Electronic Dance Music Festivals Research Articles

Prevalence and Misreporting of Illicit Drug Use among Electronic Dance Music Festivals Attendees: A Comparative Study between Sweden and Belgium.

Illicit drug use is common among attendees of electronic dance music (EDM) festivals, but is often significantly underreported by participants. The current study aimed to compare the prevalence and over- and under-reporting of illicit drug use among attendees at EDM festivals in two European countries with distinct drug laws and cultures. Self-reported data regarding recent drug use were collected through interviews. Participants' blood alcohol concentrations were measured using a breathalyzer. Recent illicit drug use was assessed through sampling microparticles in the breath and consequent off-site analysis through liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectroscopy. Illicit drug use was higher in Belgium than in Sweden as indicated by self-reports (56.8 vs. 4.3%) and drug testing (37.2 vs. 12.5%). Underreporting was higher in Sweden than in Belgium; in Sweden, only 2.6% reported taking an illicit drug other than cannabis, whereas 11.6% tested positive, while the corresponding figures in Belgium were 36.5% and 36.9%. In both countries, results from self-reporting and drug testing for specific drugs matched poorly at the individual level, indicating unwitting consumption of substances. This study indicates that the drug use prevalence and the likelihood of disclosure may differ between countries or cultures, which should be considered when choosing methods to investigate drug use prevalence.

Draw & Doodle Simulation: A colorful strategy to prepare medical teams for electronic dance music festival emergencies

Educational challenge Electronic dance music (EDM) festivals – crowded, loud, low-resource environments – pose unique challenges to event medical teams. Simulation can prepare teams to manage clinical presentations in this unconventional context. Without access to simulation infrastructure, a low-technological, low-fidelity simulation modality is warranted. Solution Draw & Doodle Simulation (D&D SIM) is a low-fidelity simulation where patients are hand-drawn (i.e. on paper, whiteboard, or digitally) instead of utilizing manikins or live actors. Facilitators draw all patient findings, while participants doodle any possible interventions. Solution implementation Two D&D SIM cases (serotonin toxicity and refractory anaphylaxis) were piloted in classrooms. Participants included paramedics, medical students, lifeguards, and first aiders. Facilitators conducted simulations using chart paper, with each participant doodling contributions using differently colored markers. Lessons learned Participants responded positively, rating the serotonin toxicity case 4.31/5 (n = 13) and refractory anaphylaxis case 4.53/5 (n = 15). Participants appreciated the ‘low-stakes’, useful ‘visual’ representation of progress, ‘fun and [interactivity]’, and appropriate ‘[realism]’ of D&D SIM. However, D&D SIM was perceived as ‘less life threatening’, would not be appropriate for physical skills (e.g. CPR), required everyone to be ‘oriented in the same direction to see the drawing’, and the chart paper risked becoming cluttered. Next steps Next steps include writing new cases, implementing D&D SIM in other teaching contexts, exploring its use in digital platforms, and studying its effectiveness against higher-fidelity simulation.

Retrospective Analysis of Patient Presentations at Belgium's Largest Multi-day Outdoor Hardstyle Dance Event

Introduction:Electronic dance music festivals (EDMF) are a unique subset of music mass gatherings. Besides the already more significant burden on in-event health services (IEHS) that comes with these festivals, EDMF are also known for their illicit drug use, with their attendees at high risk for illegal drug use.Method:Encounter data from all patients seen and treated by IEHS at an annual outdoor multi-day EDMF (focused on hardstyle dance music) in August 2019 were analyzed. Based on the chief complaint, and medical and nursing notes, a list was consolidated into 31 reasons for the consultation of IEHS. The most common reasons for consulting IEHS were analyzed.Results:This outdoor hardstyle dance event had 30,000 attendees, of which 580 visited IEHS. This resulted in a patient presentation rate of 19.3/1,000 attendees. Four were transported to the hospital (transport to hospital rate: 0.13/1,000 attendees). The most prevalent reason to consult IEHS were lacerations and abrasions (9.66%), sprains (9.48%), and headaches (7.59%). Only 4.83% of all patients (n = 12) presented with adverse effects of illicit drug use. Of interest is that twelve patients with intoxications (42.86% of all intoxicated patients) were initially triaged as life-threatening, mainly due to obstructed airways. Only one of these twelve needed endotracheal intubation and was transported to the hospital. All other intoxicated patients returned to the event. No direct relationship between gender and the chief complaint was found.Conclusion:Besides typical patient presentations, illicit drug use with its adverse effects can seriously impact IEHS. These results confirm the need for highly trained (Advanced life support level) IEHS at EDMF. Competent IEHS can mitigate the burden of these events on regular EMS.

