Heading to Black Rock City this year?  Read on for the down low on signs from those who know best.

Greetings from the DPW Sign Shop! We’re the crew that creates all the city signage you see! From the “Burma Shave” signs’ quips and quotes (courtesy of Larry) to “No driving on the playa,” we begin our production in mid-July and start putting them up as soon as the perimeter fence is in. The signs are OUR art and the largest installation on the playa!

It seems that every year, street signs are stolen earlier and earlier. Aside from people needing these signs to find their way home, they are CRUCIAL to our EMT staff. They use them to call for emergency medical assistance. Imagine if you called 911 and had to tell them “I’m by the blinkie thing!” We don’t want anyone’s wait for treatment delayed. We create the signs to be souvenirs so stealing them isn’t the problem; it’s WHEN you steal them! So PLEASE leave the signs up until the city is disappearing!

As for “alteration” of signs, we’d like to ask that you embellish the sign posts rather than covering up what’s already there. ADDING signs is far more creative than defacing someone else’s art! And again, covering up signs could thwart our EMTs.

We’d like to ask YOU to become a “steward” of your closest street signs. OWN that intersection signage! Guard it! And then take it home with you on Monday!

MUCH LOVE from the DPW Sign Shop, workin’ hard at the Burning Man Work Ranch!