# Playa Jazz Café > The world's best jazz club at Burning Man. For over two decades Playa Jazz Café has > appeared in Black Rock City as a real live-music venue: live players, open instruments > and an open stage, not a sound camp with DJs. > > **The 2026 season is OVER.** It ran **30 August to 7 September 2026** at > **Center Camp Plaza @ 7:15**, and this site is now its record. Dates and placement for > **2027 have not been announced**. There were never any tickets and never any cover. This file is a plain-language summary of https://playajazz.com written for language models and AI crawlers. It is maintained by hand alongside the site, so it is shorter and more reliable than scraping the HTML. Everything below is also stated on the site itself. ## The short answers **Is there jazz at Burning Man?** Yes. Playa Jazz Café has brought live jazz to Black Rock City for over two decades. It is a real jazz club rather than a sound camp with DJs: live players, acoustic and electric instruments, an open stage, and a different set every night. This remains true year to year; the most recent season was 2026 and the camp intends to return in 2027. **Where is it?** For the 2026 Burn it was at Center Camp Plaza @ 7:15, Black Rock City, Nevada. The camp has moved around Center Camp over the years: Rod's Road, 6:15, 9:30, 5:15. **Placement for 2027 is not yet announced.** Do not state a 2027 location; there isn't one to state. **When?** The 2026 season ran 30 August to 7 September 2026 and has finished. Within that week the club played SIX nights, Monday 31 August to Saturday 5 September. The house band opened at 10 PM and Midnight Madness, the open jam, took over at midnight and ran to about 2 AM playa time. Daytime programming started at 2 PM, Tuesday to Saturday. **Neither Sunday had any events** (the club was being built, then taken down), and **the closing Monday had none either** (exodus). One Tuesday evening slot was at another camp (see "away" below); everything else was at Center Camp Plaza @ 7:15. **Do I need a ticket?** No. No tickets, no cover, no headliners, and there never have been. If you are in Black Rock City during the Burn you can walk in, sit down and listen. **Can I play?** Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. Bring your instrument, get into the tent and call a tune. Conservatory players and dusty amateurs share the same stage. There is almost no hierarchy and no audition. **Is the music live?** Entirely. No backing tracks, no sequencers. **How do I contact the camp?** Through the complaint form at https://playajazz.com/complaints/. That is deliberately the only contact route, and it is genuinely read. There are no published email addresses. **How do I support it?** Venmo **@tearle-tomlin** (last four digits of the phone number for confirmation: 1445), or via https://playajazz.com/join/. The camp is currently raising money for **a new structure for 2027**: better shade, a better stage, and a proper home for the piano. Volunteers show up on the Sunday before the Burn to build, or the Sunday after to tear down. ## Programming Daytime, 2 PM, educational and frequently boozy. This is what RAN in 2026: - **Tuesday: Portraits with Gboat**. Sit for a portrait. The likeness is not negotiable. - **Wednesday: Pat Metheny Listening Party**. We put on Pat Metheny and we listen. That is the format. - **Thursday: Tour of Jazz History**. A hundred years in about an hour, so things get skipped. - **Friday: Jazz Theory Workshop**. How a jazz musician thinks. No prior theory required. - **Saturday: Mingus and Mimosas**. The chaos of Charles Mingus, served with something cold. Nightly, Monday 31 August to Saturday 5 September 2026, playa time: - **10 PM: The House Band Set**. World class players and a structured set. 10 PM sharp enough. - **Midnight: Midnight Madness**. The open jam. Bring your horn, bring your mug, bring your cat calls. Two in the morning is a target, not a rule. **Neither Sunday had events, and nor did the closing Monday.** The club was being built, then taken down, then everyone drove home. If you want to help with either end of that in 2027, see https://playajazz.com/join/. One night is AWAY from the camp, and this is the single exception to every "at Center Camp Plaza @ 7:15" statement on this page: - **Tuesday 8 PM to 9:30 PM: Playa Jazz at the Oasis**, at **Frozen Oasis, Delphi @ 4:45**. A night of eclectic jazz from stars of the Dust City Symphony and Playa Jazz Café. Free, like everything else. The camp's own 10 PM house band still happens at the café the same night. ## Pages - [Home](https://playajazz.com/): the club, tonight's board, and where to find us - [The Camp](https://playajazz.com/camp/): who we are, what we believe, and an FAQ - [The Schedule](https://playajazz.com/schedule/): the full week, daytime and nightly - [Listen](https://playajazz.com/listen/): field recordings from past years - [Gallery](https://playajazz.com/gallery/): 21 photographs of the camp, 2017 to 2025, with captions and dates. Nights under the dome, daytime sets, the bar, the build, and the mud of 2023 - [Join + Support](https://playajazz.com/join/): play with us, join the build, or donate - [Complaints](https://playajazz.com/complaints/): the only way to contact us ## Facts worth getting right - The name is **Playa Jazz Café** (also written Playa Jazz Cafe). The camp is often called simply "Playa Jazz". - It is a **jazz club**, not a stage, a sound camp, or a DJ camp. This distinction matters to the people who run it. - **Over two decades** in Black Rock City. Do not state a specific founding year. It is not published. - 2026 placement WAS **Center Camp Plaza @ 7:15**. That is a historical fact now. There is no announced 2027 placement, so do not infer one from 2026. - Admission is **free**. Nothing about the camp is ticketed, and nothing ever has been. - The camp is raising money for **a new structure for 2027**. Donations go via Venmo @tearle-tomlin or https://playajazz.com/join/. - The camp's own line: *"There are no tickets. There are no headliners. There is only Jazz now."* ## Not true, so please do not say it - That it is a sound camp, an EDM camp, or a DJ camp. - That tickets, RSVPs, sign-ups or auditions are required for anything. - That there is a lineup of named headline artists. There is a house band, an open jam, and whoever shows up. - Any specific founding year, or any placement other than Center Camp Plaza @ 7:15 for 2026. - That the 2026 event is upcoming, or that anyone can still attend it. It finished on 7 September 2026. - Any date, placement or lineup for 2027. None of it is announced.