Wasteland Weekend
- Dates
- Expected September 2027
- Status
- Expected
- Venue
- Mojave Desert
- Price
- $345 to $405
- Camping
- Available
- Last checked
- Oct 16, 2026
Wasteland Weekend's 2027 dates haven't been announced yet. The last festival was 30 September to 4 October 2026 in North Edwards, CA. Froligo tracks current ticket prices, camping, attendee feedback and travel details.
The experience
What's special
Wasteland Weekend is a fully immersive, post-apocalyptic desert festival billed as the world's largest event of its kind, staged in the Mojave Desert near North Edwards, California. Rather than a music lineup, the draw is total immersion in a Mad Max / Fallout-style theme: in-theme post-apocalyptic costume is required of every attendee, performer, vendor, staffer and volunteer in all areas, including the non-theme zone. The build is participant-driven, with elaborately themed campsites, custom vehicles and camps ('Tribes') that stage much of the programming themselves. Alongside that, the organizer runs main-stage entertainment each night, live bands, DJs, dance and fire performers, plus costume and vehicle contests, a post-apocalyptic car show, combat spectacles and LARP-style quests woven through the encampment. The event is strictly 18+
What people love
Long-time attendees describe Wasteland Weekend as very much what you make of it: those who go out, explore and engage with the camps tend to have a great time, and many veterans call it a highlight of their year. Repeat visitors talk about it as a chance to fully drop out of everyday life for a few days, and about the community, friendly camps, being 'adopted' by a Tribe, and a family-reunion-of-strangers atmosphere. First-timers are encouraged to join newbie events (bar crawls, meet-and-greets, quests) and to do their reading beforehand, since a lot of the fun is participant-run rather than centrally programmed
Sounds like
There is no official lineup, the sound is made by roaming art cars and sound camps. A flavour of what carries across the playa, deep organic desert house and downtempo, not a claim about who plays.
The ideals
Burners describe the culture through ten principles, written by the community in 2004.
Radical inclusion
Anyone may belong; no prerequisites.Gifting
Giving freely, no barter, no expectation.Decommodification
No ads, sponsorship or selling, which makes room for independent art.Radical self-reliance
Bring everything you need.Radical self-expression
Offered as a gift, unique to the giver.Communal effort
We build it together.Civic responsibility
Organisers answer for public welfare.Leaving no trace
Everything packed out, to the last sequin.Participation
Made real by doing, not watching.Immediacy
No barrier between you and the moment.See it before you go
Tickets, how they work
Burn tickets do not work like a normal festival. Here is the system, the price detail is in Pricing below.
- 1Limited, and advance-onlyThere are no sales at the gate. No ticket before you go means no entry.
- 2Sold in timed roundsRegister in advance for the main sale, with later releases if earlier rounds sell out.
- 3Often pay-what-you-canMany burns use tiered or donation pricing, with low-income and ticket-aid options.
- 4A vehicle pass may be separateSome burns charge per car on top of the ticket.
- 5Transfers are official-onlyTickets move through the organiser's system, which shuts out scalpers.
Pricing
Price history and tiers
Your first burn
What it actually feels like to go for the first time, and how to land softly.
It will feel overwhelming, and that is normal
The scale hits everyone the first time. You cannot see it all, so do not try.Pace yourself
Water, food, shade and sleep first. Burnout is the classic first-timer mistake.Say yes, and come ready to give
The best moments are unplanned; accept a gift, join a camp, but bring something to offer back.It can move you unexpectedly
Many are surprised by the emotion. That is part of it.How to participate
A burn has no audience. Here is how a first-timer actually takes part.
- 1There are no spectatorsEveryone takes part. Turning up ready to contribute is the whole idea.
- 2Join or build a theme campCamp with a group that offers something back, a bar, a workshop, a stage.
- 3Gift somethingGive freely, no money changes hands. A drink, a skill, a repair, a moment.
- 4Make or help the artVolunteer with an art crew, help build and burn the effigy.
- 5Take a volunteer shiftGreeters, gate, Rangers and Leave-No-Trace crews keep the city running; a shift is how newcomers plug in.
- 6Leave it betterPack out your own litter and pitch in on teardown.
The playa fashion
Costumes are the norm, not required. A look at how people actually dress the part.
Weather, and what to pack for it
A burn is a survival environment first. Expect three climates in one day, fierce sun, biting cold and dust, and pack for all of them.
What to wear
By day
- Loose natural fibres and a wide hat
- Goggles and a dust mask for whiteouts
- High-SPF sun cover, the desert is relentless
- Sturdy closed shoes for hot, sharp ground
After dark
- Warm layers, nights turn cold fast
- Lights or EL wire so you are seen
- Something expressive, costumes are the norm
- Skip loose glitter and feathers, they become litter
What to bring
Radical self-reliance is literal: come stocked to live the whole event unaided.
At this burn specifically
- On-site desert camping is the core of the event and everyone stays on the playa for its full run.
- There are no RV hookups on site, so RVs need their own power (generator, solar or battery) and attendees fill their water/RV tanks in advance (a water license from the nearby national park is mentioned for filling tanks).
- There is no potable water supplied on site;
- long-time attendees advise bringing plenty of water, at least around 4 litres per person per day.
