The Man may still go up in flames each year — but the crowd gathering to watch is starting to show a little more gray.
Burning Man, the sprawling nine-day mix of desert art, electronic music, radical self-expression and countercultural chaos in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, has seen attendance cool since hitting its 2019 high. At the same time, new data suggests the festival’s middle-aged faithful are becoming a larger part of the scene.
Roughly 70,000 burners made the trek to the playa last year, down from a peak of nearly 80,000, according to the most recent Black Rock City census. Each year, the temporary desert city rises from empty sand for a week of experimental art, all-night parties, free-spirited fashion and off-grid communal living — before disappearing almost as quickly as it arrived.
The younger crowd, however, appears to be thinning out. In 2014, attendees under 30 accounted for 30% of Burning Man’s population. By 2025, that share had fallen to 14%, less than half its earlier level.
Adrielle Knight, 41, was there in 2023 when heavy rain swamped campsites and transformed the route out of Black Rock City into a sticky, nearly impossible mud trap. She remembered overhearing one young influencer react in disbelief: “This is not like Coachella at all!”
“It’s really out of one’s comfort zone, even if you have a comfy camp. And maybe Millennials and Gen X-ers have a higher tolerance for discomfort?” Knight told The Post.
The festival’s long-running gender imbalance also remains in place. Men continued to outnumber women last year, making up 56% of Burning Man attendees, according to the census figures.
Knight joked that the desert gathering felt like “an oasis of men,” adding, “I didn’t mind” — though she said the split was not especially obvious during her time on the playa.
But as those men arrived with camera phones, the number of women partying topless has dropped — reported veteran burners on social media.
“When did the nudity disappear? … Yes, there were some swingin’ hogs, I saw you, but I would say the amount of female toplessness decreased like 95% from the last time I was there,” lamented one burner on the r/BurningMan subreddit who attended a recent festival after a 10-year hiatus.
The burn’s famous Orgy Dome has strict regulations to ward away horny pickup artists, including a “couples and moresomes” entry policy.
Burners are also getting wealthier, with half of festival-goers making more than $100,000, compared to just a quarter at that income level in 2015. However, the trend flattens some when adjusted for inflation.
Meanwhile, the festival itself has gotten more expensive to attend.
“It also can be very cost prohibitive,” said Knight, who spent around $1,000 on supplies and preparation in 2023 — on top of the ticket price, which went up to $775 this year.
In addition, burners are charged extra fees to drive a vehicle into Black Rock City.
“My first burn in 2005, I was 21. I bought a ticket for $215 … I think I spent $1000 or so all in for that year,” Michael McQuaid lamented on X.
“It sucks that the s–t economy is pricing out so many of the younger, less financially-established burners,” he added.