The Impact of In-Event Health Services at Europe's Largest Electronic Dance Music Festival on Ems and Ed in the Host Community.

Electronic dance music festivals (EDMF) can cause a significant disruption in the standard operational capacity of emergency medical services (EMS) and hospitals. We determined whether or not the presence of in-event health services (IEHS) can reduce the impact of Europe's largest EDMF on the host community EMS and local emergency departments (EDs). We conducted a pre-post analysis of the impact of Europe's largest EDMF in July 2019, in Boom, Belgium, on the host community EMS and local EDs. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and χ2 analysis. Of 400,000 attendees, 12,451 presented to IEHS. Most patients only required in-event first aid, but 120 patients had a potentially life-threatening condition. One hundred fifty-two patients needed to be transported by IEHS to nearby hospitals, resulting in a transport-to-hospital rate of 0.38/1000 attendees. Eighteen patients remained admitted to the hospital for >24 h; one died after arrival in the ED. IEHS limited the overall impact of the MGE on regular EMS and nearby hospitals. No predictive model proved optimal when proposing the optimal number and level of IEHS members. This study shows that IEHS at this event limited ambulance usage and mitigated the event's impact on regular emergency medical and health services.

Is there an Indian way of raving? Reading the cultural negotiations of Indian youth in the trans-local EDM scene

ABSTRACT In India, the past two decades have been crucial for the growing popularity of Electronic Dance Music (EDM). This is largely due to the burgeoning presence and significance of EDM festivals as a performative site of a contemporary Indian youth culture. A salient feature capturing the zeitgeist of twenty-first century, urban, modern Indian youth is EDM’s gradual permeation into the cultural fabric of India through crucial collaborations with cultural industries like Bollywood. It is a truism that the legacy of Goa Trance remains a dominant point of reference in the global imagination of the Indian EDM scene. This article, however, argues that the contemporary mode of Indian Electronic Dance Music Culture (EDMC) has largely developed independently of this legacy. The main proponent of contemporary EDMC in urban India has been the multiple greenfield EDM festivals held annually all over the country. This article draws on fieldwork data collected between 2016-2018 at Indian EDM festival sites. Using this empirical data, the article examines the ‘performance’ of Indian EDMC and considers whether it is viable to speak in terms of an Indian way of raving, as a variation of other ‘local’ ways of performing EDMC that may exist elsewhere in the world.

Carnivalesque Dimension of Electronic Dance Music in Festivals

Underground (yeraltı) bir kültürden gelen elektronik dans müziğinin (EDM) gelişimini incelendiğimizde son yıllarda festivaller sayesinde ana akım haline geldiğini söyleyebiliriz. EDM, Türkiye’de geç tanınmasına rağmen Disk Jokey’ler ve prodüktörler aracılığıyla zaman içerisinde aktif bir izler kitle oluşturmayı başarmıştır. 1990’larda radyolar sayesinde ülkemize girerek, son on yılda sayısı artan partiler ve festivaller yoluyla büyüyerek gelişmiştir. Bu makalede elektronik dans müziği festivallerinde gerçekleştirilen alan çalışmasında, izler kitlenin ifade biçimleri ve deneyimleri ile festival ve DJ’lik olgusuna yönelik elde edilen veriler karnavalesk kavramı çerçevesinde açıklanacaktır. Etnografik veriler gözlem, katılımcı gözlem ve görüşme yoluyla İzmir ve İstanbul’da düzenlenen EDM festivallerinden sağlanmıştır. Karnavallar, antik çağdan itibaren günümüze kadar basit eğlence kutlamaları olmanın dışına çıkarak daha kolektif bir durumu simgelemektedir. Bahtin’in Rebelais ve Dünyası eserinde incelediği Ortaçağ karnaval anlayışı günümüz EDM festivalleri ile birçok açıdan benzer özellikler taşımaktadır. Festivaller sosyal yaşamdan kaçışın sağlandığı performans alanı ve karşı kültür olarak modern dönem öncesi karnavallar gibi değerlendirilebilir. Gülme ve özgürlük gibi karnavalesk davranışın görünürlük kazandığı durumlarla birlikte bazı farklılıklar makalede ele alınmıştır. Ortaçağ geleneği olan karnavalların izleri günümüzdeki EDM festivallerinde de biçimsel olarak görülmektedir. Bu festivaller siyasal ve ekonomik etkilere rağmen bir karşı kültür ve tepetaklak dünya halini korumayı sürdürmektedir.