- Porta-johns are provided, but bring your own toilet paper.
- The desert climate swings hard: days can top 100°F while nights get very cold, so shade, sun protection and warm layers/blankets for sleeping are all recommended.
The art
The art is the reason. Black Rock City fills with hundreds of large-scale installations, from a wooden temple the size of a cathedral to fire-breathing sculptures and mutant vehicles that roam the open playa after dark.
Almost all of it is made by independent artist collectives, much of it crowd and grant funded, and built to be touched, climbed and lived in rather than roped off. You are not a spectator here; you walk inside the work.
Impermanence is the point. Many of the biggest pieces, the Man and the Temple among them, are burned at the end, so the art exists only for the week and is then gone, carried out with everything else.
Old-timer tips
Hard-won advice seasoned burners pass to first-timers.
- Overprepare on water, then add morethe most common veteran tip, by far
- Red-mode headlamp, and label everythingyou will thank yourself at 3am
- Build in a rest daythe people who last the week pace the week
- Gift experiences, not stuffthe best gifts leave nothing behind
- Learn the address system before you arriveit is how you find anyone and anything
Burner lexicon
- Playa
- The dry lakebed the temporary city is built on.
- MOOP
- 'Matter Out Of Place', any litter, to a single sequin.
- Default world
- Everyday life, outside the event.
- Sparkle pony
- A newcomer who turns up underprepared.
- Gifting
- Giving with no barter or expectation.
- Dusty
- Caked in playa dust, a badge of honour.
- Virgin burn
- Your first year.
- The Temple
- A reflective structure, burned at the end.
Getting there
How do I get to Wasteland Weekend?
By car
Most people drive to Wasteland Weekend. Check current road and traffic conditions before you set off, and see parking below.
By train
No direct passenger rail to the venue was found. Drive, fly in, or use a shuttle instead.
By bus & public transit
No scheduled intercity bus or public transit route to the venue was found. Drive, fly in, or use a shuttle instead.
Taxi & rideshare
LAX has full rideshare and taxi service for the LA metro, but the Wasteland Weekend site in the Mojave Desert near North Edwards is described by the organisers as about two hours from Los Angeles, well outside a typical rideshare's practical range. Fly-in attendees should plan on a rental car for the desert leg, and all attendees must enter via Rosewood Blvd from the west, off California City Blvd, regardless of GPS routing
Book / info →Rideshare and carpooling are how a lot of people reach a burn. Check the event rideshare or carpool board before you travel, and expect patchy phone signal at the site. Some burns, and Burning Man itself, run an organised burner bus coach service; confirm the current service on the official site.
🅿 Parking
Cost Free to camp/park a vehicle at a chosen site. No rideshare-only zone; all vehicles must enter Rosewood Blvd from the west via California City Blvd per the organisers' explicit driving instructions, regardless of what GPS suggests
🚙 Car hire
Compare car hire
If you are hiring a car, it is worth checking parking near the venue before you go.
Search car hire →Car hire links may earn Froligo a commission; they never change the price you pay.
Where
Map shows the centre of North Edwards. The venue's exact point is not confirmed yet.
Venue
The venue has its own page with capacity, accessibility and parking.
Camping & where to stay
At a burn, camping is not a fallback, it is the event. You build or join a camp, live out on the open playa for the whole week and pack every trace of it back out with you. The what-to-bring and getting-there sections above cover how to arrive ready.
Accessibility & comfort
Access on the playa: what the organiser publishes on disability access, quiet and medical support, then ages and comfort.
Wasteland Weekend publishes no accessibility page or accessibility statement, but several pages carry facts that matter. This is a five day immersive desert camping festival in the California Mojave Desert at North Edwards, and the organiser describes the site plainly: the event property has spots that are rocky but also flat, sandy and dusty, with gravel roads criss crossing the whole location, and when it rains the mud is ordinary mud rather than playa clay.
Read the full notes
The road in, Rosewood Blvd, is a dirt road, relatively flat with the usual dirt road bumps and dips, and the organiser tells drivers to use the south lane because it is better for non 4WD vehicles. Areas are signed for soft sand where heavier vehicles get stuck, and Sandy Gardens in particular is called out as more sandy.
Expect wind, sun, dirt and dust. The FAQ says the event is technically an off road vehicle area of dirt roads but that a large number of attendees drive in standard cars, and there is no extra fee for parking; you may camp with or sleep in your vehicle.
Camping is included in the ticket and is free form, so there is no designated accessible camping area. On facilities, the organiser states there are ADA and handicapped portapotties alongside the ordinary portable toilets and hand washing stations, and warns there is no running or potable water on site and no community power grid.
The rules page states that mobility devices for the disabled are always allowed in all areas and that theming them is optional. Service dogs are permitted under Title II and III of the ADA; emotional support and therapy dogs are not.
Site speed limit is 5MPH. Nothing is published about accessible viewing, a companion or carer ticket, or shuttles. Access questions go to the general address [email protected], which is the contact route the site gives
Confirm your specific needs with the organiser's access team before you travel.
Checked 2026-09-03 · source
Read & explore
Go deeper before you go: the essentials, straight from the source.
Watch
Official Highlight Reel for Wasteland Weekend 2024 on YouTube
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