Burning Man 2025

TL;DR

Container Sale

Start: Monday, June 16 at 12:00 (noon EST)
End: when sold out, but likely not before the end of July. We do our best to fill up the containers so the cost per cu ft can be kept low. If Container 4 is full and there is enough time left we may open up a 5th container, but it is always possible that we have to close earlier. Don’t delay! 
Price: 
* $50 / 27-gallon yellow top (same as last year)
* OR $10 / cu ft for all other bins/tents/etc (50 cents more, mostly to keep things simple)
Location: Burning Man 2025 Container Sale

Load-In

When: Sunday, August 3, 2025 from 08:00 – 16:00
Put this date in your calendar RIGHT NOW!!!
Location: TBA, but likely in or around Jersey City like previous years
FB Load-In Event: TBD – https://www.facebook.com/events/
Time Slots: You will receive a timeslot for load-in based on your playa arrival date. Please stick to it! 

PLEASE get the 27 gallon yellow-top bins from LOWES if you’re buying new bins. Yes, we will allow the Home Depot 27 gallon bins at the $50 / bin rate. No, we’d really rather you buy the LOWES bins if you’re buying new ones. It makes life so much easier for everyone. No, we don’t own Lowe’s stock 😅
Bikes: MUST be shipped in bike boxes. E-bike batteries (and batteries in general) are NOT permitted on the container however. We DO offer a separate transport service for your e-bike batteries at $50 / battery round-trip. 

Batteries will be collected at load-in, and will travel with some of our campers via road. Pick-up on playa right at our container check-in station! 

“Regular” e-bike batteries only! No lead-acid batteries, no massive batteries for your mutant vehicle. 

Fill-out this form if you’re interested and send PayPal or Venmo as listed on the form. 

Can’t make it to load-in yourself? Be radically self-reliant! Ask a friend or a camp mate to load your bins onto the container. Make sure to label all your bins and provide your friend with a copy of your ID, and a print-out of your PDF confirmation with the QR code.

On Playa

Location: G & 5:15 (approximate location, same area as last year)
Official Opening Hours: 10:00 – 20:00, except burn nights when we close at 18:00
UnOfficial Opening Hours: if we’re up and about we’ll open up the containers for you, within reason. *Try* and stick to the official hours though
Re-Load: Container Re-Load ENDS Monday September 1, 2025 at 12pm SHARP.  DO NOT BE LATE!

Load-Out

When: Saturday, September 13, 2025, 08:00 – 14:00
Put this date in your calendar RIGHT NOW!!!
Location: TBA, like same as load-in
DO NOT BE LATE! Any items left behind at 14:00 will be considered trash
DO NOT LEAVE ANY TRASH BEHIND!

Questions?

Find us on on facebook, or email us at: info@nyccontainer.org

General Info

MUCH MORE INFO BELOW that elaborates on the TL;DR section! If you’re a first time NYC burner, please read through all of this carefully! If you’re a long time participant of the NYC Community Containers, then the info below is mostly the same as previous years but do try and go over it so you’re up to date!

  • As always, Container space is LIMITED and is being sold on a first come, first served basis
  • That said, we DO NOT expect Container space to sell out right away, so no need for y’all to click buy at the exact time sales open and crash the server! ?
  • All space on the NYC Containers is sold in CUBIC feet. See our calculator section for more info
  • There are no refunds on purchased space, so measure well
  • However, there will be an automated process to transfer space to someone else as in the past
  • ALL PURCHASERS are required to sign our waiver of Liability and provide legal identification upon checking in and loading their things onto the container.

Load-IN

Can’t make it to load-in yourself? Be radically self-reliant! Ask a friend or a camp mate to load your bins onto the container. Make sure to label all your bins and provide your friend with a copy of your ID, and a print-out of your PDF confirmation with the QR code.

Containers take *about* 10-14 days to get to Playa. We will be updating you as we get updates from our shippers. We expect them to arrive during Build Week, most likely on Monday 8/18 or Tuesday 8/19 but as always we make no guarantees. If you arrive on playa during build week there is always a chance you might not be able to get your bins right away. Plan accordingly!

Note: due to our earlier load-in date our first containers have consistently been on playa on Monday of build the last several years, but again it is always possible something goes wrong.

Load-OUT

Load-OUT can be pretty chaotic. Get there early, help us unload the containers, and get your bins right when they comes off the container. If you arrive late, everyone’s bins will be spread out across the parking lot and you may have to search around for a bit. 

Any bins left behind at 14:00 will be considered trash. We make absolutely no guarantees! We have no place to store your stuff, and incredibly little place to transport it as we’ll be taking our own things home. 

Prohibited Items

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT PUTTING THE FOLLOWING ON THE CONTAINER:

  • ILLEGAL ITEMS. This INCLUDES Cannabis, and any other substances. If it’s illegal anywhere in the US it can’t go on the container. You don’t want to be the reason one of our containers gets pulled off the rail and searched with drug dogs do you?
  • ALL ITEMS FLAMMABLE AT HIGH HEAT, OR EVEN THOSE YOU THINK *MIGHT* BE
  • GENERATORS UNLESS THEY ARE BRAND NEW AND NEVER HAVE HAD GAS IN THEM – WE WILL CHECK
  • EXPLOSIVES, GAS, FUEL, COMPRESSED GAS
  • ANYTHING DAMAGED BY EXTREME HEAT (i.e. batteries, uncanned or dry food, etc.)

The containers get very very hot, at times in excess of 120°F. At that level of heat, those items which cannot stand high heat will often explode and ruin everything around them (like batteries) or they can start a fire (like fire flow toys with fuel on them). So, don’t put them in the container.

