In the spirit of engagement, transparency, and connection with this wildly inquisitive community (the humans revolutionizing Center Camp are the community too!), we decided to address Frequently Uttered Questions about the evolution of Center Camp below — with frank, honest answers.
Cities change. Cultures morph. Communities adapt and grow. YOU are invited to come with an open mind and heart on this journey of radical reinvention of the Heart of the City.
If you have a question you’d like to see answered here, shoot it our way. We’d love to hear from you.
A: The Center Camp neighborhood has been completely reimagined. In the center of this neighborhood is the Center Camp Plaza, and crowning its core is the Canopy, thoughtfully designed around urban planning and renewal principles. The Canopy offers profound experiences and opportunities for connection and radical engagement.
There will be a broad swath of participatory experiences under the Canopy brought by the community, for the community. The intention is to lean into immersive and experiential activations while holding space for all types of expression to emerge. Think shticks, improv, quests, games, discussions, crafternoons, live art, and circus shenanigans. There’s a bar for guest bartenders who wish to host an event or party that perhaps they couldn’t do otherwise. Oh, and there will be plenty of beverages of all kinds — gifted, not sold — so don’t forget your cup.
A: Black Rock City has always been an experiment in civic innovation and social engineering. The intention is to rejuvenate the city center, to provide a central cultural crossroads where journeys intersect and new pathways are imagined, a central hive that the community can rely on to be buzzing 24/7 with some manner of interactivity, perfect for that moment in the day or week.
Black Rock City is already a cauldron for cultural evolution. Center Camp is a place to distill this into a potent center point, where groups teasing these edges in the world can collaborate and interact, play and experiment, inspire one another, and push the radical embodiment of self-expression in new ways.
Shaman Randal at Center Camp (Photo by Scott London)
A: Burning Man Project is no longer creating a commercial coffee beverage experience. Instead, members of the community are bringing their gifts into the city center. There will be beverages of many kinds all around the neighborhood as well as a consistent flow of hot liquids under the Canopy. Enterprising citizens will certainly bring and gift this well loved caffeinated beverage called coffee.
A: Larry wanted the center of the city to be engaging. During his lifetime, there was coffee in the center of the city, but there was also a circular road that cut off the center area from exploration. The Center Camp Plaza was more than 50% dark at night because it was filled with administrative camps. Larry was aware that Center Camp was quiet. He lived there. Many of the staff and BRC citizens who inhabited the Center Camp Plaza secretly liked the quiet; but it wasn’t the engaging neighborhood we all knew it needed to be.
We worked toward Larry’s vision of urban renewal in the city center for the last two years, but didn’t get it quite right. In retrospect, the scene of an empty Center Camp was instrumental in allowing us an empty canvas to imagine from. We felt it was time to bring in all our ideas together to imagine what we could do to make Center Camp a vibrant destination where all are invited to live, play and convene. We know Larry would miss the coffee, but we also know he would embrace the opportunity to make Center Camp even more engaging and culturally important than it was with the cafe. Connection and engagement is what it was all about for him. And that’s what it’s going to embody. We think we got it right this year.
Still curious? Larry had a lot to say about it here. And here is a quote:
“Our original motive for creating a café was to attract people to the civic plaza at the center of our city… As I often tell people, over the years we’ve tried to create alternative attractants — something other than a cup of coffee — that might lure folks into this enormous public plaza in the heart of our city.”
A: The neighborhood is about to feel a heck of a lot different! This is an example of intentional urban design, applied to enliven the city center. Removing Rod’s Road creates 4,000 feet of new frontage along the side streets that now lead directly into the Center Camp Plaza and make it easier to explore right into the center of the city. Across the city we have also reduced the width of some streets and plazas to create a more intimate neighborhood vibe. Theme camps will be lining the Center Plaza that encircles the Center Camp Canopy, which will be a gurgling hub of interactive play. Welcome to downtown Black Rock City!
A: No, at least not until we’re done reimagining its potential.
The cafe was an extremely labor-intensive and complex operation with a huge environmental footprint. In recent years we saw a huge decline in sales and engagement. It no longer made sense to continue spinning up a huge cafe year after year. One thing is certain. The Canopy will be more interactive this year than it’s been in decades.
We’ve received so much interest, the slots we held for advanced commitment are now full. But we have lots of opportunities and space for your impromptu and spontaneous pop-up ideas…
Spontaneous pop-ups!
Let your freak flag fly! Bring your wacky idea and do your thing at Center Camp. You don’t need anyone’s permission to pop up some shenanigans. Just make sure it’s suitable for the kiddos during the day, and consider any safety issues. Need support? Stop by the Rabbit Hole under the Canopy for info and some-bunny will help direct you down some tunnel or another.
A: There are no lineups in Black Rock City! There will be many special guests, some of whom you might recognize, but they will not be shared in advance. Stop by the Canopy daily to find the happenings. Part of the magic is to swing by at the perfect moment to hear the bass drop, inspiring booties to shake. Following DJs around the playa (which rarely works out anyway) is no way to practice Immediacy. We encourage you to discover things that can only be experienced in Black Rock City!
A: The Placement team has worked hard to stuff the neighborhood and the Plaza with camps with distinct and diverse interactivity worthy of downtown Black Rock City. The intention was to celebrate the intimate, the playful, the old-school blended with the new. You’ll find a thoughtfully designed journey of experiences around the clock. From fire and music to bars and diners; games and quests to robots and rabbit holes, the Plaza is an important cultural center of the city and has been approached with this intention. You’ll see the map when you arrive!
A: Many of the services and department camps previously located around the Center Camp Plaza and nearby have moved to make space to revitalize the center of the city. Arctica ice sales will still be in Center Camp, and the other Burning Man service camps you’re used to finding in Center Camp will be in the vicinity. Media Mecca, Playa Info, Recycle Camp, BMIR have all moved. Check your map to find them or visit Playa info on the Esplanade around 5:45.
A: If the Center Camp Neighborhood is engaging and interactive throughout Burn Week, packed with curious and immersed participants, we’d call that a success!
Admittedly, it’s more complex than that. We will collect and analyze feedback from all angles in order to grow the cultural nucleus that is the Center Camp Neighborhood. We can’t wait to hear what you think!
The Burning Man Project nonprofit always wants your feedback. The most direct way to let us know how the new Center Camp Neighborhood lands for you in 2024 is through our Post-event Survey. Please tell us what you loved, what could use more work, and how you’d like to participate in the city’s ongoing evolution.
Couple hanging out in Center Camp Café, 2006 (Photo by Mark Hammon)
