- How does a Setup Access Pass (SAP) work?
- Important Notes about Setup Access Passes
- What’s the Difference Between SAPs from Placement and other Departments?
- Can I come in on a SAP and land grab for my friends who don’t have SAPs and are coming in when the event begins?
1. How does a Setup Access Pass (SAP) work?
When you fill out your questionnaire, you have the opportunity to specify how many Setup Access Passes (SAPs) you need, and which day of the week pre-event you would like to arrive on playa. We want you to have your camp built and ready by the Monday after the gates open. Think about your infrastructure carefully and determine how many people and the amount of time it will take to build your camp. The Placement team reviews each of these requests individually and decides the final number of each camp's Setup Access Passes.
Please note: Children 12 and under are not required to have a SAP.
You may arrive at the gate on (or any day after) the arrival date posted on your Setup Access Pass. You may NOT arrive any earlier than that day. We issue passes for the week pre-event. If your passes are for Tuesday arrival, you may not come Monday. You may come Tuesday at midnight (12:00am Monday night / Tuesday morning) or later. If you do arrive early, you will not be allowed into Black Rock City.
You should print out your SAP to be scanned and encourage your campmates to do the same. Digital SAPs have challenges being scanned and can cause further delays for you and everyone behind you.
2. Important Notes about Setup Access Passes:
SAPs are not tickets. To enter Black Rock City you are required to have purchased a ticket.
SAPs are issued by Placement to theme camps, by DMV for Mutant Vehicles, by the Art Department for artists, and by Departments for volunteers working pre-event. Any person who is on the playa before the event begins should be there to build or work. This is not a time to "get the party started early."
3. What’s the Difference Between SAPs from Placement and other Departments?
Theme Camp SAPs:
You are receiving a SAP to build your camp and are not allowed to camp in open camping. You are accountable for all campers who have a SAP issued with your camp name on it, and must hold onto the SAP and present it when requested by any Burning Man staff member. Participants using SAPs issued to a theme camp MUST reside within the theme camp the SAP was issued for until Gates open to all Burning Man participants on Sunday at 12:01 a.m.
Misuse of Theme Camp SAPs may lead to cancellation of all SAPs for your camp, can affect standing with Placement, and may affect future Stewards Sale tickets and placement.
SAPs from other Departments:
Many, but not all, people who receive SAPs from departments other than Placement are affiliated with placed camps. If you receive a SAP from a mutant vehicle, art, department, or work support camp, that is not part of a placed camp, you can set up in open camping. But no land grabbing! If you are there on a SAP not affiliated with a placed camp, you can set up for yourself and anyone camping with you that are currently on playa. As more of your campers arrive, you can organically grow to accommodate them.
Open camping is outside of the blue flagged area. Respect the blue flags that mark reserved space for other camps. When in doubt, find someone with an event radio to contact Placement. You can check the Black Rock City Registered Placement Sectors & Streets to get a better idea of the areas with no placed theme camps.
4. Can I come in on a SAP and land grab for my friends who don’t have SAPs and are coming in when the event begins?
No. Land grabbing is claiming a swath of space in open camping for your friends that have not yet arrived pre-event or are arriving after the Gates open to all Burning Man participants on Sunday at 12:01am is not allowed. If you are claiming a space in open camping yourself during build week, that is OK. Only claim enough space for those currently on playa and working. Keep yourself dense and use the space efficiently.
Do not mark off land with caution tape, cones, stakes, random pieces of equipment, setting up trailers in a large perimeter, etc. Trailers should not be dropped and abandoned before their inhabitants arrive. If you land grab, you will be asked to move and condense everything you just set up. Save yourself the work and grow organically as people arrive.
When setting up in open camping, be neighborly and friendly. It's a chance to make new friends. Work with your new campmates and neighbors for the benefit of all Participants looking for open camping to set up in.