NYC Container reserves the right to open any and all items loaded on the containers. REMEMBER your stuff is not the only thing on the container, so don’t be irresponsible. If you blow up the container, cause a fire, cause the container to be pulled and searched due to suspicion of illegal substances NO ONES stuff will make it to playa. Don’t be that ass who ruins it for everyone else!

Packing Your Things

General Info

Remember: ALL BINS SHOULD BE PACKED FULLY. Hundreds and hundreds of pounds will be stacked on top of your bins. The containers will be moved from train to train, train to truck, etc. Packing your bins tight and full will help protect them. NYC Community Container is not responsible for any damage to your property. 

All items must be boxed well, this includes bikes and strangely shaped items. NO metal, wood, etc. should be sticking out of anything. Things will be packed on top of or next to others and we are unable to do so unless items are boxed properly, think TETRIS.

Any item not packed properly will not be allowed on the container and no refund will be provided.

PVC, conduit, wood, etc. MUST be taped or ratchet strapped together securely so they will not fall out of the bundle, roll away, etc.

Recommended Bins

We HIGHLY recommend the ubiquitous 27 gallon yellow-top bins from Lowe’s: they are cheap (~ $10 at the moment! cheaper than last year!), sturdy enough to survive multiple trips, stack like legos, and they pack just about the right amount of stuff (6 cu. ft.) so you won’t break your back, or the backs on anyone else who might need to move our lift your bins. Home depot has similar-but-not-quite-the-same 27 gallon bins but they switched providers so their bins are now slightly smaller and appear to break more easily. BOTH the Lowes and Home Depot 27 gallons bins COUNT AS 6 CUBIC FEET.

Try and avoid bins that are significantly bigger (9 cu. ft. and up) because unless you’re packing pillows those bins are going to break some backs.

If you have a very large or strangely shaped item you must let us know asap. This means email us at info@nyccontainer.org

Bikes

ALL bicycles must be taken apart and put in bike boxes. You can find bike boxes at most bike stores, unboxed bikes WILL NOT be allowed on the container. A typical bike box usually measures between 10-15 cubic feet. Make sure to measure correctly!

Bike boxes on Playa: Since last year (2024) we allow bike boxes to remain at the containers if that makes things easier for you. You can put your bike together at the containers (we will have tools to help you with this) and your box can go back onto the containers where it will be waiting for you for the trip back. Make sure they are well labeled so you can find yours! DO NOT leave an empty bike box behind as MOOP for us to deal with!

Electric bikes can go on the containers, but their batteries CANNOT! We do offer a separate ebike battery transport option – see details in TLDR section. You may also be able to bring them on the plane with you in certain cases (check with your airline what Ah or Wh capacity is allowed), or have a friend take them across the country with them if they are driving, or ship them through UPS or a similar service. 

Labeling

YOU MUST LABEL EVERYTHING YOU PUT ON THE CONTAINER WITH YOUR NAME, PHONE NUMBER, EMAIL ADDRESS AND ON PLAYA ADDRESS.

We ask that you tape our QR code onto your bins so we can easily scan them at load-in. Tape a copy to the top of your lid, the side of your bin (the more sides the better! 😁), put one on the inside of your bin (e.g. bottom of your lid) where it will be protected against the elements, etc. We wanna see those QR codes! They will make it easier and much faster to do check-in, and just in case one of your bins ends up forgotten at load-out it will make it much easier for us to contact you.

On Playa

There is no guaranteed arrival date at BRC. Once the container leaves NYC, we have no control. It may show up late, so if you need it to survive, we suggest not packing it on the container. We do our utmost best to keep you up to date on the arrival date of the container on the Playa via the NY Burning Man List and regular emails. We estimate the Containers arriving during the beginning of build week.

On Playa Location

NYC Community Container will be located at G & 5:15 (approximately).

On Playa Hours

Containers will open in the morning (usually around 10ish) and will be closed by 8pm every night EXCEPT for burn nights when we close at 6pm. They will remain open all day.

AT ALL OTHER TIMES THE CONTAINER WILL BE LOCKED AND INACCESSIBLE. If you have a problem with these hours or cannot commit to picking up your items then, we suggest you ship your items another way. We love you, but our DOers are at Burning Man too!

Container hours are the same for both loading and unloading.

On Playa Loading / Unloading

NYC Community Container will not pack your things for you on the playa. Make sure you are there at the right time and can physically load your things on and off the container. Any items left near the containers or at our camp that are not placed on the containers will be donated, burned, blown up or whatever we feel like.

Do not leave your excess packing materials at our camp or on the containers, we don’t want your moop!!

YOU are responsible for unloading and reloading your things on the Container on the Playa. Make sure that you can lift your stuff on and off the container.

All items reloaded on the container must be packed in boxes, just as it went on. This includes bikes!

You will not be allowed to build a box or fill a box (or unload a box) at the actual container. It must be filled and ready to load in/load out prior to getting on to the container. To that end, with the exception of Big Art working with the Artery for unload, everyone must be able to load and unload their boxes without the assistance of more than 1 other person.

Container Reload for shipping back East. 

Container Reload ends September 1, 2025 at 12pm SHARP.  DO NOT BE LATE!

What if I buy too much space?

No worries! There is an automated process in case you want to re-sell part or all of your container space to someone else. Re-sale link TBA (will be available a couple of weeks after sales open)

Cubic Feet Calculator

CUBIC FEET = LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT
1 CUBIC FOOT = 1728 CUBIC INCHES

Make things easy on yourself by using online calculators (google is your friend).

E.g.: https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/misc/cubic-feet-calculator.php

EXAMPLE:
Dan’s bin is 18 in x 12 in x 20 in. 
18 x 12 x 20 = 4,320 cubic inches
4,320 cubic inches / 1728 = 2.5 cubic feet

Dan must purchase 3 cubic feet on the container.