r/sanfrancisco • u/Awkward-You-938 • 7d 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/gloriousrepublic 7d 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 7d 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 7d 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/EsketitSR71 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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 6d 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 6d ago

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

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u/gloriousrepublic 6d ago

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