Black Rock City, LLC

The neon-tubed Man at the 1999 event

Black Rock City LLC is the company that organizes the annual Burning Man event ending on Labor Day, on the dry lake of the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada. Although the organization is largely volunteer-driven, it has a for-profit form.[1] Its mission states that its efforts are, and its primary goal is, to establish community.[2]

Headed by a board of 6 LLC members, the company coordinates the year-round, behind-the-scenes work needed to build and remove a temporary city of more than 69,000 participants.[3]

Event ticket sales provide a multi-million dollar budget for the organization. These revenues help the organization obtain required permits from the Bureau of Land Management, rent portable toilets and equipment, secure medical, fire, and law enforcement services, and cover other organizational expenses. The organization also holds a title to a nearby ranch in Hualapai Valley, Washoe County, Nevada, purchased in 2001 for $70,000 to use as a staging area.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Chen, Katherine K. 2009. Enabling Creative Chaos: The Organization Behind the Burning Man Event. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, p. 31.
  2. ↑ Mission Statement
  3. ↑ Chen, Katherine K. 2009. Enabling Creative Chaos: The Organization Behind the Burning Man Event. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, p. 37-41.
  4. ↑ Afterburn Report 2010 Financial Chart

References

Before 1998, materials needed for Burning Man were hauled to Black Rock Desert but that’s no longer feasible, Harvey said.
“To do something so ambitious, a staging area is essential,” Harvey said. “We’re done from being Californians who trucked the entire city over the Sierra.”