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Can Burning Man Save Center Camp?

WHY IT’S CONSCIOUS: Center Camp was once Burning Man’s cultural center, and now they are trying to save this gathering place to keep the community connected

Once upon a time (pre-COVID), Center Camp was serving up more than just shade. It was the caffeine-fueled nucleus of Black Rock City, where virgin burners could get their bearings before diving into the kaleidoscopic chaos of the playa. Its surrounding neighborhood was once the “downtown” center of Black Rock City. Bikes would be parked in the hundreds and the space would be packed for events like the Monkey Chant or the Marching Band. It was run by over 1,000 volunteers and often had a lineup a hundred people deep.

Larry Harvey, the mastermind behind Burning Man, created Center Camp as a communal gathering space inspired by the zocalos of Oaxaca City. A place where strangers become friends over a warm cup of joe.

In my earlier burns, I spent dozens of hours at Center Camp in the contact improv jams. I volunteered in its build once and in painting a mural on its walls twice. When I brought my sister and best friend for their first burns, they felt safe and comfortable going for coffee at center camp and, after their lattes, ready to venture out into the playa.

But after COVID, Burning Man’s org decided to cease coffee service in 2022 to meet their sustainability goals. Without its signature brew, Center Camp became weirdly empty. Sure, you could still catch some acro yoga or contact improv if that’s your jam, but the vibe was more ghost town than Burning Man central.

Burning Man Center Camp 2024

Burning Man’s Center Camp Has been Completely Redesigned for 2024

For this 2024 Burn, Center Camp has been completely redesigned. The vast amount of space once needed for all of the bikes which once parked outside Center Camp, has been reallocated to Theme Camps. Rod’s Road, which used to confuse first time burners, is gone. The actual camp is now called The Canopy. It is still the world’s largest tensile structure — a circular acre of shade.

Level, the mastermind behind Burning Man’s layout, explains why they redesigned the city streets to reactivate Center Camp: “We’re planning to reconnect Center Camp’s physical space with the street grid of the rest of the city to have A street, B street, C street all cut through. There will still be Center Camp and the shade structure of that Center Camp in the middle and a big plaza there. We have an opportunity by weaving the city grid back into Center Camp to invite people back to go there and check it out.”

Translation? They’re making Center Camp easier to find than your own camp.

The structure’s staying put, but everything else? It’s a blank canvas, baby. Burning Man’s Org is practically begging for performers and “activations” to breathe life back into the space.

Playa Tea has a solution that incorporates the coffee house with sustainability: a 24-hour tea room. Tea ceremonies use non-disposable cups and the promise of something hot to drink at 3am might bring more people into the Canopy, when most other tea them camps are closed.

Will this facelift be enough to make Center Camp the hot spot it once was? But if there’s one thing Burners know how to do, it’s adapt, create, and make magic out of thin air – or in this case, a whole lot of dust.

This post was written by Kiki Falconer, co-founder of Conscious City Guide.