Burning Man: No tickets at the gate and other 2008 updates

If you’re holding out until the last minute to commit to Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada, Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2008, think about acting sooner than later. This year, you won’t be able to purchase a festival ticket at the gate. Only those with pre-purchased tickets will gain admittance.

Black Rock City, the temporary city set up in the desert whose participants numbered 47,097 at last year’s festival, will be physically bigger this year. Two roads will be added at the rear of the city, increasing the length of the Esplanade by 2,500 feet. Center Camp (the festival’s hub, where one will find a social center point as well as performers, and ice and coffee for purchase) will also increase in size.

If you’ll be attending Burning Man for the first time, everything you need to know to prepare for this creative-social-experiment-turned-humongous-interactive-gathering is in the Event Survival Guide. Bring costumes, lots of water, enthusiasm and an open mind.

If you’ve never heard of Burning Man, it’s a gigantic art-oriented fest in the Black Rock Desert, in the middle of nowhere, Nevada, about a three-hour drive from Reno. The essay “What is Burning Man?” might give you an idea of this unique event, or check out some of the innumerable descriptions about it on the blogosphere, such as Matador Nights’ “First-Timer’s Guide to Participating at Burning Man.”

For the traveler, it’s a trip to another planet, where art and community are woven into every moment, where the alternative is mainstream and where the typically bizarre can begin to make the most sense in the world. It’s also a huge party in a harsh desert where you’d best be prepared (with many gallons of water etc.) or you might not have the best time. This year’s art theme is “American Dream.”

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Burning Man 2006; J. Parker]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 9:55 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Arts & Culture, Festival, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.