Festivals and mass gatherings can empower and inspire people making lifestyle changes for a sustainable future, according to new research from a vegan festival which suggests the power of these collective experiences may have been underestimated.
In-depth interviews with people attending a festival celebrating the vegan lifestyle showed that these events can provide a restorative retreat from the majority, meat-eating society. For vegans, attending is an opportunity to ‘recharge’ their beliefs; seek out social connection; and to be inspired by a collective identity- focused experience.
Dr Annayah Prosser, from the University of Bath’s School of Management who led the research, published in Political Psychology, said: “The festival experience seemed to be a place where vegans could recharge from the strain of going against the meat-eating norm. They could enjoy a sense of community and reinvigorate their motivation for social change.
“In the UK, recent estimates suggest that less than 2% of people are vegan, so many vegans are incredibly isolated in their daily lives. Our participants spoke about being ‘mocked’ by others and feeling ‘depression’ or ‘dread’ when others questioned their identity and dietary choices,” Dr Prosser said.
“We found that festival offered an opportunity for social connection for vegans, which seemed to encourage them to ‘feel braver’ about engaging in conversations about their veganism and to maintain their ‘everyday activism’.”
Even queuing for food and drink, not normally a celebrated festival experience, was seen as a chance to strike up friendly conversations and create positive social connections.
The research was carried out at the Vegan Camp Out in 2021. The festival is an annual weekend event which is advertised as celebrating veganism in all aspects. In-depth qualitative field interviews were conducted with 20 event attendees (10 women, 8 men, 2 non-binary), between the ages of 21-58 years old.
The social difficulties of the vegan experience can lead to poor mental health and, for some, ‘activist burnout’ - an intense form of physical and mental exhaustion. Aside from the toll this takes on the individual, it also hampers societal transitions towards plant-based eating, shown to be an important mechanism for cutting carbon emissions and supporting a sustainable future.
Vegans can be stereotyped as loud activists, but for many the effort and difficulties of going against the social norm can be a draining and sometimes lonely experience. Negativity, stigma and even hostility can strain their capacity to maintain their lifestyle.
It can push people to downplay their beliefs, to refrain from discussing their veganism or exclude themselves from social situations which will make their veganism visible to others.
“The influence of minority groups is subtle but crucial to social change processes in the long term,” said Dr Prosser. “We know that vegans help to encourage societal meat reduction, and encourage sustainable food choices in their social networks and from the wider market.”
“Our research suggests that bringing minority groups together is an important method for supporting social change towards more sustainable futures – in this case a plant-based or vegan diet. Our interviewees told us they felt empowered to ‘go further’ in their daily lives and become involved in community activism after attending the event.”
This research adds to a previous study of secular mass gatherings, including Burning Man and Latitude, which showed that the festival experience can be transformative for many attendees - encouraging social connection and pro-social ‘helping’ behaviours which lasted for many months after the event.
“It is clear that festival environments are very important for attendees, and can result in significant transformations to our personal and social identities,” said Dr Prosser.
Overcoming (vegan) burnout: Mass-gatherings can provide respite and rekindle shared identity and social action efforts in moralised minority groups is published in Political Psychology, involving the Universities of Exeter, Groningen, Western Australia and Amsterdam Business School.
ENDS
Notes
For more information, please contact the University of Bath press office press@bath.ac.uk
The University of Bath
The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities, with a reputation for high-impact research, excellence in education, student experience and graduate prospects.
We are ranked 6th in the Guardian University Guide 2024 and 8th in both the Complete University Guide 2025 and The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024. We are also ranked among the world’s top 10% of universities, placing 150th in the QS World University Rankings 2025. Bath was rated in the world’s top 10 universities for sport in the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023.
