2023: Blessing or Disaster?

[Lonesomebri]

Disaster is too harsh a word, I know, but setting out contrasting perspectives here. And wading out before the playa even dries to slay the wounded innocent, classic LonesomeBri.

Last year notified many that the Burn wasn't all fun and games. And now, this year, the rain.

Recent history, there was a built up drive to get tickets by everyone, even people who never went. The population was a huge chunk of first timers. They spread the word to their circle who have never been. The popular view of the event, the DJs, festival party people culture, paid tourists, professional camps, tiered membership, hedonism over virtue, etc etc etc. Just a massive drive to go.

There was the hiatus, and the big return to the playa. Again, by many first timers who were seeing it first then, and relaying that to the pipeline of future attendees. It was hot, the roads were rutted, generator problems with some big camps, it was hot. And going meant a huge camp membership due, with temptations to raise that level of comfort/expense. Some of the glitter wore off.

But the pressure in that pipeline was still full force when tickets went on sale. So the usual sell-out, everyone scrambling for tickets. But then something happened to the demand. Some scrambled to get tickets as a reflex. Last year's first timers, their novice friends, bucket listers, people who didn't really know much about the event but knew it was the thing to do, etc. Though, reflecting on last year, the expectations of the washed facing the real playa affected desire. Maybe a bunch of those folks decided against going this year, after getting tickets, with that residual resistance, building off each other. Anyway, suddenly the demand for tickets took a very different turn this year.

Now the deluge of 23. How does that play with the festival circuit crowd, the bucket listers, the weekend tourists, the millionaire hedonist, the draw on new timers, the demand and desire to go, the tickets?

Very interesting to see this play out, as I am not on the playa. Don't get me wrong, real Burners are having a blast, as always. This is about dropping dead weight

[FlyingMonkey]

We are thinning the herd one muddy footstep at a time.

[wraith]

I said it earlier, Burning Mud was going to happen. I expect it took a lot of the charm out of that thing in the desert for the techbro and bucket list set, but I'm worried about all the virgins stuck out there who didn't have the foresight to plan for the possibility of getting stuck.

[Token]

My observations from afar; the brutal heat of 2022 broke the business model of DGS.

The brutal flood of 2023 has the potential of burning it to the DG. Pun intended.

I’m putting on the popcorn for this one. Very curious to see how badly this unwinds the BORG with the resto now becoming an epic clusterfuck and dog knows how bad it impacts the relationship with the feds, tribe and local counties.

Gonna be a fun few months.

[ygmir]

I agree with you Token.
I'd add, with the rain now, and rain on the way, if it's significant....well Porto's are not going to be getting serviced, fuel will not be delivered, no ice, EMS can't move either and I'd bet planes can't move. Generators if you didn't bring enough fuel. Also, with all the clouds, solar panels will be making less.
Take it to a "real bad" scenario, and what do they do about sanitation? medical emergency? fuels? even basic food and water? I wonder if there is a helicopter National Guard plan if it lasts too long? And if it does, and people are shuttled out (without their stuff and RV's, etc), they go home, never to return. There could be a sea of detritus, at scale, to include RV's and such. you know if it takes several days to dry enough to move vehicles, some people will be forced to just make their way home, however they can. And some of those, will not come back, or make arrangements, for their stuff....
To be clear: I don't want this to happen, and would not be happy if it does.

[FlyingMonkey]

It's so strange to see people walking on the Playa at night with no art cars or bicycles. There's definitely something lacking but everyone seems to be having a great time.

This year is a pop quiz on Radical Self Reliance. Many will fail this one.

[some seeing eye]

We’re fine.

We are starting to get some Sunday morning sun. It will take hours of sun to dry it out.

People are communing in their neighborhoods.incoming participamts bxb bxa and main gate closed Friday AM and incoming will not reopen. There has been no vehicle movement including bikes since Thursday about 6PM. I saw one org golf cart in my hood Saturday afternoon. The population is well under 80,000. No porto servicing, people are being respectful. Much less wild altered partying. That can contribute to porto problems. The neighborhoods have become self-supporting islands and the campers are fine.

