[stickfigure]

Burning man has peaked. This year there were tons of people trying to sell their ticket at discount. Some friends were giving away tickets. I don't think we will see the same demand again. Which is good - 70k people is more than enough.

Next year, just watch craigslist or fb marketplace a month beforehand.

[fragmede]

Or maybe people's ability to attend is simply a function of the economy, which is currently in high interest rate territory. The cost to attend is the equivalent of a trip to Europe for a week or a month, depending on how you roll. With things how they are, people simply can't take the time off work or afford to go.

[darkclouds]

You'll have about 250k people at Glastonbury, but there is alot to do at Glastonbury having been a few times, so 70k sounds rather cosy, which seems so unusual for the US which normally does things bigger and better.

Going to Burning Man is something on my bucket list, which is why your comment surprised me, how can you say its peaked?

[llamaimperative]

80% of the time when someone says an event peaked it’s because they’ve aged out of the event or the event evolved in a way that wasn’t to their liking.

You should totally go if you get a chance, but to be clear Burning Man is not a music festival a la Glasto. It’s much more of an art festival than anything else, and it’s really spectacular.

Also just ignore the lore around anti-capitalism, eco friendly yada yada. It’s a really sick party for super rich people and the artists they patronize.

[stickfigure]

It is possible to have the opinion that burning man is great and also that it has hit the upper bound of popularity.

This year was different - it was super easy to get tickets, often at steep discount. I don't see why next year will be different, especially with horror stories getting off the playa this year.

This is a good thing! If you want to go, now you can.

[ethanbond]

That’s usually not what people mean when they say an event peaked. The “peak” is always well below the highest-attendance, because it clearly was already uncool when attendance hit its max.

[darkclouds]

This YT video from 2019 seems like a good explainer.

It does attract some good DJ's though, I mean a $3-8m 70KW moving sound system/dance floor seems pretty awesome, aka the Mayan Warrior.

https://youtu.be/QRbC3GPW1HI?t=1290

[braislen]

It is because Burning Man is not Glastonbury. If it hadn't peaked in popularity before this it sure has now.

That really doesn't mean anything as far as the quality of the experience. It might even be better subjectively with less people. If it is something you really want to experience then go sooner rather than later though. I really loved BM when I was younger but I have aged out and it is pretty much the last thing I would want to do now. This mud just hammers that point home for me.