Gen Z isn’t interested in Burning Man
Kids these days aren’t interested in hauling a school bus full of art supplies to the desert.
• less than 3 min read
Burning Man, the annual event in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, kicked off earlier this week—and the folks biking around in goggles and gaudy costumes are a little older than they used to be. Just 10% of burners at last year’s event were in their 20s, a record low, according to the Black Rock City annual census.
Gen Z seems less charmed by the “radical inclusion” of Burning Man than previous generations. In 2015, 30% of attendees at Burning Man were in their 20s. But the younger crowd has steadily declined over the last decade, mostly because of the cost:
- A ticket has ballooned from $390 in 2015 to $550 this year as the festival has struggled to stop hemorrhaging money.
- With a vehicle pass, camping gear, fees, and food, attendees are typically looking at a minimum $1,000 trip, according to Business Insider.
It hasn’t just gotten older. John Law, one of the co-founders of Burning Man, wrote last month that the current festival has “lost its anarchist soul.” Silicon Valley elites and billionaires have been flocking to the fest, which is also probably why it’s having such a problem with Meta AI Glasses.—MM
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