First time attending Burning Man though Im usually in the area when you'all are passing through town. Anyhow, where I camped (1 and J) it was a GHOST TOWN at night except one small camp (forget name) handing out pizza (most times the line was so looong it wasnt worth the wait LOL) but still nice too see.
Otherwise most of the "camps" in that area seemed to be private social clubs OR there was just no one there. It seemed like quite a few were just a large circle of RV's, and they didnt look very "public" LOL
Anyhow, is it just me or were things kind of slow this year? Yes I know it rained part of Friday/Sat/Sun but STILL.
Otherewise almost everyone I met was very friendly and into the BM principles. except for that one group down the street that used the space behind their truck as a urinal AND then it rained which must have made a gross mess. And for grey water most people werent collecting but that is not as big of a deal.
Not as much going on as expected
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some seeing eye
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Re: Not as much going on as expected
Congratulations on your first year, figuring it out, surviving, and completing exodus!
The suburbs, like J will be quieter, we were on G and it was quiet. On K street, maybe 8 to 10 there are wall of RV camps. The population was the lowest in many years. Incoming car/truck gate, BxB - the bus from Reno, and BxA - the airline, stopped Thursday night.
Burning Man has always had tickets exchanged burner to burner - physical tickets and now tickets picked up at the box office through peer to peer STEP. As you saw here and on the other socials, some tickets went unused. That is consistent with the low population.
Many of the scheduled events in the guide and on the apps were spread out across the city. So it would take work if you wanted to plan for them. The Esplanade seemed active. The airport scenic rides were very popular.
Earlier in the week, even with early entry, sometimes people are still setting up camp or their personal camping setup. They may not have been as interactive or dancy while working setting up early in the week.
As you experienced, Thursday evening about 5 or 6, Black Rock City shut down. People walked back to camp and chilled. That walk was not so much fun. So everything after that was not a normal year. I did see a dance party at Arctica Thursday evening. I have no idea what was up at 2 and 10.
I can't speak for every camp, but for our small experienced camp, we shifted into keeping everybody dry, warm, and fed, and making sure our neighboring campers were dry, warm, and fed. At the same time we were monitoring the weather report and org announcements. Of course we were calculating when to dismantle camp, moop, load out, and exodus. It wasn't until Monday afternoon at the earliest people could walk out and collect their remote bikes stranded Thursday. We were packed before the man burn and left at about 4:45 AM Tuesday with 3 hours to pavement.
The late week energy building up was cut off Thursday evening this year. Usually after a normal man burn, people have a lot of dancing and social energy too.
If you survived this year, you can survive future years if you decide to come back. Volunteering is also fun and creates its own social interactions.
The suburbs, like J will be quieter, we were on G and it was quiet. On K street, maybe 8 to 10 there are wall of RV camps. The population was the lowest in many years. Incoming car/truck gate, BxB - the bus from Reno, and BxA - the airline, stopped Thursday night.
Burning Man has always had tickets exchanged burner to burner - physical tickets and now tickets picked up at the box office through peer to peer STEP. As you saw here and on the other socials, some tickets went unused. That is consistent with the low population.
Many of the scheduled events in the guide and on the apps were spread out across the city. So it would take work if you wanted to plan for them. The Esplanade seemed active. The airport scenic rides were very popular.
Earlier in the week, even with early entry, sometimes people are still setting up camp or their personal camping setup. They may not have been as interactive or dancy while working setting up early in the week.
As you experienced, Thursday evening about 5 or 6, Black Rock City shut down. People walked back to camp and chilled. That walk was not so much fun. So everything after that was not a normal year. I did see a dance party at Arctica Thursday evening. I have no idea what was up at 2 and 10.
I can't speak for every camp, but for our small experienced camp, we shifted into keeping everybody dry, warm, and fed, and making sure our neighboring campers were dry, warm, and fed. At the same time we were monitoring the weather report and org announcements. Of course we were calculating when to dismantle camp, moop, load out, and exodus. It wasn't until Monday afternoon at the earliest people could walk out and collect their remote bikes stranded Thursday. We were packed before the man burn and left at about 4:45 AM Tuesday with 3 hours to pavement.
The late week energy building up was cut off Thursday evening this year. Usually after a normal man burn, people have a lot of dancing and social energy too.
If you survived this year, you can survive future years if you decide to come back. Volunteering is also fun and creates its own social interactions.
increasing the signal to noise ratio with compassion
Re: Not as much going on as expected
I never really got past 12-6 so I dont know what was on the other side. Of course every street is different but I was surprised by the number of "camps" that didnt seem to serve any kind of public purpose outside of entertaining their guests??
Not saying they cant do that but once everyone does Burning Man would be sort of pointless.......
Did the city really shut down on Thursday?? The art cars were still out and about and the bars on Esplanade were lively BUT walking back yeah it was pretty quiet and the rain didnt even start yet
Not saying they cant do that but once everyone does Burning Man would be sort of pointless.......
Did the city really shut down on Thursday?? The art cars were still out and about and the bars on Esplanade were lively BUT walking back yeah it was pretty quiet and the rain didnt even start yet
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Papa Bear
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Re: Not as much going on as expected
> Anyhow, is it just me or were things kind of slow this year?
Didn't seem slow at all to me, but I'll admit I didn't go out Thursday night, since I was tired from everything else I'd been doing. Nor have I encountered much in the way of "private social clubs", save for camp dinners and the like.
You should be aware that not all camps provide public interactivity - about 20% are support camps for work, departments, art projects, mutant vehicles and the like, which don't need to be interactive. But that still left more than 1200 theme camps that are interactive, just not 24x7. There are lots of camps that are only open during the day, or only open at night, or somewhere in between.
The most important thing to remember, though, is that Burning Man is what *you* bring to it. Did you plan/find a way to actively contribute to the city, whether by bringing an activity or installation of your own, or by helping with one someone else was bringing? Did you try volunteering for a department? If not, try that next time.
"No spectators" isn't just an idle slogan. Burning Man is a completely different and much richer experience when you are part of making it happen in some way.
Didn't seem slow at all to me, but I'll admit I didn't go out Thursday night, since I was tired from everything else I'd been doing. Nor have I encountered much in the way of "private social clubs", save for camp dinners and the like.
You should be aware that not all camps provide public interactivity - about 20% are support camps for work, departments, art projects, mutant vehicles and the like, which don't need to be interactive. But that still left more than 1200 theme camps that are interactive, just not 24x7. There are lots of camps that are only open during the day, or only open at night, or somewhere in between.
The most important thing to remember, though, is that Burning Man is what *you* bring to it. Did you plan/find a way to actively contribute to the city, whether by bringing an activity or installation of your own, or by helping with one someone else was bringing? Did you try volunteering for a department? If not, try that next time.
"No spectators" isn't just an idle slogan. Burning Man is a completely different and much richer experience when you are part of making it happen in some way.