The new lottery system in which hopeful Burners register for pairs of tickets ahead of them going on sale, is already causing much chaos and heartache among the furry-boot set. As the Guardian breathlessly reported this weekend, initial requests for tickets far exceeded the supply, leading organizers to guess that many people requested more tickets than they needed, and had friends or family members submit requests on their behalf, for fear of not getting tickets at all. As you'll recall, last year's event sold out, leading to a healthy black market trade for exorbitantly priced tickets on Craigslist which the tried-and-true Burner community finds disgusting. But hey, it's the American way. more ›

Burning Man presale tickets went on sale today. Or rather: the opportunity to volunteer to possibly pay a premium on $420 early bird tickets opened up today. As in previous years, presale tickets to the dust fest are the most expensive, but under the new lottery-based ticketing system put in place this year, only 3,000 lucky Burners will get the opportunity to pay top dollar. Less fluid attendees, on the other hand, are already fretting about how the three-tiered pricing system will play out. more ›

After tickets to Burning Man's weeklong fur boots and utility belts gala sold out for the first time this year, organizers have devised a new ticketing-by-lottery scheme they hope will eliminate the first-come, first-served rush to buy tickets that burned out the festival's computer servers. In an email to the Jack Rabbit Says newsletter, reprinted on the ePlaya forums, organizers detailed the proposed lottery system: more ›

Too poor or too interesting to attend this year's Burning Man festivities in the Black Rock Desert? Have no worries. Here's some live streaming to whet your appetite. Arid-looking, yes? Unlike the days of yore, however, this year's Burning Man has plenty of luxe style and artisanal comforts for "[p]eople [who] have less and less time to be radically self-reliant." more ›

Whether cultural touchstone or long-belated Sophomore year, there's no denying that Burning Man arouses imagination and ire like little else. We're game for the conceit of spending hours creating that which will be destroyed, representative as it is of ego negation and an embrace of the transitory. But then so much of it became about the boobies, and as much as we like those, and we couldn't but give up on the whole affair. more ›

True to form, when the New York Times decides to devote column space to Burning Man, it has to be a style piece focusing on a pair of well-off designers from L.A. who dumped at least $25K into fixing up an Airstream in "luxe-nomadic" "Moorish splendor." more ›

Welcome to Burning Man Playa Cleanser. A sure to be short-lived series that's kind of like a palate cleanser, but is better suited for brushing the dust off of your playa goggles and blowing the desert boogers out of your nasal cavity. In the inaugural edition: We spend some brief moments with Marco Cochrane, creator of the "Bliss Dance" installation on Treasure Island and the type of person who spends all year preparing artworks that will inevitably be climbed upon by the revelers of Black Rock City. Observe: more ›

Rod Garrett, the man responsible for laying out Black Rock City's iconic horseshoe of whacky art and self-expression, died last week at the age of 76. Although the original burn on Baker Beach back in 1986 never required any sort of master plan, Garrett's services were necessary when the growing desert festival was first held on private land in 1997. The New York Times obituary explains: more ›

We return again for an installment of this ofttimes confusing feature, in which we ask those ensconced too cozily in your SF bubbles to take a step back, summon your inner C.W. Nevius, and try to understand why some folks just don't appreciate the way we do things here — if for nothing else than to enjoy an ironic chuckle at our own expense. If all of this seems too difficult, please refer to our other recurring feature, 7 Reasons to Love San Francisco, and be on your merry way. Today's topic: people who bring their children to Burning Man more ›

If dragging your child to a drug-fueled party in the desert is your bag, you're in luck. Parenting newsletter Red Tricycle recently published this jarring Insider’s Guide to Burning Man with Kids (which we spotted on 7x7) and it is nothing short of genius. Burners/parents Harley K. Dubois (Harley) and Cory Mervis (Lady Merv) shed some light on hanging out on the playa with kids. A few recommended tips: more ›

Supervisors David Chiu and Jane Kim will voyage to the annual art and drug festival in the Nevada desert known as Burning Man. For whatever reason, they plan on spending only 24 hours there, flying there in a private plane. "For several years, I've wanted to visit the Black Rock Desert to learn about how Burning Man is building 21st Century community, creating art, and fostering sustainability," Chiu told the SF Bay Guardian's Steve Jones. more ›

Via D.K.: All the Burning Man people are at Home Depot. more ›

Gather round kids. Grandpa's got a story about three Bay Area alt-weeklies and what they decided to report on this week, at the height of this long, misty, fog-gray summer. Don't worry, it won't take long. more ›

When SFist caught a glimpse of this sign in front of Luscious Wear on Polk yesterday, we first noticed no connection to Burning Man the event but were instead forced to imagine burning man loins, something we'd rather not imagine on Polk Street. more ›

