High levels of alcohol intoxication and strong support for restrictive alcohol policies among music festival visitors

Abstract

Background Alcohol intoxication is associated with problems such as violence, injuries, drunk driving and sexual risk-taking, and music festivals are considered a high-risk setting for high levels of alcohol consumption. This study investigates intoxication levels, drinking habits, and opinions on alcohol use and alcohol policies among visitors at one of the largest music festivals in Sweden in 2017. Methods A cross-sectional study assessing alcohol intoxication levels was conducted at a music festival (~ 50,000 attendees). Two research teams collected data at the two festival entrances during two nights, from approximately 6:00 pm to 01:30 am. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels were measured using breath analyzers. A face-to-face questionnaire was used to interview attendees about their alcohol use in the past 12 months using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C), as well as about their personal opinions on alcohol use and alcohol policies (statement). BAC levels were compared between categories of various factors using Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The distributions of BAC, AUDIT-C and statement category across gender was analyzed using Pearson’s Chi-square tests. Associations of BAC levels with different factors were analyzed using Spearman rank correlation and multinomial logistic regression. Results A total of 1663 attendees were randomly selected and invited to participate, and 1410 consented (63.7% men, 34.9% women, age 16–64 years). The proportion of drinkers was 81%. Among the drinkers, the median BAC level was 0.082%. Thirty-one percent of the participants had a BAC level above 0.10%. Forty-two percent of the participants reported binge drinking monthly, and 20% said that they binge drank weekly. Sixty-three percent of participants reported risky drinking habits. A self-reported risky alcohol habit increased the risk of a high alcohol intoxication level at the festival. Respondents were supportive of restrictive alcohol policies. Men had significantly higher BAC levels, reported more often risky alcohol habits and were less supportive of restrictive alcohol policies than women. Conclusions The results indicate that participants at music festivals in Sweden have high levels of alcohol intoxication and largely support restrictive alcohol policies. Thus, there is both a need and support for the implementation of alcohol prevention strategies at festivals.

Compliance to the Alcohol Law: Overserving to Obviously Intoxicated Visitors at Music Festivals

“…Thus, there is room for improvement with regards to compliance to the Alcohol Act, which states that alcohol is not to be served to obviously intoxicated patrons. We have previously shown that every third visitor at the same festival was heavily intoxicated [ 1 ], similar to a festival in Norway [ 2 ]. Overserving at licensed premises at the festival is one factor that contributes to the overall high intoxication level among visitors.…”

“…Music festivals are events where several thousands of people, mainly young, gather and socialize, often over several days, and alcohol is usually a focal point that contributes to the festival experience. High levels of alcohol intoxication among festival-goers [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] and risky consumption [ 4 , 5 , 6 ] are concerning, since alcohol increases the risk for a number of public health-related problems such as injuries, sexual harassment, and violence [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], especially in large crowds [ 10 ].…”

“…To examine compliance to the Swedish Alcohol Act at music festivals, we assessed the rate of alcohol overserving to festival-goers at the same festival at which we recently demonstrated high levels of alcohol intoxication among festival-goers [ 1 ].…”

Illicit Drug Use and Associated Problems in the Nightlife Scene: A Potential Setting for Prevention

“…A limitation of the study is the substantial internal drop-out regarding questions of main setting of use and consequences of drug use. Moreover, 72% of the respondents were male, which might reflect a selection bias, as indicated by the following studies: (1) offline studies at one large festival and a large EDM event in Sweden consisted of 64 percent males in each study [ 18 , 81 ]; (2) a comparison of online and offline recruitment in the remaining European countries of the ALAMA study indicates that the online and offline sample consisted of 69% and 58% males, respectively [ 82 ]. Furthermore, the online participants were on average one year younger compared with offline participants, and drug use was slightly less prevalent in the online sample [ 82 ].…”

Breath alcohol concentration, hazardous drinking and preloading among Swedish university students

“…In Sweden, the legal limit for DUI is 0.020%, and the limit for gross DUI is 0.100%. Therefore, studies conducted in Sweden commonly use a threshold of 0.100% (Durbeej, Elgan, Jalling, & Gripenberg, 2017; Feltmann, Elgan, & Gripenberg, 2019; Gripenberg-Abdon et al, 2012). Studies measuring actual intoxication levels among university students are relatively rare, particularly in the Swedish context.…”