We produce some of the world’s most job-ready graduates and were named University of the Year for Graduate Jobs by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
Research from Bath is helping to change the world for the better. Across the University’s three Faculties and School of Management, our research is making an impact in society, leading to low-carbon living, positive digital futures, and improved health and wellbeing. Find out all about our Research with Impact: https://www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/research-with-impact/
JOURNAL
Political Psychology
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Overcoming (vegan) burnout: Mass gatherings can provide respite and rekindle shared identity and social action efforts in moralized minority groups
California locals fear worst ahead of large
hippie gathering of Rainbow Family
By Ehren Wynder
Local officials fear the unauthorized Rainbow Family Gathering in Plumas National Forest could lead to another wildfire like the infamous Dixie Fire that tore through northern California in 2021. File Photo by John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE
June 21 (UPI) -- Local authorities in Northern California are buckling up for a rainbow invasion as thousands across the United States are expected to descend on Plumas National Forest next month.
The upcoming Rainbow Family Gathering is an annual festival in which thousands of hippie-minded people gather to celebrate peace, love and a connection to nature.
But for Plumas County officials and tribal organizations, the unauthorized gathering has the potential to disrupt the local community and damage natural resources.
The U.S. Forest Service issued a statement warning of the upcoming festival, which usually peaks in the first week of July. Visitors reportedly already have appeared in the area.
The Forest Service said it expects this year's "incident" to draw as many as 10,000 people.
"An incident of this size can have significant impacts on traffic, communities, local resources, residents and visitors," the Forest Service said in a statement. "Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of Rainbow Family participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the incident location. Forest and local roads in the vicinity may become congested during the incident and road closures and/or traffic detours may occur."
The Rainbow Family Gathering has been held yearly at various public sites throughout the country. The first one took place at the Arapaho National Forest in Colorado in 1972.
Forest Service officials said gatherings of more than 75 people require a permit so local authorities can implement infrastructure such as public toilets to minimize the impact to federal land.
But the Rainbow Family, which prides itself as the "largest non-organization of non-members in the world" has no leaders tasked with administrative duties such as permit application, making federal compliance a non-starter.
"It's a challenge for us," said Forest Services spokesperson Hilary Markin. "The Rainbow Family, unfortunately, has consistently refused to comply with our permit process during these national gatherings."
Last year's gathering at the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire saw about 2,200 attendees. Markin said local authorities made six arrests, 116 violation notices and 270 written warnings related to drug and alcohol abuse, damage to natural resources and interfering with law enforcement.
The Plumas County Sheriff's Office in a statement warned attendees that officers will be present to enforce a "zero-tolerance" policy against any illegal or activities.
The sheriff's office said it is expecting the gathering to include individuals who engage in "public nudity, civil disobedience, drug and alcohol abuse and confrontations with locals."
Lassen County Board Chair Aaron Albaugh said he expects a high risk of wildfires with so many open camp fires in one place.
"We just had the Dixie Fire," he said of the wildfire that tore through northern California in the summer of 2021.
Tribal representatives also are unhappy about their new neighbors who are pitching their tents on ancestral lands.
Robert Joseph, vice chairman of the Susanville Indian Rancheria, told the San Francisco Chronicle he fears what kind of state festival attendees will leave the land in once they pack up and leave.
"It's similar to Burning Man, but these guys here are just a little dirtier," he said. "They kind of leave a trail (of trash) when they come to these places."
Representatives of the Rainbow Family met with tribal leaders earlier this week to assuage their concerns, but Susanville Rancheria emergency services coordinator Scott Dixon said the tribes are not convinced.
"They said they're going to be light on the land, but we all know that with thousands of people, that's not going to be light," Dixon said. "They're going to leave a footprint, and it's going to take a while for the land to come back from that and be natural again."
Joseph penned a letter on behalf of the Susanville Rancheria to members of the Rainbow Family asking them to hold the event elsewhere.
The group, however, said it's sticking to its plan.
"We believe in letting people express themselves as long as they're not harming their neighbors," Adam Buxbaum told the Los Angeles Times. "The Rainbow Gathering is the legacy of the original hippies."
Buxbaum who has been a regular of the festival since he was an infant, said the constant policing of the events has led to a drop in attendance over the years. He said he'll be surprised if this year sees the 10,000 attendees for which the Forest Service is prepared.
"A lot of people have quit coming to the gatherings permanently because they're tired of being searched and harassed every single year," he said. 
