Roskilde Festival: Mapping emerging drug trends in Danish party culture
This project explores drug trends among Danish youth at Northern Europe’s largest music event, Roskilde Festival. The high concentration of people and intense social interactions at large music festivals provide a unique window into youth drug culture. Here, trends become concentrated and visible.
To investigate the drug situation in Danish party environments, the Criminological Observatory and Roskilde Festival entered into a three-year collaboration in 2023. As a festival city with 130,000 inhabitants, Roskilde Festival brings together the surrounding community and the party culture found throughout the country.
Festivals are a special type of party—the large concentration of participants and the intense social interactions that take place at festivals set them apart from other party environments. Nevertheless, Roskilde Festival provides insights into more general trends regarding drugs and substance use. This means that the festival can be seen as a window into drug use, and the long-term study over 3 years will indicate which drugs are circulating in the broader society. The project aims to shed light on why young people use drugs, how they do it, and which drugs are currently being used in Danish party environments.
During the project's first festival, a team of eight researchers focused on mapping drug trends. Most festivalgoers reside in tent camps within the surrounding camping area. Throughout both day and night shifts, we roamed the camps in teams, conducting in-depth group interviews about their drug habits and views on drugs.
We also observed the substances being consumed at various pop-up parties in the camp areas and during concerts on the festival grounds. Additionally, we interviewed staff members, including bartenders, social workers, safety workers, paramedics, doctors, and nurses.
To gain further insights, we engaged in waste archaeology, photographing discarded blister packs, ziplock bags, and other drug-related waste.
At the project's second festival, we expanded the team to 12 researchers. This year, in addition to mapping drug trends, we placed a special spotlight on drugging (drink spiking).
In 2024, we also refined our methodology. Collaborating with Fors, Eurofins, and the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, we conducted and analyzed wastewater samples from the festival’s own tank. We also distributed questionnaires about drug culture and drugging, using QR stickers on festival toilets and tables for guests to respond.
As in 2023, our fieldwork focused on conducting in-depth group interviews within the camps, observing substances consumed, and interviewing staff. As in the previous year, we also conducted waste archaeology.
The report will be published end of 2024
Researchers
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search in Name | Search in Title | Search in Phone | |
| Henrik Vigh | Professor | +4541111430 | |
| Jacob Fischer Møller | Research Assistant | +4535325436 |
Project: Undersøgelse af stofsituationen i danske festmiljøer
Period: 2023-2025
Contact
Research assistant Jacob Fischer Møller
Department of Anthropology
University of Copenhagen
Phone: +45 41 60 60 92
E-mail: jfm@anthro.ku.dk