Playa Phone

For the rest of the week of Burning Man, a phone booth is standing on the dusty street corner of 3:30 and Ceiba, in front of the Temple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Black Rock City, Nevada for anyone to use.

If someone knows the number of a friend or loved one, they can call almost anywhere in the world for 5 minutes for free. Or you can call it and someone walking past might pick it up.

Call the phone

Dial +1 (775) 557-4848 to try to talk to a random Burner. Or add Playa Phone as a contact to make it easier to call later.

If the phone is already in use, you’ll get a busy signal. If it rings six times and hangs up, nobody answered. Don’t be surprised if you have to call repeatedly.

Did you get a call from this number?

You were called from a friend, loved one, or maybe a random stranger at Burning Man who was walking past our phone booth and decided to dial your number.

If your phone silenced the call because it was an unknown number, add Playa Phone as a contact to make your phone more likely to ring if they call back.

How does it work?

This is an ordinary phone booth that I’ve replaced the internals of to not accept payment and to make phone calls over the Internet.

Read SFGATE’s story about the phone for more information.

There’s also a Reddit announcement where others have shared their experiences and I answer questions.