Why Burners Are Suddenly Burnt Out On Burning Man And No One Wants To Go

On Thursday, another person posted a message on the Burning Man NYC Facebook community group asking for permission to participate in the desert festival starting Sunday.

“If anyone is interested, I have a hard sell card,” the post reads.

Alexey Chaldyshev could not help but react with funny emotions and the phrase "not all of us."

“I saw 113 messages from people wanting to sell or buy tickets,” said the 33-year-old software engineer who lives in New York.

Since the beginning of August, he has been unsuccessfully trying to sell a ticket bought through official channels.

"They don't need anyone," he said.

Last year's Burning Man festival, the first since the pandemic, drew 80,000 people to Black Rock City, Nevada. Experienced surfers expect only about 60,000 people to come this year.

Burning Man had a high fever in 2022.

AP:

Facebook groups and other platforms are crowded with people willing to sell tickets through official channels for prices ranging from $575 to $2,750 plus tax. Now they are downloaded for $ 100 or even distributed free of charge on the security of users. (Burning Man allows tickets to be resold as long as they don't exceed the original ticket price.)

Some cite financial problems such as inflation, layoffs at tech companies, and strikes in the entertainment industry. Others say they are unprepared for eight days of heat and seemingly endless dust after seeing triple high temperatures and eight-hour traffic jams at the end of last year's meeting.

“It was very hot, and I can’t stand the heat well,” said Chaldyshev. "I think a lot of people don't know if they can go through this again."

The annual festival starts on Sunday.

Facebook/Sandy Dompkosky

He concluded that he definitely couldn't.

“Deep down, I kept thinking about how good it was to ride the bus home last year,” he said. It was like, "Thank God."

Tanya Hani, 34, a Los Angeles-based publicist, has been attending Burning Man for the past six years, though she became a "renegade" when the official festival was canceled for 2020 and 2021.

But this year he will leave due to inflation.

Tanya Haney has attended Burning Man for the past six years but is absent this year due to inflation.

Tanya Haney

Hani said the car rental was too expensive this year.

Tanya Haney

In previous years, he and a friend had rented a van for $3,000–$6,000. When he looked at the lease this year, the vans were between $12,000 and $15,000.

He was able to sell his card and even helped his friends get rid of theirs.

"It was such a stress," she said. “Yesterday I saw at least six or seven people selling tickets on Facebook and Instagram.”

Some of them, such as Bonnie Bliss, still exist, but have not completely disappeared.

Bonnie Bliss usually goes with a few friends, but this year she barely managed to find anyone who could go with her.

Courtesy of Bonnie Biss

The 39-year-old man, who lives in New York and works as an entertainment photographer, has been surfing for over a decade. He always buys six tickets as soon as they go on sale. In past years, inviting friends and acquaintances was not a problem.

Only one friend signed up this year. He sold three of his tickets and is still trying to get rid of one.

However, he hopes that the money will not run out.

“I fully believe that someone in the universe is claiming the last ticket,” he said. "Burning Man is magic, everything falls into place."

Since he doesn't have many friends, renting a van like he usually does doesn't make financial sense. So, he'll have heating, no shower, no electricity, but he's trying to keep a positive attitude.

“There is something about it that makes it more exciting. "It's very hot during the day, it's cold at night, there's a lot of dust," he said. “As far as Girl Scouts, you have to do a lot of stupid things to make the tent situation work, but you have a camp and a community. It's all about radical sovereignty."

It's very sad when Hindus burn a corpse 😢