BLM busts Burning Man

Photo from Laughing Squid

Recent stories in the Chronicle and the NY Times have been vague about the reasons for the ticket shortage to Burning Man this year. A former burner provides an explanation:

Burning Man got busted by the BLM out there in Nevada. The BLM is FURIOUS that Burning Man has been lying to them for all these years about attendance. Burning Man claims 50,000 people when the actual figures are 120,000. So the BLM cut them off this year at 50,000. No ticket sales at the gate. No online tickets. So it went from an $80 million a year business to a $20 million a year business. Ouch!

The Bureau of Land Management is mad because they're supposed to get 3% of the gross from the annual event, the income of which is almost entirely from ticket sales.

Now that the scam---and the huge cash-flow---is over, Larry Harvey figures he might as well turn the operation into a non-profit.

Today's front-page puff-piece in the Chronicle on Harvey. 

The Bureau of Land Management's Burning Man website