Camps on fire with Burning Man padel plan
Padel at Burning Man
Take the hottest new sporting trend globally, pair it with what’s considered the most dynamic and largest art experience in the world and what do you have?
Padel at Burning Man, the forthcoming week-long festival in Nevada, America, which sees a temporary settlement – Black Rock City – pop up in the desert some 160km north east of Reno for a week at the end of August,
It’ll be yet another first for padel and is the challenge of a lifetime for organiser Patty Camps, well-known in British padel circles for her work as a player manager and for ‘connecting the dots’ for padel companies through her business Venture Padelist.
Securing funding, transporting a padel court deep into the desert, building it alongside volunteer camp members to a tight schedule with minimal equipment, operating it 24/7 in day time temperatures heading towards 40° and with the prospect of sandstorms or (as in 2023) downpours, is no mean feat but one that Patty is intent on delivering for the benefit of padel.
“It will be huge for the sport in general,” she said. “We’ll give padel a platform on a global stage. You may even find festival goers like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk playing on the padel court.”
Patty’s not over estimating the event’s draw; Burning Man is known for its stellar guest list, including Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, a slew of A-list actors, models, musicians and Elon Musk. It’s described variously as the ‘playground of business elites’ and a ‘tradition’ for billionaire businessmen.
This court is a gift, born out of love for the sport. A space of pure energy exchange, where friendships spark and core memories are made.”
- Patty Camps
Principles
The festival is also famed for its guiding principles, one of which is gifting. Attendees (‘Burners’) stage shows, art installations etc, offering them for free to fellow festival-goers, a concept that Patty buys into: “What inspired me to do Burning Man was ‘what would I like to find in Utopia’? Because Black Rock City is Utopia. It’s a city where money isn’t an object, it doesn’t exist. There aren’t brands, there isn’t marketing, everyone’s gifting. So I would like to gift padel to the community, watch people find their perfect match on court and then after speak all about it, create memories that will elevate this sport into a cultural conversation, which is, I think, quite important for padel, especially in the US where it’s really starting to take off.
“I’m also a bit of a trailblazer and I’ve been trying to go to Burning Man for many years. It’s a festival that I believe has a very interesting set of principles and a unique demographic. For the sport it would be excellent, especially in North America because they’re the demographic that can really influence its growth and make it explode.”
The event’s 2025 theme ‘Tomorrow Today’ is particularly apt given padel’s growth and the number of new courts planned globally. But to make the (hopefully glow-in-the-dark) installation happen, Patty needs industry support and crowdfunding to raise the remaining $33,000.
Christoffer Granfelt, of Instantpadel courts, and Tom Konkowski of Conquer Padel, an operator with clubs in Arizona and Utah, have worked with Patty to provide the court for free. Given it’s going on dusty terrain, may have to cope with high winds, needs building quickly by non experts and has to be 100% safe, Patty felt perspex-walled Instantpadel was the perfect solution.
By her own admission, logistics are a nightmare, from transporting the court 14 hours on a truck from Arizona, to ensuring a flat patch of desert 20m x 10m, borrowing a forklift for the build and sourcing a generator to power the lights; everything is more difficult and time-consuming in the desert.
“It’s a lot to think about! I’ve basically just done a Masters in court setting up and logistics in six months but here we are, it’s the final stretch and I truly believe this will all be worth it” she added.
Patty is adamant that she will achieve and is already seeing interest in the project ripple around the globe, with tentative plans for DJs playing court side, meditation sessions etc.
“That’s the type of life that it’s building up by itself, just by saying that a court’s going to be there. Loads of people are chiming in and giving it its own life. So yeah, that’s the beauty of Burning Man. Nothing’s planned, everything is possible,” she added.
The court (if funded) will be part of Casa de la Rumba, a cultural camp with more than 50 international camp members located on the Playa at 7:30 & G. 🎾
