WTF is Burning Man?
Why would anyone want to do this?
Here’s the basics: 75,000 people get together in late August for a week, in a desert in Nevada, to build a 7-square mile temporary city. Everything is free: no buying, no bartering. There’s no lineup of DJs paid by promoters, no company sponsors, everything there is something that a fellow burner dreamed up and brought to share with everyone. Every activity is open to everyone. The city takes up roughly a third of the area, the rest is open, mirror-flat desert, with 500+ pieces of art scattered across it. 600 art cars, completely unrecognizable from everyday vehicles, roam across it.
Our camp is the very first pup camp (there’s tons of gay and furry camps already; it’s a haven for misfits of all stripes), and our public offering is we’re building a giant air conditioned doghouse and hosting moshes all week. We’re gonna teach people about consent and pup play, and also host some skill shares (ropes, etc). It’ll be an amazing place to Be Dog all week!
Every day, you choose your own adventure: do you want to…
Dance at a three story tall animatronic dragon art car with a stadium-size sound system?
Get lost on your bike and stumble on a movie theatre in the middle of miles of empty desert, with full size marquee and concession stand, screening Wizard of Oz?
Go to a comedy or jazz club?
Get served pho out of a cauldron at 4 AM?
Climb a treehouse shaped like a bison made out of Hurricane Katrina debris?
Hook up in the 24/7 staffed frisky-play tent?
Join a furry parade?
Go on a naked pub crawl with hundreds of queers?
Go for a ride on the art car with steam rooms and showers?
Write something meaningful on the temple walls, and listen to the sound of 70,000 people being pin-drop silent as it burns?
Watch a deep dive here.
Burning Man has enormous cultural influence, especially in the Bay Area, where burning man camps such as Comfort & Joy, Glamcocks, Bad Asstronauts, and burner-affiliated promoters like Electroluxx effectively run the main gay nightlife scene outside of the Castro bars/clubs. They do year-round fundraiser parties for their camps, which are now a main focus of gay nightlife in SF.
Is Burning Man a music festival?
Although music can be part of the experience if you want it to be, it’s by no means the only thing there. A key difference is also that the best way to experience the burn is to wander around, not follow a schedule, and there is no distinction between event staff and event attendees.
What is a theme camp?
People organize into camps that share common infrastructure such as transportation, shelter, etc… Each camp is required to put on some sort of activity/offering that anyone going to Burning Man can participate in. For example, many camps offer a dance floor and a bar, but the best camps put on wildly creative events, serve food, build crazy art projects, etc…
It’s the craziest thing you’ll ever do. Camps range from super modest to multimillion-dollar spectacles. The event runs 24/7 for a whole week, and there’s something to do at any hour of the day/night. It’s the wildest exposition of creativity you’ll ever see. It’s also realistically rather difficult and expensive due to all the planning, prep, and equipment required. (Though we eventually plan to fundraise to offer sponsorships for low income members)
What makes it difficult?
You must bring your own food, shelter, water; and you must pack out all your own waste, leaving no trace behind. The only thing provided for you is porta potties. The desert is an unforgiving place with hot daytime and cold nighttime temperatures, and near-daily dust storms. You can mitigate some of the roughness by renting an RV, but this is $$$$$$$$$$ because the RV companies charge exorbitant prices knowing they’re going to come back trashed with dust; and RV toilet/shower systems don’t have the capacity to operate off-grid for more than a weekend. This acts as a filter for all but the people who really want to be there. You can read more about shelter here.
Can I afford it?
We hope to eventually fundraise towards sponsoring pups who can’t afford the full price, however this is a 2027+ goal, as we’ll need to spend a bunch on buying our first set of infrastructure. How much you spend depends on how much comfort you demand. If you get a low-income ticket from BMorg (requires an application; and they’ve never published the exact criteria) it’s possible to attend for around $1,000 all-in, but if you want to bring an RV, that quickly climbs. Here’s how much you can expect to spend:
Got more time than money? You can volunteer and potentially get that number down even further. Here’s a great video on going this route to do it cheaply.
Who is PLUR Pups for?
Glad you asked!
