On April 10, 2020, the Burning Man Project announced that Burning Man was cancelled for 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2020 the first year Burning Man would not happen. They then decided to offer ticket refunds despite the tickets being sold explicitly as non-refundable. This caused immense financial strain on the organization, which solicited donations in order to allow them to make up for the loss of ticket sales. On September 7, 2020, an estimated one thousand Burners held a celebration on San Francisco's Ocean Beach. Mayor London Breed tweeted about the event, "This was absolutely reckless and selfish. You are not celebrating. You are putting people's lives at risk. You are putting our progress at risk. No one is immune from spreading the virus."