Burning Man isn’t actually any more expensive than going on vacation anywhere unless “vacation” means “sleeping in a car in another city.”
Sure, tickets are getting close to $500 but you’re not paying for a hotel room either, nor airfare (usually). People drive out there toting all of their stuff from the Bay Area. The ticket is the biggest fixed cost, followed by water and food and gasoline for the car. Glitter and body paint is cheap. If folks save for some portion of the year between burns, dedicated people without a huge income can still go (and do).
Actually the ticket is often the lowest cost category on a playa spreadsheet, unless you’re sleeping in a pup tent or on your back seat, not building anything, and scrounging for booze and food and party favors. Which is an entirely feasible (if less-than-comfortable) approach, far more so than at Disneyland for instance, but somehow no one ever seems to complain about the cost of a week in Vegas or Orlando.
Maybe there can be a “BOGO” (buy one, give one) option, or a “BOUIDI” (buy one, use it, donate it) [sorry] option? Of course refugees may not appreciate the glitter or other moop they find inside, but seeing refugees living in a structure that you have occupied yourself could bring you a better understanding of their plight.