No Good Time Without Drugs: Qualitative Study Among Nightlife Attendees in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Individuals who visit nightclubs and electronic dance music (EDM) festivals tend to use psychoactive substances, often multiple substances, in this setting and are at risk of serious negative health effects. This paper aims to explore respondents' experiences and perceptions in order to have a better understanding of patterns and motives related to psychoactive substance use and high-risk behaviours in EDM event attendees. In-depth and focus group interviews with 30 EDM event attendees who reported psychoactive substance use at nightlife events. The data was analysed using the Nvivo-v.10 software. Mixing multiple substances to get the desired effects was common. Ecstasy was often combined with Jager (alcohol). Drug use in nightlife settings occurred in a group of friends and was perceived as an essential part of having a good time. Most participants reported that they did not use drugs outside nightlife settings. The dangerous synthetic hallucinogen NBOMe was still on the scene. The respondents had a very low level of knowledge about, and perception of, the risks associated with drug consumption. Knowledge about risk minimisation strategies was very low or non-existent. Polydrug use and a lack of perceived harmful effects put drug-using nightlife attendees at increased risk of negative health consequences. Future research should focus on identifying strategies to raise the awareness of people who use drugs in nightlife settings and encourage them to employ health protection strategies. Using the social network infrastructure can be thought of as one potentially beneficial approach.

An Impact Analysis of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) on Bats. A Case Study of the Historic Monument and Natura 2000 Wisłoujście Fortress in Gdansk, Poland.

The artificial light at night (ALAN) present in many cities and towns has a negative impact on numerous organisms that live alongside humans, including bats. Therefore, we investigated if the artificial illumination of the historic Wisłoujście Fortress in Gdańsk, Poland (part of the Natura 2000 network), during nighttime events, which included an outdoor electronic dance music (EDM) festival, might be responsible for increased light pollution and the decline in recent years of the pond bat (Myotis dasycneme). An assessment of light pollution levels was made using the methods of geographical information system (GIS) and free-of-charge satellite remote sensing (SRS) technology. Moreover, this paper reviewed the most important approaches for environmental protection of bats in the context of ecological light pollution, including International, European, and Polish regulatory frameworks. The analysis of this interdisciplinary study confirmed the complexity of the problem and highlighted, too, the need for better control of artificial illumination in such sensitive areas. It also revealed that SRS was not the best light pollution assessment method for this particular case study due to several reasons listed in this paper. As a result, the authors’ proposal for improvements also involved practical recommendations for devising suitable strategies for lighting research and practice in the Natura 2000 Wisłoujście Fortress site located adjacent to urban areas to reduce the potential negative impact of ALAN on bats and their natural habitats.

