Burning Man

Airport Arrivals: Burning Man +Beyoncé

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Reno-Tahoe International Airport loves the Burners

Burning Man 2023 is underway in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. And about 20,000 of the 80,000 or so attendees make their way to the event through Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO).

The airport is an old hand at welcoming and sending off the festival goers.

So, when the party is over, on September 4, the airport will be ready with plastic bags to wrap dust-encrusted luggage and other checked items to make sure playa dust doesn’t get tracked through the terminal and muck up the baggage systems. There will also be donation sites for camping gear Burners don’t want to take home and the bikes Burners brought or bought to get around the playa.

Photo op: Beyonce’s “BeyHive” at San Jose Mineta Int’l Airport

Beyoncé will be performing at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA on August 30 and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC), which is just five miles from the stadium is ready with a special event for Queen Bey’s ‘BeyHive,’ as her fans are known.

“XO” is one of the singer’s hit song titles, and it is also the name of a new art installation at the airport created by Bay Area artists Laura Kimpton and Jeff Schomberg for the Burning Man Festival, and dedicated at SJC earlier this year.

The structure is comprised of two 12-foot-tall aluminum letters, perforated with bird cutouts symbolizing flight, and is illuminated with color at night. 

To welcome Beyoncé fans flying in for the concert, SJC airport will be hosting an event for fans to get free professional photos taken in front of its “XO” public art sculpture. 

The event will take place on the Airport’s Terminal B curbside beginning at 7:00 PM on August 29th.

The commemorative color photos will be taken on a first-come-first-served basis by a professional photographer and will be available on the spot along with other fun giveaways from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., or while supplies last.  

(XO images courtesy of San Jose Mineta Int’l Airport and City of San Jose)

Burners heading for Reno-Tahoe International Airport

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Burning Man Festival - stilts - images from Reno Airport Exhibit


Burning Man 2019 takes place August 25 – September 2 in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

About 20,000 of the more than 70,000 event attendees make their way to the region via Reno- Tahoe International Airport (RNO).

And the airport is ready.

On Monday, a Burning Man art exhibition and therapy dogs dressed in costumes will welcome arriving burners.

Local volunteers and airport docents (perhaps in costumes as well) will be on site to help with information about and directions to the Playa.

And airport shops will be stocked with Burning Man essentials such as water, snacks, camping equipment and apparel.

The airport is also prepping for when the Burners leave.

Everything that comes back from the festival site will be covered with dust from the Playa that can ruin the baggage systems. So airlines are ready with rolls of large plastic bags to cover suitcases and anything else Burners will need to check in and take home.  

Reno-Tahoe Int’l does Burning Man

Fun Stuff, Holidays, , ,

Reno-Taho International Airport is helping ‘burners’ with their Burning Man experience.

The Burning Man festival is underway and Reno-Tahoe International Airport is part of the experience for the more than 18,000 “burners” who fly in and out of the area for the event.

Last week, the airport helped move things along on some of the busy arrival days by offering free group yoga, Burning Man artwork displays and therapy dogs dressed up for the occasion.

On Monday, when the burners start to go home, the airport will also offer entertainment and assistance, including big plastic bags for wrapping suitcases encrusted with dust from the Playa,  bins for disposing of all the garbage burners need to remove from the festival site and a drop-off spot for the bicycles many bring to get around the festival grounds. Those bikes get fixed up and donated to local groups.

 

All photos courtesy Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Have you been to Burning Man? Share photos of your airport experience getting to and from the festival.

Reno-Tahoe Airport & the Burners

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RNO's 15-foot Mini-Man is a replica of the giant sculpture burned each year during the Burnning Man festival.

The 70,000 “Burners” who attended last week’s Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada have to go back to their regular lives now and about 22,000 of them re-entered the real world via Reno-Tahoe International Airport on Monday on Tuesday.

Some of the more than 22,000 Burners heading home from the 2015 Burning Man festival via Reno-Tahoe International Airport

That makes this week one of the busiest times for RNO airport and a week filled with unusual challenges.

“There are lines of travelers with large, dusty bags and unique items like hula hoops being carried onto airplanes,” said RNO spokeswoman Heidi Jared, who explained that airlines were wrapping each piece of luggage in plastic to keep the conveyor belt system clean from the fine playa dust that can bog down the belt.

Because Burning Man operates with a strict “leave no trace” policy, many Burners ended up bringing their garbage with them to the airport. “So RNO puts out extra trash bins on the front curb to collect a variety of items that Burners simply don’t want or don’t have room to take on the plane,” said Jared. 

Large boxes are set up at RNO airport to collect tons of trash and unwanted items Burners will leave behind_edited

Bicycles are the main method of transportation during the Burning Man festival and while many Burners put a lot of effort into decorating their bikes, they don’t plan to bring them home.

In the past, many bikes ended up left behind at the airport, but now the local Kiwanis club sets up a bike drop-off area at RNO to collect the cast-off cycles. The club then refurbishes the bikes and gives them to kids in the community.

The local Kiwanis club has a drop-off station to collected unwanted bikes used at the Burning Man festival. Bikes will be refurbished and given to local children

( My story about Reno Airport and the Burners first appeared on the Today in the Sky blog on USA TODAY in a slightly different version. All photos courtesy Reno-Tahoe International Airport)

Reno-Tahoe Airport celebrates Burning Man

Airports, Festivals, Fun Stuff, , ,

Burning Man Mini Man at Reno-Tahoe Airport

Burning Man kicks off this weekend and the far-out festival has a major impact on the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which each year hosts approximately 35,000 additional arriving and departing Burners from 34 different countries.

RENO WELCOME

Over the years, the airport figured out how to best welcome and help the Burners get where they need to go – and it seems like quite the set-up.

The airport has travel information on the Burner web site, a welcome table (with travel info, and complimentary water and fig bars), a 15-foot wooden replica called “Mini Man” in Bag Claim and a Burning Man art exhibit in the depARTures Gallery.

RENO LOVE sculpture

artist: Jeff Schomberg

When Burning Man is over, the airport really goes into high gear.

No motorized transportation (beyond Art Cars) is allowed on the Playa, so lots of Burners bring bikes, which are frequently left behind. The airport partners with the local Kiwanis Club on a bike drop-off area so those bikes can get refurbished and given to kids in the community.

RENO BIKE DISCARD HERE

Travelers – and their belongings – heading home from Burning Man are often dusty and dirty, and everyone must pack out their trash from the Playa. So the airport has its custodial staff working around the clock cleaning restrooms and emptying trash bins. The airport also keeps a supply of crates on the curb to collect trash.

Because everyone’s suitcase or backpack is likely to be covered in dust, and because all that dust and grime can muck up the airport’s delicate and expensive baggage machinery, all airlines are required to put a plastic bag around each item of checked luggage and/or place it in a plastic tub. So there are plenty of bags and tubs on hand.

RENO DUSTY SUITCASES

Before and after Burning Man, travelers can enjoy the Burning Many art exhibit at the airport. Through the Artists Lens includes over 60 photos of Burning Man artwork and activities by three well-known Burning Man photogrpaher. Look for the depARTures Gallery on the second floor of the airport’s terminal, post-security.

RENO ART EXHIBIT