Burning Man

Tickets

Burning Man 2027 runs from 29 August to 6 September on the dry lakebed of the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in a temporary city called Black Rock City. The theme is Spellbound. The ticketing page says 2027 sales will be announced there, so the 2026 structure is the guide to how it works.

In 2026 tickets came in six prices: $550, $675, $775, $975, $1,500 and $3,000, each plus taxes and fees. The $775 Pay Your Way ticket covers the cost of producing the event for one participant. The $975, $1,500 and $3,000 Give the Gift tickets also fund art grants and the Ticket Aid and Resilience programs, and a limited number of $675 and $550 Get the Gift tickets. A vehicle pass cost $165, and a purchase was limited to two tickets and one vehicle pass. Extra charges in 2026 were a 9 percent Nevada live entertainment tax, a $4.50 fee per item and a 4 percent credit card fee. Children 12 and under are free with a ticketed adult but need their own free print-at-home Kids Ticket.

The sales ran in stages. The Stewards Sale was for theme camps, art projects and similar groups, and closed on 20 April. The Main Sale opened on 29 April at noon Pacific time to anyone who had registered from 20 April. The OMG Sale for everyone, with no registration, closed on 4 September. The Secure Ticket Exchange Program, STEP, handles resale at face value.

How the city works

Black Rock City is laid out as two thirds of a circle around the Man, the central effigy. Avenues are the straight radial streets, named like a clock face: 4:00, 5:30 and so on, on every half hour from 2:00 to 10:00. Streets curve around the Man and are lettered from A outward, and the first ring road, the Esplanade, is 2,500 feet from the Man. Center Camp, the hub for civic activities, sits at the middle of the curve. The layout changes slightly each year, so use the city plan published for the year you go.

The city runs on the ten principles that Larry Harvey wrote in 2004: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. Gifting means giving without expecting a return or an exchange of equal value, and decommodification means social spaces free of commercial sponsorship, transactions and advertising.

The two burns

The Man burns on Saturday night. The Temple, a separate structure that visitors fill with messages and remembrance, burns on Sunday night. For 2026 the official guide put the Temple's closure to visitors at sunrise on Sunday and the burn at about 8pm Pacific, weather permitting, and timing is not guaranteed. If the pattern holds, those nights in 2027 are Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 September. The Exodus, the mass departure, follows the Temple burn.

Getting there

Black Rock City is 120 miles north of Reno. From Reno, take I-80 east for 28 miles to exit 43 for Wadsworth and Pyramid Lake, then Highway 447 north for 75 miles to Gerlach, then 8 more miles to the city. A second route leaves I-80 at exit 18 onto Highway 445, passes through Nixon and joins 447 for 59 miles to Gerlach. The Getting There page recommends paved highways only and says Jungo Road is not suitable for passenger cars or RVs. Gas is available at the Wadsworth exit and in Nixon. The drive from Reno to Gerlach takes two to three hours, according to Burning Man's transportation guide.

The last stretch is Gate Road. The speed limit there is 10 mph. Anyone arriving before the event opens needs a Setup Access Pass for each person in the vehicle. At the end, the Exodus lasts about 48 hours after the Temple burns on Sunday night.

What to carry

The Survival Guide is blunt about the conditions. Daytime temperatures often exceed 100°F with very low humidity, and they can drop about 50 degrees after sunset, with overnight lows in the 40s. Most people need a day or so to adjust. Dust storms cause sudden whiteouts, so carry a dust mask and goggles, a hat with a wide brim and sunscreen, because the elevation makes skin burn faster.

Bring 1.5 gallons of water per person per day for drinking, washing and cleaning, all your food, and a sturdy tent with a warm sleeping bag. The recommended tent stake is 12 inches. Bring a five-gallon bucket with a lid and liners as an emergency toilet, and rope or tie-down straps. The Survival Guide calls Black Rock City a decommodified space: no food or sundry items are sold there. Ice is the only thing for sale, at the 3:00 and 9:00 plazas and Center Camp, and it does not replace water.

There are no trash cans in Black Rock City. You must carry out everything you bring in, including gray water, which cannot go on the playa. The organizers call stray trash matter out of place, MOOP.

Rules to know

Pets are not permitted: the event FAQ calls Black Rock City a no-dogs event. Children 12 and under are free with a parent but need a Kid's Ticket, children 13 to 18 need full-price tickets, and anyone under 18 must be with a parent or guardian over 21.

The Temple has its own etiquette. Visitors can leave photos, messages and other offerings on its surfaces, up to 10 feet high, and bring their own staples or strong tape. Ask explicit permission before photographing or filming anyone, and do not film offerings. Fire and smoke of any kind are banned there, including smoking, vaping, candles, incense and smudging. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, on whose ancestral land the event is held, asks that human cremated remains not be placed or scattered in the Temple or on the playa. Temple Guardians are on hand around the clock.

The gate has its own limits. In 2026 it was open around the clock until the event ended at 6pm on the final Monday, the box office closed for Will Call at noon on the Saturday, and the main gate closed for the Exodus at 6pm that Saturday. Tickets are not sold at the box office. Reno International is the nearest commercial airport, 127 miles away, and the FAQ advises booking early because Labor Day weekend flights fill up.

Where to sleep

The city is the campsite: you sleep in your own tent or shelter on the playa. The decisions that remain are the night before and the night after. Reno, 120 miles away, has the airport. Burning Man lists Reno, Sparks, Fernley and Gerlach as places to get water before the playa. Gerlach is the last town before the city. BXBus, the event's coach service, has its own pages for travel times between Reno and the city.

What to skip

Do not buy a ticket from a stranger above face value. The organizers cancel tickets sold above face value without refund.

Do not arrive without your water for the whole week. 1.5 gallons per person per day, for nine days, is more than 13 gallons each.