Hahaha, when we burners think clouds, light sprinkles and no dust are good weather, you know we are different.

Preliminary Census is showing 40% first time burners.

The ops plan and people/communications structures are working.

We still need to all exodus which will take time.

I would say for the future, the variables are the current (acting) Winnemucca/BR BLM administrator and 2 levels up, pershng co is unpredictable, they mainly want more funds imo, the vendors will be a big factor. Risk analysis and allocation is part of the equation.

If I were a pre-virgin, I would consult a 2023 veteran before deciding to 2024. That is a good thing.

Now we all have new lists of rain stuff to bring!

It’s Woodstock ‘68, not Fyre. The kids are all right.

(I arrived late to the m&g and cacapho party - playa time)

[Elorrum]

We’re fine.
People are communing in their neighborhoods.

Now we all have new lists of rain stuff to bring!

It’s Woodstock ‘68, not Fyre. The kids are all right.

40% new. Wow. Thanks for the report. Sounds like what I’d hope to expect from burners.

[Lonesomebri]

News from the Burn is very grim, friends. Already 3 cases of hippie cannibalism have been reported. Current conditions, they may be forced to ration the E. If no National Guard relief column reaches the playa soon, the celebrities could be forced to drink mimosas cut with Sunny D. From a story just reaching the outside world, in a desperate last chance grab at survival, and to make it to his next contractual high price gig, one douche DJ, Dipshitalot, was forced on a 5 mile spirit quest. Leaving all his mess behind for others to clean up, just like he was going to do anyway. He made it out to triumphantly post on Instagram from his jet. Kind of like Nam. A true hero for our times. I got out of the Burn business just in time.

[Elorrum]

I heard a dj on bmir say that Chris Rock better keep the name of this event out of his mouth.

[mgb327]

Well, finally arrived home in Va., safe and sound. Truly amazing the stuff on the media, and here, about the event. Mostly from people that were not there, making "news" by conjecture. Yes, it was a stellar week leading up to the rain, never saw better conditions since 2011. The rain changed the burn into another completely different event. We did not "suffer", rather put into practice our preparedness routine. It was a blast, two "events" in one. Contrary to the opinions of the massive amount of people that were not actually there, it was one of the my best experiences yet, showing the true heart of veteran burners. As Tricky Dick once said, "boo to the nattering nabob of naysayers".

[Captain Goddammit]

Once again I sat it out.
I’ve long believed it would be great if conditions were super horrible… rain… major dust storms… wind… heat…
It’ll weed out a lot of the bucket listers and punish the unprepared.
I’m saying it’s a good thing.

Every burner should arrive prepared as if no one else was going to show up.
It’s that simple.

[FlyingMonkey]

Made it to Ogden and the transmission in the RV had a catastrophic failure. Lots of smoke and fluid (sorry for the liquid moop Ogden). My Burn has now exceeded 2 weeks. If they can't fix it today I'm probably driving the test of the way in a rental. Hopefully home by Saturday.

We had a lot of Virgins in our camp and they were well prepared and want to return.

Since they closed gate on Friday I suspect there will be much fewer Insta posts this year.

[some seeing eye]

[Includes attached photo of sculpture of hand with middle finger raised]

It probably would have been better if the event had stayed out of the daily presidential briefing:

President Biden Speaks to Reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

As he left evening church services in Rehoboth Beach, President Biden spoke briefly with reporters, answering questions on the heavy rains that had trapped Burning Man festival attendees…

https://www.c-span.org/video/?530226-1/ ... h-delaware

Transcript:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo ... in-gaggle/

Best to all making a safe trip back to home base!

And for a little humor... the playa mud at exactly the right moisture is a great molding material. Several times, I reached down to pick up MOOP to find it was part of a shoe sole print.

