Burning Man festival has revealed it will be making “substantive” changes to its ticketing model this year in an attempt to push back against the rise of social media influencers and consumerism.
The Black Rock City, Nevada festival’s chief executive Marian Goodell wrote an article in the Burning Man Journal over the weekend outlining the changes.
According to the post, the changes are to “ensure that those willing to make the trek to Black Rock City are ready to contribute.”
The move is also an effort to prevent concierge camps from buying blocks of tickets, as they are run for profit and offer pre-packaged lodging without having to put in any work and planning usually associated with the festival.
Final details on 2019 ticket changes are expected to be posted to tickets.burningman,org in “a matter of days,” Goodell wrote.
Changes include moving the pre-sale until after the directed group sale, which includes those who are “key contributors to Black Rock City (theme and mutant vehicle camps, art collectives, and core teams).”
The directed group sale is also growing by 10 per cent more tickets in an attempt to boost “meaningful participation,” while the application-based Low Income Ticket Program will grow by 18 per cent.
Burning Man is also reducing the number of high-priced tickets available by 30 per cent, with Goodell stating that “higher-priced tickets will now be limited to 2 per person instead of 4 per high-priced tier, and buyers in what was formerly the “Pre-Sale” will no longer be able to participate in subsequent public sales.”
The limited sale will also be eliminated this year, which for the past two years allowed burners to purchase $1,200 (£933/€1,063) tickets into July, according to the post.
Goodell also points out that the increasing number of social media influencers and similarly-sponsored attendees are profiting from BlAck Rock City to “sell more stuff,” are not in-keeping with Burning Man’s ethos.
The post goes on to highlight and remind people of the ten principles of the event, which, among other things, mandates radical inclusion, decommodification and radical self-reliance.
Image: Bureau of Land Management
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