Black Rock City’s public infrastructure is a collaboration between volunteers and staff. Your portal to the City is the Gate, after which you’ll be sent along the road (drive 5 mph, please). Along Gate Road, you may encounter Census volunteers collecting demographic information. Their form is short and the process will only take a few minutes. (Whether or not you see them on Gate Road, you can participate in the Census project starting Tuesday after Burning Man.) Further along Gate Road, you will arrive at the Greeters station. There you’ll be met by fellow citizens who will give you a map and other essential information. You’ll find your camp and settle in.
If you need info or want to leave a message you might wander over to Playa Information, in Center Camp Plaza. While you’re there you could meet up with friends and catch a performance at Center Camp, or buy ice at Arctica. If you get lost on the way back to your camp, and can’t recall the name of the street you live on, you might run into a Ranger who can give you the shortcut for remembering street names. If you fall off your bike and get hurt on your way back to your camp, you’ll find professional volunteers of the Emergency Services Department ready to care for you. As the sun sets, you’ll notice the Lamplighters appearing to illuminate the city. Need to go potty? Learn how from Sanitation. (Remember, though, there is NO garbage pickup at Burning Man.)
When you’ve finally had a chance to take it all in you can thank the Department of Public Works (DPW) for working four months a year in the desert to build the city.
And you wondered why it takes a year round staff and over 1200 volunteers to make this event happen? Now you’ll know!