Review articles Outbreaks associated to large open air festivals, including music festivals, 1980 to 2012 E Botelho-Nevers1, P Gautret (
[email protected])1 1. Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection, Université Aix-Marseille, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France Citation style for this article: Botelho-Nevers E, Gautret P. Outbreaks associated to large open air festivals, including music festivals, 1980 to 2012. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(11):pii=20426. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20426 Article submitted on 20 July 2012 / published on 14 March 2013 In the minds of many, large scale open air festivals Although large scale open air festivals have become have become associated with spring and summer, important spring and summer activities and attract attracting many people, and in the case of music fes- thousands of people, they are probably neglected, tivals, thousands of music fans. These festivals share particularly music festivals, in terms of public health the usual health risks associated with large mass attention, as well as surveillance and prevention of gatherings, including transmission of communicable infectious disease strategies, compared to other cat- diseases and risk of outbreaks. Large scale open air egories of MGs such as sport or religious events. festivals have however specific characteristics, includ- Indeed, most of the literature on MGs in this respect, ing outdoor settings, on-site housing and food sup- has addressed health issues related