New rave rituals

Raves – shaped around music, dance, and a collective energy – are emerging in myriad corners of culture, as those behind them draw on the concept’s immersive, transformative energy.

In London, Tina Woods (also known by her DJ name of Tina Technotic) together with her co-DJ Yukari Takehisa in 2024 launched Longevity Rave, a concept “formed by a group of longevity scientists and entrepreneurs who believe in the power of music, joy, and connection for a healthy, happy life,” its founders say.

“There’s nothing like a good rave [to] bring everything back to what makes us human, to what really matters - feeling good about our lives…being with people, a sense of belonging, and…great music,” Woods tells VML Intelligence. Aged 60 herself, Woods adds that Longevity Rave attracts an “intergenerational” crowd, rather than former 90’s ravers looking for nostalgia.

Alongside these benefits there may even be positive health impacts associated with raving according to Woods, who is designing a scientific study to measure biomarkers such as cortisol, heart rate, metabolic health, and mood before and after raving.

“We're so impacted by our need for hope and love and joy and bonding and connection, and that absolutely is affecting our biology, and it is absolutely affecting our genetics, our epigenetics,” says Woods of raving’s effects on health, noting that raves nod to human rituals that have existed “for eons…the things that we used to do around fires, and, of course, music and singing.” In the future, the Longevity Raves might feature music whose beats per minute are designed for positive health impacts says Woods.

Longevity Raveat Koko — Longevity Rave at Koko, London. Courtesy of Longevity Rave.

A similarly collective energy is being tapped into at the sauna raves at East London wellness space The Sanctuary. Held in the venue’s basement space, this sober rave sees a DJ play in the sauna itself. Speaking to i-D, The Sanctuary’s co-founder Reza Merchant notes that “it’s ultimately about stimulating senses and making people feel like they’re transported into a different world,” adding: “It’s like the holy grail…it’s having a reset without being hungover the next day.”

And fusing the communal feel of a rave with shot of caffeine, sober morning coffee raves are popping up in various global locations. In South Korea, Seoul Morning Coffee Club holds coffee shop raves, attracting “working professionals in their 20s to 40s looking for a jolt of energy, efficiency—and fun,” according to club founder Park Jae-hyun in a conversation with The Chosun Daily.

Another rave advocate from Korea is Seoul Community Radio, which champions the city’s underground music scene. In July the global online station held a pop-up rave in Korea Foods UK’s New Malden warehouse. Instagrammer solo.clubbing said the rave “created “the kind of warmth I rarely feel as a foreigner living abroad.”

Tianzhuo Chen: TRANCE. Photographer: Pierre Zylstra

The concept came to theater too in July, when Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen held a performance of his show Trance at London’s Southbank Centre. Described by The Guardian as a "genre-bending theatre-rave,” the 12-hour performance draws on Buddhist themes of death and reincarnation, while also being informed by Chen’s university days in London when he experienced the city’s “club culture.” Chen tells The Guardian that it’s the show’s final section when “everyone is dancing on their own,” that relates mostly closely to the rave experience, “to the expression of the individual…so much of it is sharing the moment with the audience…this ritual and ceremony, a healing and cleansing-type moment.”

The Intelligence Take

VML Intelligence’s The Future 100: 2025 report found that more than a third of people globally are seeking more fun and laughter in their lives with a similar proportion also craving joy and excitement. The rave resurgence taps into these very human needs in a disconnected world, offering a meaningful collective experience. As Woods puts it: “We need to kind of break those silos. [It’s about] connecting ourselves at a very human level, and…you connect to people on a very human level at a rave.”

Main image: Longevity Rave at Koko, London. Courtesy of Longevity Rave