Burning Man ticket registration opens ahead of sale
RENO — Tickets for Burning Man — the giant art party in Nevada's Black Rock Desert — go on sale next week. But first, all interested buyers must register before the sale.
Registration opens at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT) on Wednesday and will remain open until 3 p.m. ET on Friday. The main sale for Burning Man tickets is held at 3 p.m. ET on March 29.
Burning Man will be held from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4, overlapping with Labor Day weekend as usual. The theme this year at the party two hours north of Reno is "Radical Ritual."
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Burners should be aware that Burning Man is bringing back the online "waiting room," a digital queue of Burners who show up early to the sale only to relieve Ticketfly's online server. This year's waiting room opens at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT) on the day of the sale; it will be open to as many people as is necessary to avoid an overload of users.
In theory, Burners who are in the waiting room do not get placed at the beginning of the digital line, but instead are randomly placed with all of the other Burners who arrive online at the beginning of the sale.
Last year, it did not work out that way and 3,500 Burners who were in the waiting room got their tickets first, much to the chagrin of Burning Man organizers. Burning Man spokesman Jim Graham said that the issue has been resolved and the waiting room will not grant Burners any priority this year.
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Last year, about 70,000 people registered to buy tickets, and that number is not expected to change much this year, so there is a good chance you will not get a ticket at first since only about 30,000 tickets are for purchase. The tickets are sold at $425 each, a $35 price hike upon last year's rates. Approximately 10,000 vehicle passes also will be available at $80 each.
Not all hope is lost if you do not get a ticket since the OMG sale, the secure ticket exchange program and the low-income ticket program still will be open after the main sale. The OMG sale will have approximately 2,000 tickets at $425 each and about 1,500 vehicle passes at $80 each, plus fees and taxes.
Burning Man has sold out since 2011, and last year the main sale sold out in less than an hour, as did the year prior. More than half of attendees get their tickets either by working for Burning Man, volunteering for Burning Man, creating art for Burning Man or buying tickets during one of the organization's other sales.
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Burning Man starts selling tickets in February, though pre-main sale tickets are more expensive, as much as $1,200 per ticket. More expensive tickets include no more privileges than the lower-value tickets, which can be as low as $190. That special ticket price is for low-income ticket holders.
Tickets are sold through August, and some people acquire theirs through a ticket exchange program run by Burning Man known as the Secure Ticket Exchange Program.
Follow Jenny Kane on Twitter: @Jenny_Kane