How to Join a Burning Man Tour

Posted by Anonymous , 9/4/2007 Tags:JoinBurningManTour
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How to Join a Burning Man Tour

Introduction

A Burning Man tour can be an impromptu guided tour of the festival and Black Rock City, one of the regular tours sponsored by an art troupe like Cirque de Flambe or the full-service Green Tortoise Shuttle Service "tour" which departs from San Francisco and provides its participants with transportation, food, shelter and 3 to 5 days on the playa.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Determine Your Tour Needs Before You Act

Steps

1

Step One

Speak or email with experienced Burners before you arrive at Black Rock City to help get a sense of good approaches to organizing your time at Burning Man.
2

Step Two

Decide whether you want to wander or join a guided group, to entertain or to be entertained, to commune with people or with nature, or all of the above.
3

Step Three

Take a look at the package offered by San Francisco's well respected Green Tortoise at the Burning Man on the Green Tortoise Adventure webpage if you want to join a tour which smoothes out some of the rougher edges of travel, shelter and food (see Resources below). This tour lets you travel and arrive with a ready-made affinity group of a couple of dozen Burners.

Arrange for a Tour With a Trustworthy Group

Steps

1

Step One

Avoid making advanced plans based on ticket agency tours and other tour guide services you find on the web. Many of those listed are now defunct, and some ticket agency tours are simply trying to justify higher-priced Burning Man tickets by creating a questionable impression of added value.
2

Step Two

Compare the cost of the Green Tortoise service with the alternatives. It may look like it's full of unnecessary expenses until you begin to add up the cost of a rental car, food, tent and sleeping bag.
3

Step Three

Contact the Cirque de Flambe troupe for a free unofficial tour of Burning Man. This tour visits art installations and meets with the artists to discuss their creative efforts. Circque de Flambe promises to help you "visit the deepest recesses of Burning Man and return to tell about it." Check at Center Camp for tour times and nightly procession times.

Overall Tips & Warnings

  • If you want an experienced Burner to help you see what's really going on at Burning Man, your best bet may be to connect and make friends with other participants through the Burning Man Regional Group in your area.
  • Remember that, aside from Burning Man tickets for sale at the gate and the daily shuttle service to Empire and Gerlach, nothing is bought or sold at Burning Man except ice and coffee. If anyone tries to charge you to join his tour, you are dealing with an individual who is violating the fundamental principles of Burning Man.
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