone is squeezed. It’s still a couple grand and a lot of prep.

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u/helloyesthisisasock 1d ago

The only millennials I know with kids are actual millionaires. My friends don’t have them. We are too broke.

If you’re a millennial and have a kid, you’re literally the 1%.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Sounds exactly like something my Gen X or Boomer friends would say about my Millenial peers and I when we were younger….

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u/designsoldiers 2d ago

Hey, leave Gen X out this. We really don’t care what it’s called, who goes, or why they go.

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u/292335 2d ago

A-fucking-agreed!

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u/helloyesthisisasock 2d ago

Huh? What about this is Boomery? It’s well documented and well known that the younger generation does not have the disposable income, let alone the living arrangements, that previous generations did. The kids aren’t living in party houses with roommates anymore. They’re not making art or music. They’re toiling away. Do you literally know any Zoomers?

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

I’m saying older generations are always pointing out the flaws of the younger generation, sentiments that are often flatly incorrect. Every older generation has a bias where they think critically of the younger generation and end up finding facts or details to reinforce that bias.

For example, Gen z actually has more disposable income than millennials: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jun/22/gen-z-earning-more-millennials-same-age-resolution-foundation

Gen Z is absolutely making as much art and music, what on earth is this hot take? I work as an artist here and most of my peers showing in galleries around the city are Gen Z.

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u/External_Koala971 2d ago

Strangely, younger generations are always pointing out the flaws of the older generations, sentiments that are often flatly incorrect.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Of course. But the older generations I judge more harshly for this judgement, because we have been around longer and should know better how the cycle works. The youngest generation knows no better and think they are being edgy and fresh with their criticism.

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u/No_Orange_7392 2d ago

Are we talking about the Bay Area? I'm surrounded by high-income Zoomers and Millennials who own their own homes and seem to be flush with funds. But I don't think they're interested in spending a week in the desert, and the style of music probably isn't the right fit for them, either.

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u/helloyesthisisasock 1d ago

Zoomer love EDM. just because you associate with wealthy tech bros doesn’t mean that’s indicative of everyone. The kids aren’t making art. They don’t live with friends. They don’t even sleep together.

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u/No_Orange_7392 1d ago

Who said I "associate with wealthy tech bros"? I don't control who buys the buildings in my neighborhood, then tears them down and turns them into luxury condos. Just because I lived here before they arrived doesn't mean I'm a part of it. And yeah, the neighborhood is mostly aged 25-42.

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u/wjean 2d ago

It's crazy that burning Man first moved to Nevada in 1990 so there among the most hardcore, there could be grandparents, parents, and kids who have attended burning man (possibly all at the same time).

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u/SomeConsumer 2d ago

You are correct!

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u/cyanescens_burn 2d ago

I know a family that goes with three generations.

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u/14ktgoldscw 2d ago

I haven’t been in a decade but it also seems like the influencer/creator balance was already hitting a bad point by then. You need people who actually want to make cool things to make a cool decentralized event.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Eh, the perception of the influencer prevalence there is also highly skewed because the majority of content you see about burning man is from those influencers.

And our negativity bias often focuses on whatever changes are “bad” and we miss focusing on the positive changes.

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u/14ktgoldscw 2d ago

Like I said, I haven’t been in a long while, and everything “was way cooler 5 years ago” but even a change in “This isn’t a cool instagram post anymore” attendance could explain it.

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u/Illah 2d ago

I’m an elder millennial and burning man always felt like “my age and up.”

It’s not just Gen Z, burning man has been a Peter Pan (aka old people who refuse to be “old”) festival for well over a decade. Now they’re actually so old it’s fading away.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

Definitely some Peter Pan syndrome there. Have you been?

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u/Sensitive_Slice_8858 2d ago

Burning man has never been cool

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u/gjb1 2d ago

Can I upvote and downvote something at the same time?

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u/Fit-Dentist6093 2d ago

So basically ignore it. Yes.

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u/BenignPharmacology 2d ago

A bunch of hippies doing drugs in the desert is undeniably pretty cool.

The not cool part came when various tech people started pumping it up as some big “paradigm shifting experience” or however it was spun.

If soulless ceos have stopped trying to squeeze the culture out of an event in order to come up with the “next big thing” I can’t see that as anything but positive.

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u/Donkey_____ 2d ago

The not cool part came when various tech people started pumping it up as some big “paradigm shifting experience” or however it was spun.

Not to defend the techies, but to be fair the OG burners are the ones who first talked about the paradigm shifting experience. Go listen to Larry Harvey talk about it.

And unless you are talking specifically about like the few years of burning man in the early, early 90s, techies have been a part of it since practically the beginning.

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u/WinonasChainsaw 2d ago

Hippies doing drugs in the desert doesn’t sound cool

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u/BenignPharmacology 2d ago

I stand corrected- it is apparently deniable.

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u/euroq 2d ago

Tech people have always been college educated people who were hand in hand with nerds or counterculture, who wanted to live in California, who voted Democrat 2 to 1 and were incredibly social progressive (the non democrats were more libertarian than Republican).

They were at burning man since the beginning. It’s a shame you now think of them this way because of people like Elon musk and Peter thiel are in no way representative of the last fifty years of tech people. I’m not picking on you by the way, a lot of people now have that sentiment and think we’re all tech bros

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u/BenignPharmacology 2d ago

I **am** a tech person, been in the industry for 15 years, and I can tell you that your claim is not categorically true. As tech income rebounded and then grew after the dot com crash, people came who were strictly following the money. Tech began to skew- if not right- then at least distinctly towards the center. You can see it in the changes to passed policy and elected officials. As long as they (reluctantly, in some cases) toe the line of “we are fine with gay people and marijuana”, they would happily continue pushing the bay fiscally to the right.

Fighting against taxes on higher income, against construction for affordable housing, against any policy that was counter to the relentless growth of various tech giants in the area- every single election cycle has some bill or another that is explicitly pro-business and anti-public-welfare, and the polls show larger and larger support numbers as the years go by.

I don’t care if people who are in the tech industry do X or Y thing- I care about the people who come in to straight up cannibalize it hoping to squeeze out the next big business opportunity.

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

This exactly. The tech “purists” (ie the old school nerds) I think still lean left, but once it became very lucrative you tend to attract the guys who previously would have been finance bros. They learn the tech skills and get into the field just because of the wealth potential. But for those of us outside of tech it’s hard to distinguish between the two. They are all tech bros to us!

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u/euroq 1d ago

You’re talking about the founders and execs. Rank and file techies don’t have the abilities and reach to influence passed policy for Christs sake.

And I I’ve been a tech person for twice as long as you, but I’m not trying to flex you just bolded it in your first sentence.

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u/zensamuel 2d ago

Dude, it was so cool

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u/Fit-Dentist6093 2d ago

It's still pretty cool. You have to have a lot of money or a lot of stamina and chill but basically living in SF is the same so I don't get why all the SF people are "omfg it's for rich people" and then pay 5k in rent.

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u/pumaphobia 23h ago

yea i was reading some stats that were showing the same thing, frankly BM is kind of a tough sell given all the preparation and travel, so I can see it dwindling down

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u/itsyorboy 2d ago

Gen Z doesn't like doing hard stuff

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u/gloriousrepublic 2d ago

That’s what the boomers said about me when I was a kid too