Get the latest gossip

Burning Man’s CEO on Budget Shortfall, Community Blowback & What’s Needed to Keep It Going

Burning Man CEO Marian Goodell talks ticket prices, fundraising and the the 2025 event amid a revenue shortfall in a new interview.

“The drop in the population, but particularly around the higher price tickets, simply pushed us into a spot that I knew we were going to be in,” Goodell says, explaining that she and the team had seen this financial turning point coming for several years as production costs increased. Goodell declines to give a number for how much money has been raised over the last month but says engagement with the new model has been high and that Burning Man is “at a record for recurring gifts.” The organization is also seeing new donors “coming in at decent amounts,” she says. With many tech billionaires, movie stars and other one-percenters all trekking to Burning Man every August, there’s also presumably a short list of rich Burners who could solve the current financial shortfall by donating a million or two.

Get the Android app