The Burningman ticket has for as long as I remember (at least as far back as '98) had words similar to "I voluntarily assume the risk of serious injury or death by attending this event".
(We had tshirts made with the exact ticket wording in '01 or '02...)
Right, but that is just hipster douchebags thinking it would be "edgy" to say that. One sniff of actual danger and they'll have Daddy come pick them up, or buy their way out with his credit card.
There are certainly art installations every year that can maim or kill if you do something stupid. For that matter if you're stupid and wander off into the dust storm without water, you can easily get heat stroke. That doesn't mean going to burning man is "edgy and dangerous", it just means that's what you have to put on a ticket if you are organizing an event in litigation-happy USA.
> 4. Admission is at Ticket Holder's own risk. Glastonbury Festival 2013 Ltd and the Premises Licence Holder will not be held liable for any loss, injuries or damages sustained at the event including damage, theft or losses to property and motor vehicles, if the cause is due to the negligence of the ticket holder or the actions of other patrons or third parties or force majeure.
I'm pretty sure you can't disclaim liability in the US just with a sign either. All of those 'park at your own risk' signs mean nothing when a runaway shopping cart puts a big dent in your door. A shopping center is responsible for their carts, but not for your car being broken into - things like that. Those signs are just there to make people think they can't sue.
When I was in college I played a lot of intramural softball. Of course you had to sign a release that if you get hurt in the regular course of the game the school wasn't liable. Fair enough. My problem was that they allowed these insane metal softball bats, triple-walled ones that can turn Gary Coleman into Jose Cabrera. As the pitcher I didn't like balls flying at my head (insert gay joke here) at those insane speeds.
I complained and was promptly told 'you signed a waiver'. I made it clear that I didn't sign a waiver for negligence and they were being negligent by allowing unsafe bats, moreso now that I've brought the issue to their attention. They changed their tune pretty quickly after that.
There's a big fence around Glastonbury - and wandering off into the Somerset countryside doesn't hold the same level of risk as walking out into the desert...
And while never having been to Glastonbury, I strongly doubt I'd have the opportunity there to get as close to the action with things like Greg Leyh's 30foot tall Tesla Coil(1), or Jim Masons flamethrowers(2), or Dance Dance Immolation(3), or even the somewhat more "safe" artworks like Crude Awakening(4).
I know Burningman has a _very_ strong "hipster douchbag" reputation these days (and I won't argue that it's not at least somewhat deserved) - there is definitely something more than that as well.
Because you're not in the middle of the desert, you're in a smashing field in a charming part of the country. Some of the installations in Glastonbury are most likely dangerous in some respects, but a lot of the ones at Burning Man seem to carry an inherent risk of injury if you're not seriously careful.
Just being in the middle of the Black Rock Desert can kill you , if you don't drink enough water. There are plenty of ways to die while at Burning Man and people have. In 1996 at one of the bigger burn events, the people in charge of the event were yelling at the crowd to "stand back! We're not professionals!". Much of the large-scale are is dangerous and yet people love to climb all over them and there are no safety nets. It is seriously not an environment for "hipster douchebags" at all.
(We had tshirts made with the exact ticket wording in '01 or '02...)