You may have heard the rumors, Apogaea sold out. There are no more tickets to sell, not even at the gate. If you’re one of the many people who wanted to attend but were unable to secure a ticket, you’re probably pretty bummed. While we know the only thing that could make it 100% better is a ticket, we would like to express our empathy. It seems that almost everyone involved in organizing the event has good friends who, for one reason or another, were unable to get their tickets.
The Apogaea Board of Directors would like to tell you, the Apogaea community, a little bit more about ticket sales, this year’s cap, and the direction the event is heading. Apogaea is a very young event, having burned a mere 5 effigies thus far. You can read about the inception of the event on Westword. This year, the volunteer-based Board of Directors is stepping it up a little. This year, Apogaea will be held in a new location. The new location is closer to Denver and has significantly more room to grow. This is huge.
The board and various volunteers examined a plethora of locations. The search went so far as to extend out of state. That’s right, Apo sent a team out to examine land in Wyoming. Over time, the board narrowed the choices down to just a handful of locations. Of those, the chosen location has the best opportunity for growth, while meeting the community’s need for privacy and holding the best shot for receiving an event permit from local authorities. The choice was made with the future of the event in mind.
While the generous landowner and key volunteers were working through the legal details of land use, the rest of Apogaea’s volunteer teams set to work re-organizing the event for the new location. We are playing on virgin ground this year; this will be the first event held on this land. The transition is very work intensive. How work intensive? We had to build a road… That’s right, Apogaea built a road this year… almost a mile of road… for you, the Apogaea community. In many ways, Apogaea is experiencing it’s own “rights of passage” this year. In addition to moving the entire event, the organization itself has been approved as a Federal 501(c) charitable organization, requiring the complete re-vamp of our financial books, as well as our space.
In ten days, the gates will open and the community will begin to pour inside. Once 1,100 community members step inside, we will be full. Unlike previous years, un-ticketed cars loaded with people will not find solace inside the gates of Apogaea. This makes everyone’s hearts a little heavier. No one wants to be in that car, and no one wants to be the one to turn that car away.
Why just 1,100? The Board of Directors did not make this decision casually. They considered the requests of the generous landowner and the size of previous events. They considered the would-be size restriction of hosting on the previous land. They considered the workload of an all volunteer staff along with the rapidly growing Apogaea budget. Ultimately, a number had to be chosen. That number was… 1,000, actually. It wasn’t until the final paperwork came together that an additional 100 people were blessed with an opportunity to attend.
Now all of those tickets are in the hands of you, the community. If you missed out, you should keep an eye on the Apogaea Facebook Group as well as Denver’s Craig’s List. Please, keep in the spirit of Burner culture and sell your tickets for no more than you paid for them. Don’t be scared to gift a ticket away if it feels right.
This year, we are setting a new vibe on a new patch of ground. Let’s bring the right intention. With the momentum of success this year, we can grow large enough to host more of our ever growing community next year. A special mega-huge thanks to each and every single person that has contributed to the event. We are all, after all, the community.