Placement Sectors
In Black Rock City, avenues are the straight, radial streets that radiate out from the Man, named to follow the clock face. Streets are curved and concentric to the Man, and are named in alphabetical order, starting with “A” Street (behind Esplanade) and progressing outward away from the Man.
There are seven placement Sectors in Black Rock City corresponding to the radial avenue names. Each Sector has specific areas reserved for Theme Camps and Villages, detailed below. Each sector is named in the graphic above. Note that multiple avenues lie within each sector (i.e.: there is no 4:00 sector, and 4:00 avenue is the border between 3:00 and 4:30 sectors).
One virtue of a temporary city is the ability for radical changes from year to year. Keeping things dynamic and fresh also means that camps should not expect to retain the same or similar location. We cannot guarantee exact placement where it is requested; however, the location information you share on your Camp Placement Questionnaire helps us to understand your preferences.
To register for placement, complete a Placed Camp Questionnaire by our deadline via Burner Profiles. Please also read our criteria for camp placement. and what we’re looking for generally across all placed camps, especially theme camps and villages. Each camp’s placement is considered in relation to the camp’s particular size, the streets they’re on, and the neighborhood context. The Placement team thinks about the experience that someone has walking down each block of BRC at all times of day to ensure that there is something interesting and worth stopping in. Read more about what we’re looking for based on BRC’s street types below.
Placement is optional, you can camp in open camping or walk-in camping without registering or receiving placement.
BRC Street Types
There are many different street types in Black Rock City, from the Esplanade that faces the open playa, to our grand portals that welcome people into the city, to the main avenues and plazas that become city focal points. Each fosters a different sense of place and community. Read the following descriptions for these street types to get a better sense of what they offer. Note that these are not prescriptive descriptions of these, but represent what camp interactivity within their camp looks like day to day in Black Rock City. Please also be sure to read the Camp Placement Criteria to understand what we’re looking for in all placed camps.
Street Types in Every Sector
- Streets
The majority of camps at Burning Man make their home on BRC streets, from the biggest villages to the smallest monkey huts. Streets span from A street to the last street, and are generally quieter than other sections of the city. They are the lifeblood of the city and house not only Theme Camps, but also all the artists, mutant vehicles, volunteers, and open-campers. First-time camps in Black Rock City are generally placed as Street Camps. The Placement team generally looks for these things when placing camps on streets:
- Interactivity varies and is proportional to the size of camp. Smaller camps offer interactivity a few times a week for a few hours and larger camps offer multiple activities throughout the week with more hours of interactivity.
- Visually stimulating and open/welcoming frontage
- Street camps are encouraged to be well-lit at night, but not required
- Located within the city limits, so may not produce loud sound that exceeds 90dB at 20ft
- Avenues, Portals and Plazas
Avenues: Avenues are the arteries of Black Rock City. They also serve as important entryways into neighborhoods with recognizable frontage and night lighting.
Portals: Portals draw participants into the city from the open playa. Portals are great for camps that want significant foot traffic but don’t want to be right on the Esplanade.
Plazas: Plazas are neighborhood hubs, offering a variety of interactivity across day and night, and often have art in the centers. They are located at B+F streets at 3:00, 4:30, 7:30, and 9:00 and 6:00 & I. Plazas are a great location for camps with unique or frequent interactivity who love a large volume of visitors and help draw people deeper into the city. The Placement team generally looks for these things when placing camps on avenues, portals, and plazas:
- More interactivity than camps on a street, every day and/or night through the Man Burn
- Camp frontage that is visually stimulating, open/welcoming, and well-lit at night
- Camps with proven, extremely high participant interactivity will be considered for placement in this area.
- Interactive offerings that are uncommon (creative/unique), or done extremely well, will receive extra consideration than something common and done more often.
- Collaboration between the camps in portals and plazas is highly encouraged to coordinate interactivity and events, especially in plazas.
- The Esplanade
The Esplanade is where open playa meets the city. It is the front door to the world of theme camps and plays an important role in engaging participants day and night, as landmarks for navigation, and to display large art and structures brought by theme camps. The Esplanade acts are our main street of Black Rock City to showcase some of our most uniquely Burning Man camps.
The Placement team generally looks for these things when placing camps on the Esplanade:
- Consistent high-draw day and night interactivity within camp and/or its adjacent space across Esplanade, suitable for all ages, through the Man Burn.
- 24-hour interactivity within camp which is suitable for all ages
- Playa-frontage components that are very visually stimulating, interesting, and well-lit all night
- Potential to have camp interactivity or art installations up to a maximum size of your camp frontage width x 100ft depth across the Esplanade in front of your camp (no parking or camping allowed in that space)
- The maximum Esplanade camp or village size should not exceed 400 people. If you are considering a camp/village of more than 401 people, please contact placement@burningman.org for support.
Special Street Types
- 6:00 Center Camp Plaza and Rod's Road
Center Camp Plaza is the civic hub of Black Rock City and the crossroads for many, with Center Camp at the heart. Critical BRC departments are here including Playa Info/Lost and Found, Arctica, the Artery, the DMV, Ranger Headquarters, and BMIR. In Center Camp Plaza, camps that complement Center Camp as a civic hub work best like those offering community services, educational workshops, and models for sustainability.
The Placement team generally looks for these things when placing camps here:
- A typical camp in Center Camp Plaza offers a significant amount of interactivity every day or night, through the Man Burn.
- Camp frontage is visually stimulating, open/welcoming, and well-lit at night
- Camps with proven, high participant interactivity will be considered for placement in this area.
- Interactive offerings that are uncommon (creative/unique), or done extremely well, will receive extra consideration than something common and done more often.
- 2:00 and 10:00 Avenues: Large-Scale Sound
Because these Avenues face the open playa, they are reserved for camps with large sound systems. While this area is often known for late-night parties that last through the day, other types of camps on 2:00 and 10:00 help add variety to the experience.
The Placement team generally looks for these things when placing camps on 2:00 and 10:00:
- A typical Large-Scale Sound Camp offers a significant amount of high-draw interactivity within camp every day/night of the event, including through the Man Burn.
- Camps exceeding the sound limitation of 90dB at 20 feet must be placed on the 2:00 or 10:00 Avenues and speakers are required to face directly out to the open playa.
- Camp frontage is very visually stimulating with easily identifiable landmarks, open/welcoming, and well-lit at night
- Potential to have camp interactivity, sound setup, or art installations up to a maximum size of your camp frontage width x 100ft depth across the 2:00 or 10:00 Avenue in front of your camp (no parking or camping allowed in that space)
- Double-Wide Blocks between E–F Streets
These blocks are prioritized for extremely large camps and villages to share their gifts with the city. Larger camps and villages often have smaller subcamps within them and come together to share resources and a shared vision for their communities.
- Like Street Camps, interactivity for camps/villages in double-wide blocks vary and are proportional to their size. Because they are larger, there is consistent interactivity occurring every day or night in some part of the entire camp/village.
- Camp frontage is visually stimulating, open/welcoming, and encouraged to be well-lit at night. We encourage the village to have a cohesive identity and clearly identifiable entrances for participants and guests to enter.
- Located within the city limits, may not produce loud sound that exceeds 90dB at 20ft
- Camp public interactivity suggested through the Man Burn
- The maximum village size should not exceed 400 people. If you are considering a camp/village of more than 401 people, please contact placement@burningman.org for support.