[some seeing eye]

There are unconfirmed reports from BRC of a lot of camp infrastructure remaining on playa after the panic exodus. If you think the BLM is concerned about MOOP, they are very concerned about big superMOOP. It is always a race against time and having enough staff to get everything out before more rain, and before the beginning of the rainy season.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/burning-ma ... rcna103904

[some seeing eye]

This photo was taken Wednesday 9/6 by pilot Ryan Niemi on the last flight out of NV88 around 3pm (He has more on his bookofface. Thanks Ryan!)

The org has invited camps back to remove their items by Saturday. A lot of what is there in the photo are staff camps, staff infrastructure (6-5:30 dark areas) and placed containers awaiting transport to the BMORG storage sites off playa, as well as items placed by Outside Services who will get them off playa.

The BMORG has pending removals and issues logged in the Placement databases and they are traveling every block with issues on the playa daily. This year, they requested camps remove the placement flags because they are running accurate GPS on their data pads. In this photo, the portos have not been removed. Many staff and volunteers are still camping on site while doing their jobs.

The BMORG has access to aerial photos, satellite photos, and their own drones. This year they also had a live camera on the playa at 8-Mile.

So as we always say, don't panic, just do it - whatever you need to do to make it right!

[Papa Bear]

One note about "last year's first timers"...

I've met quite a few, and most of them loved it. They'd been warned it could be hot, windy, and dusty, and that's exactly what it was. Unlike veteran burners, who had developed expectations for the range of weather you get at BRC, they weren't really surprised, so they just rolled with it.

It was similar with the virgins in our camp this year. They spent the first few days of build enjoying the weather, finally thought "ah, this is what they mean" when dust storms happened on Tuesday, and then experienced rain - during which they got good advice, waited it out like the rest of us in camp, and generally had a great time. I have no doubt each of them will be back and contributing.

I'm sure the last couple of years have weeded out some of the music festie crowd as well as some veterans who realized that the older they get, the harder that is on them, and decided to step away. But I don't think the event is in any trouble (save maybe from buried muddy moop) - it's just an entire new generation of contributors getting their feet wet.

[Wigwam]

100% agree. For some of us, the rain was a reminder of 'the last time'. When you step back and really look at it, it was mud. Pure and simple. I now have two new stories to tell about what Burning Man really is as a direct result of this year's burn.

[Lonesomebri]

Blessing. Called it.

[Patsh]

Blessing. Called it.

I agree.

[some seeing eye]

We have had two years of weather and a pandemic. I have several friends who have vowed (for now) not to return after the 2022 weather. I was not on playa in 2022. I was prepared for 2023 and enjoyed it.

So I would say the topic is pandemic/death, 2022 & 2023. The publicity around rain in 2023 may discourage potential 2024 virgins.

Reports are the 2024 general sale was good for buyers.

Looking forward to the 2024 Census data.

Our little Gerlach regional campout relies on virgins and veterans. It can lose its groove.

[wraith]

The thing that's going to make it interesting to me is what happens if this keeps happening. This spring has been a clinic in what our weather situation may look like going forward as climate change effects accelerate. Over a hundred tornadoes in my state in just May.

Who'd guess that introducing a bunch of extra heat energy into weather patterns would make them more violent?

[Elorrum]

More I say. Make it barely endurable. Make them cry for a superdome stadium to go with the four lane freeway and trash collection.

[Lonesomebri]

Next year the rent on RVs will drop!

[wraith]

Looks like it's working!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newslett ... urning-man

Techbro set seems to have decided tourism is inconvenient when rain exists.

[Lonesomebri]

Its fascinating how things like coffee sales and rain can have an unpredictable butterfly effect.

Along with weather I think another piggy back reason for a lag in ticket sales was the uniqueness of the Burn has shifted and worn thin for festival people.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, a huge part of the Burn audience became the festival crowd, DJ chasers. The Burn was THE EDM festival to hit.

The Burn had camping and art and EDM and multiple stages with lasers and flame effects and mutant vehicles. But nowadays there are dozens of EDM camping festivals with lasers and art and flames and the exact same mutant vehicles, the exact same DJs, and comfortably 20 minutes from a 7/11, and no mandatory camp shift...

