Has Burning Man burned out? Unprecedented move by festival organizers suggests desert party is struggling after 2023 washout nightmare

Organizers of the Burning Man festival have released tickets last-minute tickets for this year's event, despite the desert fest resulting in a disaster last year. 

Tickets are still available for the August 25 event even if you haven't registered. In previous years tickets would not still be up for grabs this close to the start date. 

Prices for the festival, which takes places in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, start at $575 before taxes and fees, with vehicle passes costing around an additional $150. 

In a press release, Marian Goddell, CEO of Burning Man Project said the organization was pleased to be able to offer greater access to the event.

While organizers chose to highlight make it easier for more people to attend, it is possible the sales have slowed following last year's event. 

Tickets are still available for the August 25 event even if you haven't registered. In previous years tickets would not still be available this close to the start date

While organizers chose to highlight make it easier for more people to attend, it is possible the sales have slowed following last year's event

The event last year was an unmitigated disaster with fed-up revelers resorting to leaving en masse after torrential downpours turned the festival into a muddy mess. 

Partygoers lashed out at each other, after organizers begged those trying to leave the filthy encampment to have patience amid panic over water and food shortages. 

Attendees were initially ordered not to leave after the exit roads were impassable following a half-inch of rain. 

Those who opted to leave before the 'the burn', in which the festival namesake effigy is set alight, waited in five-hour queues until they reached the open road.  

People were urged to not attempt to walk from the festival, with celebrity attendees including Chris Rock, actor Austin Butler and DJ Diplo making their escape.

The festival also hit headlines last year following the death of attendee Leon Reece, 32, who was found unresponsive at the event. 

People reported in October of last year that his death was an accident after ingesting cocaine and ecstasy. 

Due to the heavy rain and muddy conditions, personnel were delayed in responding to a distress call for Reece, who was pronounced dead at the scene.  

Tens of thousands travel to the remote area in northwest Nevada every year gathering in the temporary city to make art, dance, and enjoy community. Attendees are known as 'burners'

Attendees were initially ordered not to leave after the exit roads were impassable following a half-inch of rain

The festival contended with an intense heat wave and strong winds in 2022, which made the experience difficult for the 'burners,' as festival goers are known.

While a dust storm forced organizers to temporarily close entrances in 2018, with the event canceled altogether during the pandemic. 

Tens of thousands travel to the remote area in northwest Nevada every year gathering in the temporary city to make art, dance, and enjoy community.

Burning Man aims to be an undefinable event, somewhere between a celebration of counterculture and a spiritual retreat.

The festival gets its name from its culminating event, the burning of a large wooden 40-foot effigy called the Man on the penultimate night.

The gathering, which originated as a small function in 1986 on a San Francisco beach has a budget of $45 million and is attended by celebrities and social media influencers.