ЕЛЕКТРОННА ТАНЦЮВАЛЬНА МУЗИКА В УКРАЇНСЬКІЙ МУЗИЧНІЙ КУЛЬТУРІ

The purpose of the work is to analyse the features of electronic dance music (EDM) in the cultural space of Ukraine in the late 2000s and early 2010s based on the study of online publications on electronic dance music, review the most important events in EDM culture and provide an interpretation of the most relevant musical trends over the past two decades. The research methodology includes descriptive and interpretive approaches, statistical analysis, synthesis and generalization of the collected information to complete the scientific understanding of the electronic dance music existence in Ukrainian culture. The scientific novelty. The festivals of electronic dance music in Ukraine in the late 2000s – early 2010s were studied for the first time; the study describes the features and genre diversity of electronic dance music and the most popular trends of techno and house music. Conclusions. The study has demonstrated that electronic dance music in Ukraine was the most popular in the late 2000s – early 2010s, when it was played not only in dance clubs, but also at festivals. The following EDM festivals in Ukraine have been analysed: “KaZantip republic” (1997-2013), “Ideologia” (2003–2013), “Ultrasonic” (2011–2014), “The Hamselyt” (2012–2019). The organizers of these festivals declared oppositional ideology, but only the last mentioned festival can be fully considered as a part of the Ukrainian cultural space, while the others were more focused on the Russian or international worldview. It has been revealed that the number of visitors of EDM festivals in Ukraine is higher than the comparable figure for classical music festivals but less than the comparable figure for pop-rock events. EDM festivals were popular thanks to the presence of well-known DJs from European countries. The study shows a decline in the activity of EDM festival life after 2014, but at the same time – the creative search in experimental areas of electronic music has intensified.

Description of Adverse Events in a Cohort of Dance Festival Attendees with Stimulant-Induced Severe Agitation Treated with Dissociative-Dose Ketamine

Background Emergency clinicians often treat severe agitation resulting from intoxicants, psychiatric illness, and other CNS or systemic diseases. Recreational drugs–especially stimulants–are frequently used by attendees of electronic dance music festivals (EDMFs), and festivalgoers may become dangerously agitated and pose an immediate threat to themselves and others. Although benzodiazepines and antipsychotics are classically used to treat severe agitation, these medications are burdened by safety concerns including respiratory depression and cardiac arrhythmias. The effects of ketamine when used to treat severe agitation in an exclusive cohort of patients with psychostimulant drug-induced toxicity (PDIT) has not previously been reported, and existing literature describes a widely variant safety profile when ketamine is used for sedation of the agitated patient. Objective To describe ketamine’s adverse event profile when used to treat patients with severe agitation resulting from PDIT. Methods This is a retrospective, observational study enrolling consecutive patients who presented for medical attention at a large outdoor EDMF over a period of eight days on two consecutive weekends in the summer of 2017. The EDMF had an estimated attendance of 40,000 per weekend. A medical tent was set up on-site; patients were managed by a team of EMS providers, nurses and emergency physicians. Medications used, adverse events and the need for repeat dosing were abstracted from prehospital care reports. Results Over the course of eight days, 1081 of 1186 patients who were evaluated in the medical tent had a recorded chief complaint. 274 of these patients (25.3%) had a chief complaint of altered mental status. In patients presenting with AMS, 68 patients (24.8%) had severe agitation that was treated with dissociative-dose (≥4 mg/kg) intramuscular ketamine. The mean initial dose of ketamine was 308 mg. There were four serious adverse events (5.9%): Two patients (2.9%) had copious hypersalivation treated with atropine, one patient (1.5%) had transient apnea requiring assisted ventilation, and one patient (1.5%) was intubated and transported to the hospital. 42 patients (61.8%) required redosing of calming medications. All patients who received ketamine except the single patient who was intubated and transported were observed in the medical tent until resolution of symptoms and discharged back to the festival. Conclusion In this cohort of festival attendees who developed stimulant-induced severe agitation and were treated with dissociative-dose ketamine, serious adverse events occurred in 5.9% of patients including one patient who was intubated.

Transatlantic Techno Myths: The 1994 Arica Eclipse Rave as an Example of the History and Historiography of Electronic Dance Music between Chile and Germany

AbstractThis article focuses on one of the earliest truly international Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals: the Eclipse Rave in Arica, in the Chilean Atacama Desert in November 1994. As a collaboration of mainly German and Chilean individuals, the event was confronted with a multitude of organizational obstacles and problems of intercultural understanding. Nevertheless, the event has now achieved a kind of cult status and is mythologized as the breakthrough moment of EDM culture in South America. Drawing on German and Chilean sources, the article sheds light on the background and impact of the festival and discusses the important role of Chilean-German exiles as interpreters and cultural mediators within EDM scenes. This contribution questions the types of sources that festivals and similar events generate, and consequently asks how an international history of the event-based and present- and history-obsessed EDM culture could be written at all.

