A&E

Burning Man initiates platformed ticket sale for summer event

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The Burning Man festival outside of Reno in 2015.
Photo: Associated Press

Good news: Burning Man 2016 tickets are finally going on sale, with registration starting Wednesday.

Bad news: They’ll be more expensive no matter which payment level you choose.

The annual, weeklong art happening, taking place August 28-September 5 at Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada, is going ahead with its ticket sale despite losing an appeal with the Nevada Department of Taxation. It had briefly withheld launching its platformed ticket registration and sale while awaiting a response from the state regarding its multi-pronged statement that it did not qualify for the newly expanded live entertainment tax, which now includes large-scale performance events like Burning Man and Electric Daisy Carnival. Among its non-qualifying reasons: It is the attendees, not Burning Man, that book the live/DJ performers who play the event, which is chiefly an exercise in temporary community. According to the Reno-Gazette Journal, NDT rejected the arguments in a written response delivered February 4.

Burning Man had already planned to charge all ticket buyers the 9 percent tax ahead of NDT’s decision (with a refund option on the tax had the state lifted the LET designation).

Most purchasers will pay an extra $34, as 83 percent of the passes available are $390 level.

An explanation of this year’s ticket policy on the Burning Man website said that while ticket buyers would pay more due to the 9 percent tax, the standard and the low-income passes would not rise in cost from last year’s $390 and $190 prices, respectively. However, roughly 5,000 presale tickets rose from $800 to $990, and a new, perk-free Leonardo da Vinci Art Ticket has been introduced, with 1,000 priced at $1,200 to offset rising expenses.

While vehicle passes rise from $50 to $80, they are not subject to the LET. The increase seems aimed to encouraging more carpooling among festivalgoers, who allegedly waited up to 11 hours in their vehicles to exit last year’s event.

Starting Wednesday at noon and ending 48 hours later, burners may register for the $990 presale, which will also include 500 Leonardo passes. On Wednesday, February 17, at noon, the presale begins. The sales for other ticket levels follow, including the main sale, with registration taking place March 16-18 and the actual sale happening March 23.

For more information, visit here.

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