Upcoming Burning Man dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
What Burning Man is, and when it happens
Burning Man is a temporary city, not a concert. Each year about 70,000 participants build Black Rock City on a dry lake bed in the Black Rock Desert of northwestern Nevada, live there for roughly a week, burn a large wooden effigy (the Man) and then remove every trace. The event ends on Labor Day. Black Rock City 2026 ran August 30 to September 7 under the theme Axis Mundi, and the organization lists Black Rock City 2027 for August 29 to September 6, with the theme Spellbound.
There is no lineup, no headliner and no stage schedule. The art, music, workshops and camps are created by participants themselves, guided by the event's ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. In practice, that means you bring everything you need to survive, and nothing is for sale between participants.
From Baker Beach to the Black Rock Desert
Larry Harvey and Jerry James burned the first Man on Baker Beach in San Francisco on June 22, 1986. The event moved to the Black Rock Desert in 1990. Black Rock City LLC was formed in 1999 to run it, and the nonprofit Burning Man Project took over in 2013. The event operates under a Special Recreation Permit from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which sets the population cap; the BLM limit stood at 87,000 as of 2022.
- 2019: 78,850 participants.
- 2020 and 2021: canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2023: 74,126 attendees. Heavy rain and flooding turned the playa to mud and halted driving, and one death was reported during the event.
- 2024: 69,141 attendees, the first year since 2011 that the event did not sell out.
- 2025: 72,181 attendees under the theme Tomorrow Today; massive dust storms hit as the city opened.
How Burning Man ticketing works
Burning Man sells every ticket and vehicle pass in advance, through its own sales, in a fixed order. There are no gate sales. Based on the organization's 2026 ticketing page:
- Main Sale. The largest sale, held in spring. You must register beforehand, and registering does not guarantee a ticket. Tickets come in several fixed price tiers, with a limit of two tickets and one vehicle pass per order and one order per person and per card. Payment plans are offered.
- Stewards Sale. A group sale (earlier years used a similar Directed Group Sale): an invitation-only window for members of theme camps, art projects, mutant vehicle crews and infrastructure groups that the organization supports. It requires a Burner Profile but no prior registration.
- Ticket Aid Program. The low-income program, which awards reduced-price tickets to participants with limited income through a rolling application. A separate Resilience Program reserves gift tickets for people affected by disaster or conflict.
- OMG Sale. A last-chance sale shortly before the event, open to everyone without registration, with the same two-ticket limit.
- Kids Tickets. Children 12 and under get in free with a ticketed parent but need their own free print-at-home Kids Ticket.
Most tickets are transferable and can be changed into another person's name. Delivery is by mail before the event or by will call at the Black Rock City Box Office.
Resale rules buyers must understand
Burning Man's resale policy is stricter than most festivals', and it matters to anyone buying on the secondary market. As of 2026, the organization states that tickets and vehicle passes may be resold only for face value plus fees, and that any ticket or vehicle pass sold above face value plus fees will be canceled without notice or refund.
The organization's own resale channel is STEP (the Secure Ticket Exchange Program), a face-value, peer-to-peer exchange run through its MyTickets platform. Sellers can list tickets and vehicle passes separately, and a ticket that has already been transferred cannot be resold through STEP. Because of the cancellation policy, STEP and the official sales are the safest routes into Black Rock City. Read the current Burning Man ticketing information before you buy from any other source.
Vehicle passes and getting to Black Rock City
A ticket gets a person in; a vehicle pass gets a vehicle in. As of 2026, every vehicle entering Black Rock City needs its own vehicle pass, except motorcycles and towed vehicles, and orders are capped at one vehicle pass per two tickets. That cap pushes people to carpool, and it is the single biggest planning constraint for camps hauling RVs, trucks and trailers.
- Driving: Reno, about 100 miles south, is the nearest major city and airport. The route runs north past the small town of Gerlach to the Gate on the playa. Expect long lines at the Gate on opening days and at Exodus (the mass departure), when traffic is released in pulses about a mile at a time.
- Burner Express Bus: the organization's bus service, running since 2013, carries thousands of participants from San Francisco and Reno, which keeps one more car off the playa.
- Burner Express Air: flights connect Black Rock City with Reno, the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California.
- Black Rock City Airport: a temporary, unlighted strip of compacted playa (identifier 88NV) for private pilots, open daylight hours during the event.
Inside the city: layout, the burns and what to bring
Black Rock City is laid out as a horseshoe, two-thirds of a circle about 1.5 miles across, with the Man at the center and streets named like the hours on a clock. The Esplanade is the innermost street, Center Camp sits at the 6:00 position facing the Man, and the Temple stands in the open deep playa toward 12:00. The Man burns on Saturday night before Labor Day, and the Temple, a quieter and more somber burn, follows on the final night, typically Sunday.
Radical self-reliance is not a slogan here. Cash sales inside the city are limited to a short list of exceptions such as ice, fuel and shuttle tickets, so plan to bring:
- Water and food for the full stay, with a generous margin for heat.
- Shelter built for wind, staked to handle dust storms and whiteouts (dust storms that cut visibility to near zero).
- Goggles and a dust mask for alkaline dust, plus layers for cold nights.
- Lights for yourself and your bike, since unlit bikes are hard to see at night.
- A plan to pack out everything, because the leave-no-trace principle is enforced by cleanup of MOOP (matter out of place).
Rain can close the playa, as 2023 showed, so pack extra supplies in case departure is delayed.
Frequently asked questions
When is Burning Man 2027?
The organization lists Black Rock City 2027 for August 29 to September 6, 2027, ending on Labor Day, with the theme Spellbound.
Can you buy Burning Man tickets at the gate?
No. All tickets and vehicle passes must be bought in advance. There are no gate sales.
Do you need a vehicle pass for Burning Man?
As of 2026, every vehicle entering Black Rock City needs a vehicle pass, except motorcycles and towed vehicles. Orders are limited to one vehicle pass per two tickets.
Is there a low-income ticket option for Burning Man?
Yes. The Ticket Aid Program offers reduced-price tickets to participants with limited income through a rolling application. Check the organization's site for the current year's terms.
Can Burning Man tickets be resold?
As of 2026, only for face value plus fees. The organization says tickets sold above that will be canceled without refund, and it runs its own face-value exchange called STEP.
Do kids need a ticket for Burning Man?
Children 12 and under get in free with a ticketed parent but need their own free Kids Ticket, printed at home.