Burning Man, the festival beloved by Silicon Valley’s elite, is at risk of quenched by Tropical Storm Hilary.
Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, where the event takes place each year, closed its gate due to flooding caused by the rains of Tropical Storm Hilary, The San Francisco Standard reported.
As a burner, I find calling it a “tech bro party” pretty reductive.
I do my regional burn every year for like $600 including ticket costs which basically go straight to paying for a venue. Ticket costs for the big burn can range massively, but it’s based on a pay-what-you-can structure, with tickets going to theme camps first and the rest being lottery-ed off. Please don’t let salty media trick you into hating these people.
Most people have no idea how much work is put into building things just for other people. We erect an entire city by hand for free so people can come enjoy it and have wild experiences. Everyone always talks big game about wanting more art and less corpo shit, yet will absolutely dogpile burning man, one of the largest art festivals with no corpo shit and no ads or anyone trying to sell you something.
I always just call it a hippy festival.
There are many kinds of hippies in my mind; not just the stereotypical “flower children” from the 60’s. The people at Burning Man are the modern hippies. And I love them.
None of that argues it is not a party that is predominantly attended by tech bros and company.