We suppose that only the most JV, flaky, and virginal among you Burners would wait until late July to buy your Burning Man tickets, but if you did, sucks for you! For the first time in the dusty, druggy event's 25-year history, the thing is completely sold out, one month ahead of time. Organizers are capping ticket sales now, in compliance with their land use permit, and there will be no more sold, even at the gate. more ›

At 10 am today, tickets for Burning Man, the popular gala in the desert, will go on sale. While ticket prices can seem, well, price - they run anywhere from $210 to $320 - the event organizers do have a low income program available, which you can apply for on January 26. more ›

SFist opted out of Burning Man this year, but we're certain a fair number of you out there are currently sleeping it off/sweating out your drugs/picking dust out of your ears and just waiting to stare at a few photos on the internet to remind yourselves what just happened. Also, for the rest of you, here's a look at what you missed by staying city-side.
more ›

(A photo from 2009's fest - AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill) more ›

Local photographer Troy Holden spotted this sign posted on the window of Enterprise on Folsom and Fourth streets. For obvious reasons. more ›

Queer folks attending this year's Burning Man, listen up: Gay Cities has a short list of gay resources you should check out. A few gay camps are: more ›

SF Weekly reports that San Jose-based hardware supply chain Orchard Supply Hardware produced an ad targeted at Burning Man ticket holders. "At Orchard Supply Hardware, we like to help people make the most of what they have," reads the ad. "One of the ways is, We Pay the Sales Tax Weekend, which happens to be this weekend! Just in time to finish your Burning Man project." Pretty convenient, yes? Well, according to SF Weekly, some burners were displeased with the corporate infiltration, however minimal, into the popular furry-cowboy-hat-saturated Labor Day Weekend festival. more ›

The indefatigable Allan Hough of Mission Mission brings our attention to this video, shot by claydiva, showcasing a fire dancer practicing for Burning Man in Dolores Park while wearing the tightest outfit imaginable. more ›

Gone are the days of the technology and currency-free oasis of drugs, dust and art both whimsical and questionable. more ›

The Guardian's Drug Issue is out, and it's laced (that's editor Steven T. Jones' word, not ours) with "good shit" ranging from a piece about women's meth use on the rise in SF; a roundup of trippy literature; the requisite piece about marijuana decriminalization; a meditation on the evolution of nightlife drugging by Marke B; and a handy guide to hallucinogen use at Burning Man--especially handy for those, like us, who weren't previously familiar with the terms "candy-flipping" (using LSD and ecstasy together) or "hippie-flipping" (shrooms and ecstasy). more ›

Oh man, not some hippie Burning Man-ish art thing," you whine? Yes, another hippie Burning Man-ish art thing! Why? Because: fire. And lots of it. See, this weekend the annual Fire Arts Festival immolated on Saturday at the Crucible, gloriously. The annual festival "celebrates creativity through fire and light with a spectacular open-air exhibition of interactive fire art, performance and the largest collection of outdoor fire sculpture on the West Coast." more ›

Local bicycle dancer and Burning Man veteran Hollis Hawthorne fell off a motorcycle while traveling in India. She hit her head and went into a coma.

More coverage:
* Hollis' friends' blog = http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/
* Hollis' family's blog = http://helpholligethome.blogspot.com/
* Chicken John has her story covered over at Laughing Squid.

Hollis needed to get home to the Bay Area to get specific medical treatment at the Stanford Medical Center. The price tag for the med-evac flight was about $150,000. That's where you come in -- with a karaoke mic! more ›

What with all of the not taking synthetic drugs we've been doing as of late, we completely forgot that Labor Day Weekend is almost upon us. Yay! And with that comes that annual gathering of types out in the desert called Burning Man. You know, that place where people find themselves and/or commit suicide? more ›

You'd think that Rob Anderson would be all for Burning Man, as its demographic most certainly overlaps with his despised "bike people" (like burnphile Steve Jones) getting them out of the City, and leaving him blissfully empty bike lanes into which he can weave with gleeful abandon. And yet, he describes this Sierra Club article on the desert fest as "The Sierra Club questions Burning Man" and pulls a single, damning quote from the article by Matthew Taylor "a Peace and Conflict Studies major at the University of California at Berkeley and the coeditor of PeacePower magazine." Funny, when we read that description of the author, we were actually surprised that the piece was as balanced as it was -- seriously, PeacePower magazine? If that's not a profile for a Burning Man bike person, we don't know what is. Sorry, Rob, if you're going to mis-characterize an article, better not link to it. (Tavy) more ›

Mentally-estranged dreamboat Paul Addis -- you know, the guy who performed last year's premature ignition at Burning Man and most recently tried to burn down Courteney Cox-Arquette and David Arquette's chapel of love? -- pleaded guilty to (presumably) arson, winning himself a cool 12-48 month in federal prison. According to Curbed (via Twitter): more ›