ABSTRACT
The outdoor music festival (OMF) is a unique social event where music is the central theme. As OMFs have grown in popularity, so too has the amount of recorded patient presentation rates, highlighting the impact that OMFs have on the health and safety outcomes for the audience. A range of site environmental conditions (for example, temperature, humidity, high audience density levels and the presence of drugs and alcohol) also result in a higher number of patient presentation rates (Milsten, Maguire, Bissell & Seaman 2002; Hutton, Ranse, Verdonk, Ullah & Arbon 2014; Westrol et al. 2016). As event knowledge evolves, public health strategies and policies become increasingly important in supporting the safety of the audience, event staff and others attending OMFs. It is critical, therefore, that health promotion strategies and public health information are integral to the planning of any mass gathering to minimise public health risk, support harm reduction and provide opportunities for the promotion of healthy behaviours in the local population. Given the popularity of OMFs with young people globally, health promotion and protection efforts should be directed towards the prevention and minimisation of harm to this population.
