As local governments continue to navigate the complex process of reopening their respective entertainment industries, experts in England have warned of an influx of illicit and potentially dangerous raves over the summer.
Since festival season was effectively stifled by COVID-19, many young people are apparently feeling the effects of quarantine fatigue, a condition characterized by increased desire for social interaction and stimulation after “hitting a wall” from being under lockdown for too long.
“The youth of today want to be out and want to be engaged,” said Mike Kill, the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, who spoke to The Guardian. “There are a lot of people out there who are socially starved at the moment. And that’s why these illegal raves are starting to pop up because [people] have been trapped inside four walls for a long time now… I don’t think there is anyone in our industry who couldn’t see this coming.”
“There are a lot of people out there who are socially starved at the moment. And that’s why these illegal raves are starting to pop up because [people] have been trapped inside four walls for a long time now,” he said. “I don’t think there is anyone in our industry who couldn’t see this coming.”
The statements arrived after a pair of illegal raves in Greater Manchester on Saturday, June 13th that left one dead of a suspected drug overdose. Police also reported the rape of the 18-year-old woman in addition to multiple stabbings, one of which left an 18-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.
According to The Guardian’s report, the raves are promoted on Instagram and Snapchat on the day of the events and their locations are revealed at the last minute via WhatsApp messages. As revelers drop virtual pins on Google Maps and livestream the parties, word spreads until they become more and more crowded, like a scene out of Project X.
“They must have been a few lads, inviting a few hundred people down and then, boom, it’s on Snapchat, everyone’s like, ‘Where is it? Oh, Daisy Nook.’ Boom, everyone goes there,” said James Morsh, a prominent Nottingham club promoter. “That’s how these things spread.”
Morsh also went as far as comparing England’s impending illegal rave scene to the summer of 1989, when acid house parties and warehouse raves were rampant. “You know the summer of 89? I think this is a new revolution on the scale of that,” Morsh said. “All the clubs are shut, everyone is at home, people have been cooped up at home for three months. As soon as they catch wind of anything, on Snapchat, Instagram Stories or whatever, they’re like, ‘Where’s that? WhatsApp me the pin.’”
