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Latest comment: 1 month ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Today, the article is 9,069 words, see XTools. WP:SIZERULE says: "> 9,000 words Probably should be divided or trimmed, though the scope of a topic can sometimes justify the added reading material."
Perhaps Burning_Man#Event_timeline should be placed in a separate article? That table has a lot of data and could use references to support those numbers. Much of the data in the table is repeated in the history and population section. Cxbrx (talk) 19:17, 8 September 2024 (UTC)Reply
I agree that the timeline section has grown significantly and that we should probably adhere more closely to WP:SIZERULE and WP:SUMMARYSTYLE. I would prefer to keep the timeline on the main article, but tighten it into a concise, comparative summary of each year.
I think the useful distinction is between comparative data and year-specific narrative. A table works well for information that can be compared consistently from year to year, such as population, Man height, ticket-price range, theme camps, mutant vehicles, and placed art. I have gone ahead and separated theme camps, mutant vehicles, and placed art into their own columns. By contrast, weather summaries, operational changes, incidents, and miscellaneous notes are much harder to present effectively in a table and seem better suited to prose elsewhere.
I also recently added citations for the Man heights and population figures for every year that was missing one, so two of the core comparative fields are now fully cited across the timeline.
I would simplify the ticket-price column to the lowest and highest admission ticket prices offered for each year rather than retaining the full breakdown of tiers. The ticket structure has become increasingly complicated over time, and preserving every tier encourages that column to keep expanding. A range retains the useful historical comparison without turning the timeline into a detailed ticketing record. We would probably want to define the scope as admission tickets. Vehicle passes could be tracked separately in their own column.
The more detailed material could then be moved to a separate article organized by year, perhaps provisionally something like List of Burning Man events in Black Rock City. The exact title and organization of that article could be worked out separately. Its purpose would be to provide a place where notable events, weather, operational changes, ticketing details, and other year-specific material can be developed without expanding the main article indefinitely.
I think Burning Man 2023 is relevant to that proposal as well. Rather than accumulating individual standalone articles for particular years, a year-by-year article could provide substantial coverage for each event where the sourcing supports it. If such an article were created, it would also provide a logical place to consider incorporating the 2023 material rather than retaining a one-off article for that year.
Under this approach, the main article would retain a well-defined, largely sourced longitudinal dataset, while the more expansive narrative material could be relocated to a place where it can be developed at appropriate detail. Mmmmmagic (talk) 00:46, 14 August 2026 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 18 days ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Is it worth noting that at the 1989 event, The Man did not burn? Locals in surrounding homes - around Baker Beach - called law enforcement, and although The Man was raised, the cops shut it all down before any burning was started. I was there, and it definitely felt like more than the 300 people, noted in the timeline, and the police probably didn't care for a gathering that large. (And of course not having permits, etc., it was pretty much an open target from the get-go.) It was my understanding that this failed burn was the last straw that pushed the event into Nevada. ~2026-39339-97 (talk) 00:52, 1 September 2026 (UTC)Reply