🇺🇸 Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA
What to Pack for Burning Man 2026
Built from about 15 years of weather records at the site: typical highs of 30°C, overnight lows of 17°C and around 0.2mm of rain per day.
The weather you're packing for
| Day | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 30 Aug | 30°C | 17°C | 0.0 mm |
| Mon 31 Aug | 30°C | 17°C | 0.0 mm |
| Tue 1 Sept | 29°C | 16°C | 0.5 mm |
| Wed 2 Sept | 30°C | 17°C | 0.2 mm |
| Thu 3 Sept | 30°C | 18°C | 1.0 mm |
| Fri 4 Sept | 30°C | 17°C | 0.0 mm |
| Sat 5 Sept | 30°C | 17°C | 0.1 mm |
| Sun 6 Sept | 30°C | 17°C | 0.0 mm |
| Mon 7 Sept | 31°C | 17°C | 0.0 mm |
Long-run averages for each festival day, not a forecast. Check the Burning Man forecast page in the week before you travel.
Always in the bag
- Refillable water bottle — sealed or empty so it gets through the gate.
- Sunscreen SPF 50 — even a cloudy festival day is six hours outdoors.
- Power bank — your phone is your ticket, your map and your group chat.
- Earplugs — for the front rail and for the campsite at 4am.
- More socks than days.
Heat kit — this one matters here
Typical highs of 30°C, peaking around 31°C on the warmest festival day, put heat near the top of the list at Burning Man.
- A wide-brim hat and sunglasses beat a cap for full-day sets.
- Loose, light-coloured long sleeves cover more skin and feel cooler than a vest.
- Electrolyte tablets — water alone won't keep up with a day of dancing.
- Shade at camp: a tent in direct sun is unusable by 9am.
Rain kit (lightweight)
Rain falls on roughly 11% of Burning Man days, averaging 0.2mm a day and about 1.8mm across the main days.
- A packable rain shell — it weighs nothing and one shower is still likely.
- A bin bag or dry bag for the tent floor if a storm does roll in.
- Broken-in trainers rather than boots; the ground usually stays firm.
Sleeping and night layers
Overnight lows average 17°C, with the coldest festival night typically near 16°C (Tue 1 Sept). A 1-season bag or even a duvet-style liner is enough — most nights you'll sleep on top of it, not in it.
- An insulated mat — the ground takes more heat than the air.
- A hoodie you don't mind losing.
Why the Burning Man site matters
The desert dictates everything. Sun and dehydration rule the day, freezing nights surprise the underprepared, and the famous white-out dust storms can shut down visibility for hours. The rare rainstorm turns the playa into impassable mud — as it did in 2023, when the entire city was stranded for days. Goggles, dust masks, layers and serious water are baseline kit.