Overview: What the ZipHealth study reveals
A new ZipHealth study surveyed more than 1,000 festival participants across the United States and the United Kingdom to explore sexual experiences, preferences, and risk awareness at live events. The focus spans marquee festivals such as Burning Man, Coachella, and Glastonbury, revealing a vibrant, and occasionally messy, side of festival culture.
Key findings: who, where, and what people do
The numbers tell a clear story: 19% of participants report a sexual experience during a festival. Among Gen X and Millennials, the figure rises to 22%. Brits report a higher rate (25%) than Americans (18%).
Even among those who did not engage sexually, attitudes are open: 49% would consider sleeping with someone they met at a festival, and 48% would consider a weekend fling.
Gender gaps
There are notable differences by gender: 62% of men expressed willingness to have sex with someone they met at a festival, compared with 35% of women.
Hotspots and popularity
The study ranks festivals by the share of participants who reported sex at the event: Burning Man 47%, Download Festival 42%, Coachella 34%, Riverbend 28%, Summerfest 24%, Parklife 23%, Outside Lands 23%, Glastonbury 22%, SXSW 22%, Rolling Loud 20%, Austin City Limits 19%, Wireless 17%, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 17%, Reading and Leeds 16%, Electric Daisy Carnival 16%, Ultra 12%, Governors Ball 11%, Lollapalooza 9%.
Setting and partners
Where does intimacy happen? The top locations are the crowd (33%), a tent (28%), and a car (16%). Most encounters (53%) occur with a steady partner, while 38% involve someone new and 16% involve an ex or friend who joined at the festival.
Preferences, spontaneity, and risk
The most common sexual position is doggy style (31%), while nearly half (49%) report no strong preference. A striking 92% of encounters are described as spontaneous. Substance use matters: 62% say alcohol or drugs influenced their decision to have sex.
Safety, stigma, and health concerns
There is a darker side: about one in three participants feel anxiety about sexual performance. Hygiene concerns deter 41% from sex at a festival, and 37% worry about sexually transmitted infections. Alarmingly, 46% of those who have sex at festivals report not using protection. Yet 78% feel the festival environment does not encourage healthy sexual behavior, though only 10% felt pressured to have sex.
Love at the festival
Romance does happen. 13% report falling in love during a festival, and 9% started a relationship with someone they had sex with there. Millennials show the highest likelihood of turning a festival fling into a longer-term relationship at 11%.
Takeaways
For attendees and organizers, the ZipHealth findings suggest a need for clear access to sexual health resources, non-judgmental spaces, and better sanitation and safety messaging to support healthy choices within the festival’s free-spirited atmosphere. As festival seasons continue to evolve, knowing how people navigate intimacy helps fans stay safe while preserving the magic that makes these events memorable.
