“Back to Black Rock City” Week

With BRC just around the corner, we know you’re rolling up your sleeves and dusting off those burn bins. Need a little preparation motivation? All this week (July 17-22), we’re serving up fresh content to guide your journey to the playa — check out daily storytelling, useful tidbits… and more.

Meet the Makers, Magic, and Mayhem of our Mutant Vehicles of BRC Series

Hop aboard this four-part Journal series about the “Mutant Vehicles of BRC: the Makers, the Magic, the Mayhem!” Come explore a handful of MV creators, artists, instigators, DMV (Department of Mutant Vehicles) volunteers, and the historical importance of these mobile pieces of art — a mix of engineering marvels and creative genius — and the people who bring them to Black Rock City.

PLAYticipation: Your Guide to Plugging into BRC Events & Meet-ups for Your Most Radically Participatory Burn

With all sorts of events, meetups, talks and performances in Black Rock City, we’ll help you browse a sneak peek at select 2023 camps and events focused on sustainability and diversity, discover what’s new in Center Camp, and check out info for teams you can join out in the dust.

Your Checklist for Leaving No Trace in Black Rock City

Leaving No Trace is sexy. And like anything worth doing, managing your waste stream in Black Rock City is a daily practice. We’re here to help! Whether you’re with a camp, an art project, or camping with a couple friends, our start-to-finish checklist will help you plan and implement your LNT practice for BRC 2023. 

A Message from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to All BRC Citizens

How can we all do better as we travel through the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s ancestral homelands on our way to Black Rock City? In this interview with Tribal leader Chairman Phoenix, learn about the Tribe’s perception of Burning Man, how Burners are received in the Paiute community, and in what ways the yearly flow of traffic to BRC impacts residents.

Will Burning Man Ban e-Bikes? It’s Up to YOU.

Slow your roll in Black Rock City! Learn about the recent criticism of e-bikes in BRC, the inherent risks of bringing one to the playa, why the 5mph speed limit exists… And what you can do to avoid an all-out ban of e-bikes.

So You Want to DJ at Burning Man? Jay Austin Gregory on Participation, Gifting, and the Point of It All

For every thump-thump you hear reverberating from sound systems across the playa, there’s a whole lot of hammer-swinging, pre-playa spreadsheeting, and Communal Effort happening behind the scenes to bring it all alive. How do crews bring musical experiences to Burning Man? What direction has dance music + DJ culture in BRC been heading over the last few years? Take a ride with Cptn Jay, a guy who’s been bringing theme camps and a steampunk airship to the Burn for years, to learn about DJ’ing in BRC and how we can connect these experiences back to Gifting and Participation. 

Let’s Make Exodus Not Suck in 2023

We all suffered through a grueling, slow-moving, extraordinarily hot Exodus in 2022. Learn what factors were at play, and what steps we’re taking (and moreover, what YOU can do!) to make Exodus NOT suck in 2023.

The Road to Black Rock City: A Visual for Our Year-round Journey to the Playa

Building Black Rock City is a year-round Communal Effort involving dedicated, talented individuals across a multitude of teams, and millions of tiny details. Check out this new infographic that tells part of the story of what it takes, start to finish, to build the groundwork for our beloved metropolis from the dust then make it completely disappear, and the teams that make it all happen.

[Cover image of BRC 2022 (Photo by Stephane Lanoux; Graphic design by Deets Shay)]