Burning Man Is Getting Older, More Expensive… and Losing Money

I’m recording this episode from the roof of my RV in the middle of Black Rock City at Burning Man 2026.

Burning Man has grown from a small gathering on a San Francisco beach into a temporary city of more than 70,000 people in the Nevada desert. But after decades of explosive growth, something is changing.

Tickets that once sold out almost instantly are now easier to get. The average Burner is getting older, fewer people in their 20s are attending, and the cost of participating continues to climb. At the same time, the nonprofit organization behind Burning Man reported a loss of more than $10 million in 2024.

In this episode, I look at the history of Burning Man, how it became what it is today, and some of my own experiences attending the event. Then we dig into the numbers: attendance, ticket prices, demographics, rising production costs, and Burning Man Project's finances.

So is Burning Man actually dying? Has it simply become too expensive for a younger generation? Or is this just the natural evolution of an event that's been around for 40 years?

And most importantly—what does Burning Man actually feel like in 2026?

Recorded from Black Rock City, Nevada.