Who really goes to Burning Man?
The results of a 2022 census of Burning Man attendees revealed that most “burners” are rich, white, straight, liberal, millennial men.
Burning Man, which sold tickets from $575 to $2,750 for this year’s event, is a weeklong, large-scale campout held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert near Reno, with a goal to create “a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression and self-reliance.”
The creative event was started in San Francisco in 1986 before moving to northwest Nevada, where it has continued to grow in popularity. The festival now welcomes tens of thousands of people from all around the world.
But despite pushing for and highlighting its bohemian culture, the new data offers a more accurate look at the type of person the event actually attracts.
The census showed that the typical attendee is a white, well-educated 37-year-old heterosexual American man, voting Democrat, who made over $100,000 in 2021.
The latest data was gathered from the 75,000 people who arrived for the 2022 festival.
The crowd has always been a white majority (around 80%), which is something the organization has actively tried to change.
After being cancelled in 2020 and 2021, the organizers formed an internal “anti-racism” group and have actively worked toward “radical inclusion, diversity and equity.”
This is something a large majority of Burning Man attendees have likely engaged in discussions about, as most are highly-educated men with 86% having earned a bachelor’s degree or higher and the average age being 37, according to published data.
Beyond music and art, the hippie “peace and love” environment of Burning Man has fostered an infamously laidback approach to love, from the popular Orgy Dome to sexual acts being performed onstage.
Possibly giving more insight into what attracted them to spend a week in the desert, most attendees said they are partnered but not married and identified as sexually open or curious and “kinksters.”
While sex seems to be top of mind, politics and religion were not, attendees said. However, it appears the temporary city would likely avoid a culture war, as just over half are Democrats and only 4.2% are Republicans, The second-largest majority were “unaffiliated.”
The majority are also spiritual but not religious.
Burning Man prides itself on its gifting economy — with the only things available for purchase being ice, coffee and tea — but most attendees wouldn’t be concerned about the money anyway.
The typical “burner” made over $100,000 in 2021, with about 16% reporting having household incomes of at least $300,000 a year — a major jump from the 7% who earned that much in 2013.
The reveal comes as more people have complained that the counterculture festival has become a lawless playground for the rich.
For another consecutive year, 2023’s Burning Man turned into a burning mess.
Torrential downpours led to floods that stranded tens of thousands and led to another backed-up mass exodus with desperate festivalgoers leaving behind trash, cars and human waste — directly going against the fest’s highly touted “leaving no trace” principle.
Some claimed to have bonded with their fellow “burners,” but many others were surely happy to have skipped the event and sold their ticket.
