Temporary Sacred Spaces

In a time where loneliness is increasing, music festivals are becoming more important as places for temporary social connection. This research focuses on how visitors of techno festivals experience collective effervescence - a concept introduced by Durkheim to describe shared emotional energy and unity during ritual gatherings. In contrast to many other genres, techno was originally created as a culturally neutral. This makes techno festivals an interesting context to explore how visitors define and demarcate the festival community in the absence of cultural markers. Based on ten semi-structured interviews with visitors of an indoor techno festival (Verknipt Ziggo Dome), a qualitative case study was conducted to examine in what way collective effervescence is created and experienced. Through thematic analysis, it becomes clear that techno festivals function as sacred spaces, where everyday norms disappear and visitors temporarily escape everyday life. This distinction between the sacred and the profane provides the foundation for collective effervescence to emerge. The combined practice of two rituals at techno festivals are essential for generating collective effervescence: dancing and drug use. Dancing creates a mutual focus of attention and a physical surrender to the music, while drug use (mostly in the form of MDMA) enhances emotional alignment and produces collective feelings of euphoria, openness, and connectedness. Both rituals result in a high degree of social solidarity among festival visitors and a temporary sense of community. The social inclusion and exclusion of audience members that occurs at festivals, is largely based on participation in these central interaction rituals - especially dancing and drug use - which serve as the foundation for this sense of belonging. Even though the community feeling is temporary and mostly remains within the boundaries of the festival itself, the sense of connectedness among visitors is perceived as deep and meaningful. These findings highlight the social potential of music festivals in an increasingly lonely society and offer valuable insights for festival organizers and cultural policymakers.