Burning Man, the annual music and arts festival held in the Nevada desert, has once again attracted hundreds of private planes, transforming a dry lakebed into a bustling temporary airport. This year, the event has seen a significant influx of the ultra-wealthy, arriving in style to partake in the unique experience.
Key Takeaways
- Hundreds of private planes have landed at the temporary Black Rock City Municipal Airport (88NV).
- The airport operates for about two weeks and is managed mostly by volunteers.
- The festival has evolved from a small gathering to a hotspot for the tech elite and billionaires.
- Luxurious amenities and services are available for the wealthy attendees, including private chefs and decked-out art cars.
The Temporary Airport: 88NV
The Black Rock City Municipal Airport, known by its code 88NV, is a pop-up airfield created specifically for Burning Man. Located in the middle of the Nevada desert, the airport features two 6,000-foot runways made from a dry lakebed. It operates for approximately two weeks each year, handling hundreds of flights daily during the festival’s peak days.
The airport is run almost entirely by volunteers, including those working on the ramp and in the air traffic control tower. A small team of professional air traffic controllers, who also work at major airshows, ensures the safe operation of the airfield. The surface of the runways is maintained by a fleet of large trucks that roll and water the area every night to reduce dust.
Influx of Private Planes
During the peak days of Burning Man, 88NV handles about 500 takeoffs and landings daily. This includes charter flights, personal and private aircraft, and scenic flights offered for free to festival participants. While most of the operations involve propeller-driven planes, the airport also accommodates the occasional charter jet.
Data from FlightAware indicates that 88NV has managed over 230 arrivals since the airport opened for the season, with hundreds more expected before it closes. Among the services offered is Burner Express Air, a dedicated shuttle service connecting cities in California and Nevada to 88NV. However, the cost of these flights is steep, with roundtrip tickets starting at over $1,500 from Reno and more than $3,000 from the Bay Area. Chartering a plane outright can cost upwards of $9,000 one way.
Evolution of Burning Man
Burning Man began as a small gathering of friends in San Francisco, centered around a bonfire. In 1991, the event moved to its current location in the Nevada desert, known as the Playa. By the mid-1990s, it started attracting the attention of the tech elite, including Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
The Black Rock City airport was officially recognized in 2008, by which time the festival had become a destination for both anti-capitalist hippies and the technorati. Notable attendees have included Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ray Dalio. As Musk famously said in 2014, "If you haven’t been, you just don’t get it."
Luxurious Amenities for the Wealthy
The presence of the ultra-wealthy at Burning Man has introduced a range of luxurious amenities and services. Rich attendees often purchase extravagant outfits and drive around in art cars, which are essentially fancy golf carts. Instead of pitching tents, they stay in lavish camps equipped with furniture, electricity, and sometimes even air conditioning. Private chefs are hired to cater meals in the middle of the desert, offering a stark contrast to the festival’s original principles of decommodification, leaving no trace, and radical self-reliance.
While the adherence to these principles is debatable, the convenience and comfort provided by these amenities make the Burning Man experience more accessible for the ultra-wealthy.