Registration for the “Main Sale” was scheduled to begin April 1st, 2020, and the sale was set to take place April 8th. Announced and effective March 30th, Burning Man Project officially postponed the Main Sale registration and the Main Sale.

On April 10th, due to one of the greatest global challenges in our lifetime brought on by COVID-19, Burning Man leadership announced the decision to move forward with Virtual Black Rock City 2020, aka “VBRC”, and to not physically build out Black Rock City this year in 2020. 

Although there’s no substitute for an in-person experience, 2020 will be a new kind of Burn, one experienced on a virtual playa, where there’s potentially no limit to who can participate. 

Interestingly, Burning Man’s 2020 theme, “Multiverse”, which was announced mid-October 2019, highly compliments the decision to go virtual. Why? Well let’s take into consideration some of Burning Man’s 10 Principles, such as: Immediacy, Participation, Communal Effort, and Leave No Trace, to name a few. On virtual playa, there’s an opportunity the community can still build together, be together, and Burn together – this year just digitally, instead of in the dust.

“Communities are not produced by sentiment or mere goodwill. They grow out of a shared struggle…”
Larry Harvey, Co-Founder Burning Man. 

Insightfully foreshadowing into what’s now become more apparent than ever, Ramiro Martinez Jr., Lead Designer and Project Build Lead for 2019 BRC art build collaborative “Traversing Through Dust: Dusty Bridge” conveyed, “Life can sometimes feel as though we are aimlessly traversing through dust while we try to get to our destinations. The path is not always clear or visible, or for that matter, the path may not even exist…”

BRC 2019 | “Traversing Through Dust: Dusty Bridge”  | Photo Credit: Tori Massie

“… A bridge is defined as a structure carrying a pathway or roadway over a depression or obstacle. A bridge is also defined as a time, place or means of connection or transition. Traversing Through Dust aims to remind participants that the means for transition (or perhaps the means for a bridge or connection) are ours to create. In the end, the decisions and self-reflections we make, pave the path to where we want to be and whom we choose to become.” 

Perhaps in VBRC 2020, there’s even more possibilities to “traverse” within the Multiverse than ever before! If you’re interested in being at the forefront of collaboration for this new and bold concept, you can reach out directly to Burning Man Project VBRC here or by visiting www.burningman.org

 

Tori Massie
Events Editor