Beninati

I.

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Anthony Beninati (Beninati) was a three-time attendee at the iconic Burning Man festival (Burning Man), held annually at Black Rock City, Nevada. During his attendance at the 2005 festival, Beninati was himself burned when he tripped and fell into the remnants of the Burning Man effigy while participating in the festival’s commemorative ritual. He sued Burning Man’s promoter, respondent Black Rock City, LLC (Black Rock), seeking recovery for his personal injuries and property damage. The trial court granted summary judgment as to Beninati’s single cause of action for negligence, concluding that Black Rock owed Beninati no duty of care under the doctrine of primary assumption of risk. We agree, and affirm.

II.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. General Procedural Background

Beninati filed a civil complaint in the San Francisco County Superior Court in August 2006. The complaint alleged that Black Rock was either the lessee or possessor of land upon which the Burning Man festival was held in 2005, or that it “possessed, managed, maintained, operated, supervised, coordinated, and controlled the event,” which included the burning of a…