Another springtime, another stampede of the masses to score tickets to this summers annual Burning Man.
Registration for tickets started yesterday, ends Friday, and the tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 10.
This years celebration of all things creative and communal (“Life is short. Make something amazing. Then burn it.) will have some new twists as organizers rebrand the event to be more inclusive. And theyll attempt to do that by first tweaking the way tickets are sold.
Heres a primer:
Whats new with Burning Man tickets this year?
As the annual festival in recent years took on a decidedly exclusive feel to it, thanks in part to what many feel is the intrusion of A-list entrepreneurs and tech millionaires from Silicon Valley, organizers want to pull the reins in on the burgeoning commercialization and elitism unfolding at the desert party, now in its 33rd year. They think redoing the way tickets are distributed is a good place to start.
So what are the changes?
After Marian Goodell, CEO of the Burning Man nonprofit, chewed out the events luxury camps in a 2,500-word blog post, she said it was time to address what SF Weekly calls “the commodification of Black Rock City.” And this “Cultural Course Correcting” by organizers “laid out the ways the elite set up their own gated festivals-within-the-festival where Instagram influencers thrive.” Among other changes, there will be no more “limited sales,” which enabled participants to scoop up $1,200 tickets in July.
What was Goodells beef with these luxe camps?
She wrote on social media that “they are using Black Rock City to increase their popularity; to appeal to customers and sell more stuff,” citing things like commercial photo shoots, tagging brands, and product placements. “Weve been observing some troubling trends for a few years, but this report stunned me.”
What is it exactly that bugs the organizers so much?
In her post, Goodell said she had heard a lot of stories about ”burners” feeling left out of ignored by certain cliques who attend the festival each year. Worse, she wrote, was all the so-called social-media “influencers” who were robbing Burning Man of its soul: “Surely youve seen examples,” she wrote. “Whether its commercial photo shoots, product placements, or Instagram posts thanking friends for a useful item, attendees including fashion models and social media influencers are wearing and tagging brands in their playa photos. This means they are using Black Rock City to increase their popularity; to appeal to customers and sell more stuff.”
And that, say the festival organizers, aint cool.
So how are organizers going to use tickets sales to make things more inclusive for everyone?
Beyond publicly disinviting certain camps, and warning others, the Weekly reports that Goodells team has initiated these new rules: 10 percent more tickets allocated to Directed Group Sales, which encourages collaborative groups; Having Directed Group Sales buy tickets before pre-sale; Setting aside 4,500 tickets for $210 each through its low-income program, which constitutes an 18-percent increase from last year; and reducing high-priced tickets by 30 percent and limiting them to two per-person instead of four.
How much are tickets this year?
While some people may find these prices anything but ”inclusive,” the entrance fees for 2019 are $425, plus taxes and fees, while car passes wRead More – Source
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