Thousands flow through Reno airport for Burning Man

RENO — Kim McCoy is wandering the airport concourse, tasseled cowboy boots on her feet, a furry coat draped over her arm and a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer dangling from each hand.

She’s headed toward Burning Man, that annual gathering of 70,000 people in the dusty northern Nevada desert known for its week-long almost-anything-goes culture. Chief among the requirements for attending is self-sufficiency, and a fellow “Burner” asks McCoy, a nurse from New York City, whether that’s all she’s planning on taking.

“Actually,” she says with a smile, “this is nowhere near enough beer.”

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McCoy is one of 17,000 Burners passing through the Reno-Tahoe International Airport over the next several days as the event ramps up to its official Saturday start. A week later, they all fly out after driving two hours back from the desert, dusty, dirty and exhausted.

Airport officials last year tallied Burning Man-bound travelers from 34 countries.

“At this time of year, the people-watching is amazing,” said Brian Kulpin, an airport spokesman. “We embrace the Burners.”

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The days before and after Burning Man are the airport’s busiest, with virtually every airplane seat full. Airport managers say the influx and following exodus are worth at least $10 million in additional revenue from fuller planes, concession sales and car rentals. This year, a charter service is offering flights nearly every hour from Reno to Black Rock City, the massive desert encampment where volunteers have once again erected a temporary but FAA-recognized airport.

After the Burn, departing participants can donate unwanted equipment, particularly the bikes they ride around in the desert, to local charities.

Burning Man’s participants have been building up and tearing down their temporary city in the same desert since 1990, and every year is different at the airport, said Kulpin. A few years ago, heavy rains turned the road into Black Rock City into an impassible mud slick, forcing organizers to halt entries while it dried. That left thousands of Burners stranded at the airport with no place to go.

“They just started having a party here in the airport,” Kulpin said. “The spirit of Burning Man is just so positive.”

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