Once upon a time, Burning Man used to be a not-for-profit collective of artists basking in the radical self-expression of a giant burning effigy on Baker Beach. But in the last 25 years since attendance was 80 people in the middle of the desert, the popularity of this free-for-all party has exploded into 66,000 attendees last year, and turned the anti-capitalist gathering into a giant psychedelic Disneyland populated by wealthy office dwellers desperate for a break from the monotony of a computer screen. So popular, in fact, that the once free admission has now ballooned to an astounding $800 pre-sale for admission, which you can register for during the next 72 hours to secure your spot at the weeklong festival. Following registration, you can actually put your money where your ramen-less mouth is on January 21st.
Twenty years ago, the entree fee was $35. Ten years ago it was $145-$250. This year, non-pre-sale tickets, if somehow still available, will cost $390, just in case you don’t feel comfortable paying close to a grand for the privilege of cavorting with the privileged. It is more depressing than it is funny how blindly ironic the notions of radical inclusion, decommodification, radical self-reliance, communal effort, and immediacy are when access to the event is barred to pretty much only those who are alright with spending a normal person’s rent money for a guaranteed spot in a weeklong drug binge with some vague notions of art and community.
This, on top of the fact that Burning Man is more than half a year away, which implies that those buying these overpriced tickets are not only confident in their financial security, but also their ability to take a week off of whatever job is good enough to afford this treat. Of course, Burning Man says that the insane cost of these tickets is to help offset the low-income tickets available via application for $190, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of what “low-income” means. For many actual “low-income” people, $190 is a little under what some barely make per month, so make sure to spend the other $10-$50 of your budget on hella rice and potatoes as you walk your way into the playa.
To be absolutely fair, the increase in cost is not pure profit in the pockets of the organizers, and pre-sale tickets are always significantly more expensive because they guarantee a spot. Certainly the 82,000% attendance increase costs a great deal more than $0 to maintain infrastructure, and to make sure everybody gets in and out safely. But at a certain point, how realistic is it to maintain the original values, and to be selling tickets on the basis of the ten principles of Burning Man written 11 years ago when attendance figures were half what they are today. It is not just deceptive, but insulting to a real community of artists who’ve been coopted by bored, rich, weekend warriors pretending to be radical.
Perhaps this year’s organizers can use a little of that presale money to build a giant cash-mâché man in the center of playa to light on fire as a symbol of the communal death of Burning Man.
Image via Thinkstock
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