Night Owl Events?

[Slaphappy]

This may seem a silly question, but here goes.

I had an incredible time my first burn last year, however each night after 10-11p I struggled to find any activities if you're not into techno trance. After the first two nights of amazing-playa-art touring I found myself roaming quiet streets for hours just looking for a band, a silly game, 50-ish people hanging out or partying, or anything other than watching the younger crowd bouncing to daft punk on the Esplanade or deep playa. I'm sure this would be less of an issue if I were with a large group, but are there late-night activities anyone could list here, or is there a guide to late-night middle-age options? (and am I the only person looking for this?) It seems a shame to waste 6-8 hours of prime cool-skin social time

Thanks!

[trilobyte]

I'm moving this thread to the Art & Performance board, since that's a much better fit than the Greeter's Station for discussions about happenings on the playa.

I'm sorry to hear you struggled. I'd hate to say "you're doing it wrong" but Burning Man generally has an abundance of damned near everything going on during the day and at night. Sure, lots of camps are mostly daytime, but there are also plenty that are primarily night-time.

You could either look in the printed what-when-where guide, or a MUCH better option is to get one of the free smartphone apps that offer complete playa events calendars. You download the update they release just prior to the event, and that puts all the info in your device so you don't have to worry about having a signal, you can read it offline. I strongly recommend the electronic guide because it has everything, versus the tiny fraction that appears in the printed book. Plus the electronic guides are generally searchable, so you can look for something that's more your cup of tea.

I'd also suggest... just wandering around. If all you're hearing is loud, banging music... chances are you're spending all your time in large scale sound areas. Head in towards center camp from 2:00/10:00, or if you're on the Esplanade head back into the to the city streets. Where the Esplanade is often like a crowded part of downtown, the further back you go generally the more suburban and eventually rural things get. If you're not in a hurry, it's a fun way to explore and discover the city.

[Luigi]

You must be kidding.....trolling......or ? See page two.....if not here ya go:

Go to the BMIR station and ask for the 'rock librarian' music guide. There is a bunch of live music happening all over. Last year I caught the California Honeydrops do a live late night show, it was great. Or just ride your bike around a see it all. Crossroads. Reverbia.

[Eric]

Define "activities". Are you looking for people to talk to, or are you looking for large scale organized group activities? Is sitting around a bar laughing, joking, and playing pool an "activity", or does it require something like a band for you to watch?

I've never had a dearth of things to do. I have favorite bars I hang out at and can spend the night swapping lies & making each-other laugh, or I can go off on a "blinkie-light tour" of the open playa, where you go out past the Temple and chase lights ("oooh, what's that!?"). I spend time every week wandering down the back-streets - I've been flagged down and invited into Hawaiian punch parties with luau music, ramen-noodle feeds, pickle parties, and more, had random bars ask me to pull up a seat and then hand me a pen so I can draw on their bar-top, had camps challenge me to jump a bike-ramp in order to get a drink (I passed), on and on. There's a ton of adventure out there, but you have to be willing to bike around and find it. You can go two or three long curving blocks and not see anything, then have someone bounce out and invite you in for a drink & conversation, or you can hit an "action" block you didn't know existed and discover it filled with a ton of activities.

The biggest thing to remember about Burning Man is that your attitude will directly affect the Burn you have. If you open yourself to adventure you'll find it. Probably. Some days (and nights) will just suck - but the chances of that are lower when you're willing to say "yes" to that random person who invites you into their camp.

[Timezone LaFontaine]

Jazz Cafe is cool, usually mellow enough to quietly chat but they also get people dancing in there at times.

[Slaphappy]

No I'm definitely not trolling. I agree much of what folks have mentioned above was active 'after dark', but little was happening 'way after dark'. But again I could have just been in the wrong places. I LOVE the advice of Rock Librarian and an event app....the little book's events were sparse after 11p.

Don't get me wrong, I had a BLAST just riding across deep playa, jumping on art cars, etc. And folks were friendly everywhere. I'm not looking for folks to 'make my fun for me', just had a hard time finding social non-dance-y things late night.

These suggestions are truly appreciated.

[trilobyte]

I didn't think you were trolling at all. One of the challenges of BRC being a really big place is that if you've headed directly to a large scale sound area, it's going to take a fair amount of walking to get away from it and discover the many other treasures in the rest of the city.

We had a first-time burner campmate a couple years ago who was coming along with her veteran burner boyfriend. By the second or third night of the week she was starting to get a little overloaded on the big clubs at night and was thinking about leaving early. Once she spoke up, he changed the nighttime itinerary and campmates chimed in with awesome stuff they'd found around town. The downtown-to-suburbia analogy served them well that week, and will hopefully work for you too. If things are too quiet, head in a street... or vice versa if too loud.

[bitsychi]

Seconding Jazz Cafe as a recommendation...very chill place and great music. Also, if you like dancing, find the Contradance camp! Live music and dancing, and they have great people who will partner up with a newcomer and get you dancing and having fun right away. In 2015 they were just around the bend on Rods Road from the Jazz.

I'm not really into the big dance parties so I too like a smaller night event but I had a couple really fun nights with these folks. Many other fun, smaller, more mellow things happening into the night if you go wandering

[Token]

Glow-Stick fishing never gets old. Just sayin'

[Jovankat]

Rocky Horror on Friday night! It's a screening as well as the acted (and shouted) out extra bits. I've never made it to one myself but I always mean to. AntiM would have all the details.