A Massive Boeing 747 From Burning Man May Land in Downtown Las Vegas

The hull of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet that served as a piece of car art at the desert festival Burning Man may finally have a new home in Las Vegas.

Zappos bought the art in August 2019 and requested to lease a vacant lot at the northeastern corner of Stewart Avenue and Seventh Street from the city for $10 a year. Zappos wants to create an event space with the 747 as the centerpiece, with proposed “Sky Chef-style trucks redesigned as food trucks, and stair trucks for entering and exiting plane doors,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Several shaded areas made from shipping containers that look like airplane hangars could feature food and drink as well.

If approved, Zappos plans to move the 747, now housed in five pieces at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in May and reconstruct it in July for a September opening.

In 2018, Big Imagination raised and spent a little less than $1 million to convert the fuselage into a nightclub for the eight-day Burning Man festival held on a dry lake bed dubbed Black Rock City, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles northeast of Reno. The plane is a 1985 Varig cargo conversion that at one time flew in Brazil.

Big Rig Jig, a piece of art by artist Mike Ross made from two repurposed 18-wheeler tanker trucks, also made an appearance at Burning Man in 2007 and now sits as the centerpiece at Fergusons Downtown.

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