Evaluating Trends in Novel Psychoactive Substances Using a Sentinel Population of Electronic Dance Music Festival Attendees.

Electronic dance music (EDM) festivals have become a popular venue for recreational drug use, including the use of traditional stimulants like 3,4-methylenendioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Using this cohort of people who use drugs recreationally, this study sought to collect biological specimens and self-reported drug use data from EDM festival attendees in the United States to monitor regional and temporal trends related to NPS use and turnover between 2014 and 2017. Oral fluid samples were collected at three United States EDM festival locations, including Miami, Florida (2014 to 2017); Tampa, Florida (2017) and Atlanta, Georgia (2017). Samples were screened by liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Over the 4 years, 1,233 oral fluid samples were collected. With respect to self-reported drug use, 63% of respondents reported medicinal and/or recreational drug use within the last week. When comparing 4 years of data from Miami (2014 to 2017), NPS trends showed the disappearance of alpha-PVP after 2014 followed by a significant increase in ethylone positivity in 2015 and rapid decrease in 2016. Dibutylone was identified for the first time in Miami 2016, and N-ethyl pentylone was identified for the first time in Miami 2017. Additionally, 3,4-methylenendioxymethamphetamine positivity steadily increased from 2014 to 2017. A comparison across study sites (Miami, Tampa and Atlanta) and specific trends with respect to novel simulant use are described within. Using this opportunistic approach of monitoring drug trends, we have found that peak positivity of novel stimulants usually is within a year of their first detection. Understanding the dynamics of NPS drug markets will allow laboratories to plan for resource allocation and scope updates within a timely fashion to assist with the detection and confirmation of these emerging substances in samples submitted for forensic analysis.

Experience design and the dimensions of transformative festival experiences

PurposeIn the emerging transformation economy, there is a shift from staging memorable experiences for many to eliciting life-transformative events for one. This study aims to understand how transformative experiences can be guided and what prerequisites are needed to elicit human transformation when designing experiences. This study borrows positive psychology as a theoretical lens to explore festivals as a prime context for liminal transformative experiences in the hospitality context.Design/methodology/approachA constructivist qualitative research design was used through 31 in-depth interviews. To ensure experience recollection, memory formation and integration of the experience into long-term transformative effects, all interviewees had attended an electronic dance music festival in the past 12 months.FindingsGuided by the positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments (PERMA) model, the thematic analysis revealed a series of psychological and contextual dimensions around PERMA and liminality that need to occur for transformative experiences, personal growth and self-transcendence to happen.Practical implicationsThis study provides a guideline for event organisers and experiences designers to intentionally design and occasion positive human experiences in temporal and spatial liminal hospitality consumption contexts. Psychological and contextual dimensions are identified as critical factors in facilitating human transformation.Originality/valueThis paper bridges the emerging transformation economy, experience design and positive psychology. Grounded in PERMA, the study offers a novel theoretical model that serves as a framework for both transformative experience research and practical experience design.

Diffusion of Ecstasy in the Electronic Dance Music Scene

Background Ecstasy (MDMA, Molly) is among the most prevalent drugs used by people who attend electronic dance music (EDM) events; however, little recent research has examined diffusion of ecstasy in this high-risk population. Methods: 1,020 EDM event-attending adults (aged 18–40) were surveyed in NYC in 2018 using time-spacing sampling. Participants were asked about past-year ecstasy use, and those reporting use were asked where they initiated use and whether their first use was planned. They were also asked whether they have ever given someone their first dose and whether they were likely to use in the future. Prevalence and correlates of these outcomes were estimated among those reporting past-year use. Results: An estimated 31.0% of participants used ecstasy in the past year. Of these, 42.9% used ecstasy for the first time in an unplanned manner and initiation most commonly occurred at EDM festivals (33.4%), followed by nightclubs (24.3%). An estimated 39.4% reported having given someone their first dose of ecstasy and 60.2% reported being likely to use again. Hispanic and Asian participants were at higher risk for their first dose being unplanned, and those who used LSD in the past year were at higher risk for giving someone their first dose (aPR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.20-2.65). Older participants (aPR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.06), females (aPR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.13–1.89), and those who used LSD in the past year (aPR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.14-1.76) were more likely to report being likely to use again in the future. Conclusions: Results provide insight regarding diffusion and initiation of ecstasy in the EDM scene. Findings can inform prevention and harm reduction efforts.

