If you’ve never been to Burning Man, the term might call to mind spectacular DIY art installations, elaborate costumes, psychedelic drugs, and models posing for Instagram photos. If you’ve looked into Burning Man a little more, you might have heard about something else: the Orgy Dome.
The Orgy Dome isn’t a myth. There is, in fact, an Orgy Dome at Burning Man, and it’s been there every year since 2003. It’s run by a camp called And Then There’s Only Love, or ATTOL. Sometimes it’s also nicknamed “the Best F*cking Camp on Playa” (get it?).
ATTOL’s website proclaims, “We pride ourselves in creating a sex-positive, consensual space for couples and moresomes [groups of three or more] to play during their stay at Black Rock City. The Dome is a safe, inclusionary, and exploratory environment. All couples and moresomes who are adults are welcome in the Dome — straight, lesbian, gay, bi, polyamorous and monogamous. We welcome the combination of love in all forms.”
According to ATTOL’s website, over 100 people run the camp, which along with the orgy dome includes a kitchen, shower, shade structures, and a “meet and greet” space called Aphrodite’s Garden. The Orgy Dome welcomes adult couples and moresomes of all genders and sexualities, but no unaccompanied singles. Attendees mingle and wait in line in Aphrodite’s Garden before entering the dome itself.
Before they enter the Dome, each person listens to a detailed consent talk from a Dome Greeter. When they enter the dome, couples and moresomes can choose to go to “Just Us” area, or an “Open To More” area. In the “Just Us” area, each person has sex with the person or people they came with, with other couples and moresomes having sex nearby. In the “Open To More” area, couples and moresomes can approach others to ask if they’d like to join them — which everyone is free to either accept or turn down. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, one attendee mentioned that the camp provides condoms and lube, and that there are couches and pillows available to have sex on, as well as mattresses.
Along with being an air-conditioned place to have public sex, the Orgy Dome offers a variety of sex classes, with titles including “Hooking Up With Integrity,” “Group Erotic Massage,” “Sex For Introverts,” and “Squirting And Vagina Empowerment.” And according to ATTOL, over 10,000 people attended in 2018.
We visited Reddit to collect stories from people who’ve been to the Orgy Dome. Enjoy.
My S.O. is very sexually open, so we decided to check out the dome and have sex there. It's a very opening experience. No “orgies” were going on, just couples having sex. In our room, we had one couple in their 20s, another in their 30s, another in their 40s. It was very beautiful actually, especially the generational gaps. The act of sex is nothing to be ashamed of.
Since then, we've had a group sex experience with others burners we camped with back home, and it's not weird, at all, for any of us. I guess it's not an orgy in the sense of having sex with multiple people, but it's free in the same way that walking around naked on the playa is free. There's nothing to be afraid of in the Orgy Dome. It's a nice place with nice people, and no one will force you to have sex. I definitely plan on returning next year. It's the best place to have sex on the playa! (via Reddit)
My partner and I did a cunnilingus workshop there. I’m usually somewhat sexually timid, but still wanted to do this. I found the atmosphere more or less clean and comfortable. The couple leading the workshop were very nice and even “normal.” At the end of the workshop, we were allowed to bang if we wanted (or finish banging). It was surprisingly one of my favorite experiences last year. I never expected I would do something like that, but it was totally hot and I really enjoyed myself.
I was mildly nervous for the first two or three minutes, but then I realized nobody was looking at me. Everyone was focused on their own partners and the lesson. I looked at my love and he said everything would be okay, and I soon melted into what he was doing to me. Surprisingly, being around so many other turned-on couples really turned me on, and I found it easy to relax. I would have felt awkward not participating. No regrets! Would go again. (via Reddit)
I had sex in the Orgy Dome with my long-term girlfriend. It was mostly just couples in there, and I was shocked by how normal it was. It wasn't like porn. Real sex is a lot more subdued, I guess. The space between people is less than in porn. You don't even really see penetration. A couple asked if they could watch us and it was more flattering than creepy. (via Reddit)
I’m a bi man, and I camp with the Orgy Dome (ATTOL). I planned a reverse gang-bang for a camp mate for his birthday. He f***ed a dozen or so women. I was the only man allowed in and I took his anal virginity as he came on my chest. (via Reddit)
My boyfriend and I went to the Orgy Dome. There are couples and moresomes everywhere, and you are not allowed to go into the tent alone (for obvious pervert preventative reasons). We had sex in front of many couples, and while they were a bit involved in their own goings on, it was one of the hottest experiences I've ever had. (via Reddit)