The Burning Man music festival is suing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), claiming that the government agency has overcharged it in fees for several years.
Black Rock City LLC, the company that produces the annual event, filed a lawsuit this month seeking “relief from defendants’ ongoing, unlawful and prejudicial conduct … that threatens the viability of the iconic Burning Man event,” according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
“This case is our attempt to break this cycle,” Burning Man spokeswoman Megan Miller told the newspaper in an email.
Black Rock City paid the BLM more than $18 million in services and expenses between 2015 and 2018, according to the Gazette Journal. In 2019, it paid almost $3 million, excluding the commercial use fee.
In previous years, Black Rock City reportedly appealed the costs.
Neither Burning Man nor the BLM immediately responded to The Hill’s request for comment.
The weeklong festival brings about 80,000 people to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each year.