Electronic Dance Music Festivals in Riyadh: Pop Culture as a Space of Cooptation and Contestation

Within the course of a decade, electronic dance music (EDM) grew from an underground subculture into one of the most popular music genres among youth in Saudi Arabia. EDM parties developed from an intimate, semi-legal pastime practice of cosmopolitan youth into state-sponsored mass parties. In this article, I discuss the effects of the state’s embrace of pop culture as a strategy of the new Saudi nationalism, heralded by Vision 2030. In the name of the diversification of the economy, today the Saudi state invests in local music festivals. Yet, rather than understanding Saudi youth as mere objects of state policy, I suggest that Saudi youth navigate, reject, and appropriate these new cultural spaces, and turn them into an arena, where all kinds of subversive practices can become possible.

Popular Musics of India: An Ethnomusicological Review

This article brings into discussion the presence of a contemporary popular music culture amongst globalised, urban, Indian youth which is perpetuated by Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals. This paper begins with the argument as to how there is no one monolithic popular music scene in India by presenting a historical analysis of a timeline for popular musics of India, a scene that has received scanty scholarly attention.

Stroboscopic light effects during electronic dance music festivals and photosensitive epilepsy: a cohort study and case report

ObjectivesElectronic dance music (EDM) concerts are becoming increasingly popular. Strong stroboscopic light effects are commonly part of these shows, and may provoke seizures in individuals with photosensitive epilepsy. This study...

Performing euphoric cosmopolitanism: The aesthetics of life and public space in psytrance phantasmagoria

How can we conceive the cosmopolitan ideal of travelling and experiencing exotic difference, so much embraced by ‘countercultural’ practices, once it is aestheticized into phantasmagorical dream-worlds? How can we think of people getting wasted due to drug-fuelled, long-lasting dancing without resorting to idealisms of ‘alternate experiences’ and romanticisms about ideal ways of belonging? This article explores psytrance festivals – a cultural product of the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) carnivalesque celebrations, drug consumption (for the most part LSD and MDMA) and euphoric travelling of the 1960s – with an emphasis on cosmopolitanism, aesthetic intimacy and the care of the self. By examining the mobility of Greek aficionados in EDM festivals in Europe, which have gained great popularity since the first decade of the twenty-first century, I discuss the enactment of the chemical celebration in accordance with the sensorial formations, desiring-images and narratives that weave the imagination of psytrance music culture. In contrast with most of the academic literature that views EDM events as a ‘heterotopic’ set-up that facilitates ‘liminal experiences’ – supposedly evidence of the possibility of an out-of-the-ordinary lifestyle as opposed to everyday normativity – I propose to investigate the excesses of consumption and bodily expenditure within metaphors that support psytrance technoaesthetics.

Weekend Societies: Electronic Dance Music Festivals And Event-Cultures (ed. Graham St John)

Weekend Societies: Electronic Dance Music Festivals And Event-Cultures (ed. Graham St John)

A behavioral intentions typology of attendees to an EDM festival in South Africa

This study determined the characteristics and post-festival behavioral intentions of visitors attending one of the largest electronic dance music (EDM) festivals in South Africa to identify and profile the market segments who attend these types of festivals. Based on a visitor survey, music festival attendance, music appreciation, music tourism and sharing, and music purchasing were identified as the behavioral intentions likely to occur after attending the festival; from these, three distinct segments were identified: Erratic, Dynamic, and Motivated. This research, therefore, created an EDM typology of festival visitors, based on their behavioral intentions.