The uniqueness of the Burn to the festival crowd has worn out, what they want can be found easier elsewhere, then add the social media, hedonistic festival crowd perspective, and the harsh weather and rain become a negative vibe, seen as something to be avoided, scoffed at, like the Fyre Festival. If a person was limited to hit only one festival, the appeal shifts, no longer is the Burn the diamond of the festival season.

This year, the weather from the past was a huge hit. But with so much riding on the Burn ticket sales, again, for various reasons, burdens on camps and the organization, an unabashed last minute appeal went out to sound camps to hype DJ lineups, to bring in that crowd.

Will there be a further push to match other EDM festivals, a competition? To keep up ticket sales? Or just have a smaller unique not so expensive event.

Will camps cut back on ticket requests next year? I know there must be smaller camps destroyed by too many tickets. Though the ultra wealthy don't care, just another reasonably priced vacation.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens next

[Elorrum]

I’m curious now about the beaver trade. The demand was high enough to hunt them near to extinction? The price did not go high enough to make those with big money stop wanting their pelts and castor.

What was called the jet set, when recreational flight made nearly the entire world accessible, is a roving climate warming bomb ravenous and heedless as to what anything actually is, beyond what they want it for.

Boredom is a hard quality to find at Burning Man, but it’s what we need to turn these spectators away. I say we have two years with no crowd funded anything: Not placed art, not festie tour mutant vehicles. Just people bringing what they can afford to. No crowd funding. No celebrity dj tour stops. Their plug and play accommodations and dangerous motorcycle ebikes and camp costumers will not be regulated ever. So, I say, bore them. Bore them with a city of people in their own decorated camps, rich with intent and craftsmanship. Make it small in scale, not so instagram. I know returning burners would have a great burn. The festies… not so much.

[some seeing eye]

Its fascinating how things like coffee sales and rain can have an unpredictable butterfly effect.

Along with weather I think another piggy back reason for a lag in ticket sales was the uniqueness of the Burn has shifted and worn thin for festival people.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, a huge part of the Burn audience became the festival crowd, DJ chasers. The Burn was THE EDM festival to hit.

The Burn had camping and art and EDM and multiple stages with lasers and flame effects and mutant vehicles. But nowadays there are dozens of EDM camping festivals with lasers and art and flames and the exact same mutant vehicles, the exact same DJs, and comfortably 20 minutes from a 7/11, and no mandatory camp shift...

The uniqueness of the Burn to the festival crowd has worn out, what they want can be found easier elsewhere, then add the social media, hedonistic festival crowd perspective, and the harsh weather and rain become a negative vibe, seen as something to be avoided, scoffed at, like the Fyre Festival. If a person was limited to hit only one festival, the appeal shifts, no longer is the Burn the diamond of the festival season.

This year, the weather from the past was a huge hit. But with so much riding on the Burn ticket sales, again, for various reasons, burdens on camps and the organization, an unabashed last minute appeal went out to sound camps to hype DJ lineups, to bring in that crowd.

Will there be a further push to match other EDM festivals, a competition? To keep up ticket sales? Or just have a smaller unique not so expensive event.

Will camps cut back on ticket requests next year? I know there must be smaller camps destroyed by too many tickets. Though the ultra wealthy don't care, just another reasonably priced vacation.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens nextFB_IMG_1725934375318.jpg

Yes, probably.

The more interesting question is how and where do you cut the budget in face of inflation, unknown OSP costs, and ticketing costs? Maybe a billionaire just fixes the budget from pocket change? Is the ticket and STEP ticket company still here?

In my opinion, we need to work on recruiting virgins who return. They are customers in a business sense. It was good our 2024 virgin percentage is more normal. Returning more veterans ongoing is the ratio between virgins and veterans.

[The Rod]

Now thats some pretty hardcore communist-forced-austerity-fascism-fantasy.

Dig it. Maybe we should start a tongue in cheek political party about it?