There are all sorts of volunteer roles someone needs to do, from directing parking, to helping in the kitchen, to roaming around at 3am to see if anyone needs help, to working the first aid stand, and a hundred other things. I always sign up for at least a couple of shifts doing something, so feel like part of the "we" helping to put it on, but it's still something I go to as a participant to have fun.

As someone who does something similar, it’s easily both

Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

The best festivals are co-creative experiences.

In Australia these are known as "bush doofs" and are essentially community events - they're organised, run and attended by a group of people rather than an organisation.

You can't buy tickets to them, you have to know someone who's in the group chat for them. You can just turn up on the day if you know where the event is; they're always incredibly remote, usually on a patch of bush (forest) on someone's enormous farm or a national park, pitch a tent, join in, help out where you can. Security is "if you act like a dickhead you'll be asked politely to leave by a bunch of people". There's no financial contribution, except sometimes a hat is passed around if someone had to pay for equipment hire or similar. You can buy drugs there, but only if you know the person you're buying from; usually better to sort yourself out before you go, there won't be anyone advertising anything for sale at the doof.

They can look a little like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_RWBSQ9ic

Note: Burning car and local farm fire truck to stop fire spreading.

That's the Kellerberrin B&S, I think: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_and_Spinster_Ball. Hence why the uploader called it a BnS, the girl at the start says "welcome to the blokes and skanks ball", everyone's driving a ute with a sick bullbar instead of mum's station wagon, and they look like they're all fucked up on Bundy and coke instead of MDMA and coke.

Not quite the same thing as a bush doof.

Strictly speaking it's a West Australian Inseminator's Ball (as titled) which were for a while run in parallel with the B&S balls although to the best of my knowledge they've both died down in popularity - Muresk Agricultural College very nearly closed, although it's gotten fresh grant money in recent years which may have changed things up a bit.

It shares a bit of overlap with many other variations of a bush party that I've been to, they've all been a little bit unique, a little bit the same.

There's even been a odd local lesser version of the more famous US Burning Man here - inspired by is perhaps the best description: https://blazingswan.com.au/ and not like a B&S, a bush doof, nor a Burning Man.

None of these things look like an inner city warehouse rave or nightclub either.