A rave (from the verb: to rave) is a large party or festival featuring performances by disc jockeys (colloquially called DJs) and occasionally live performers playing electronic music, particularly electronic dance music (EDM). Music played at raves include house, trance, techno, drum and bass, hardcore, hardstyle and other forms of electronic dance music with the accompaniment of laser light shows, projected images, visual effects and smoke machines. The rave scene typically involves free use of club drugs, such as MDMA, LSD, and psychedelic mushrooms.

Rave culture originated mostly from acid house music parties in the mid-to-late 1980s in the Chicago area in the United States.[1] After Chicago house artists began experiencing overseas success, it quickly spread to the United Kingdom, Central Europe, Australia and the rest of the United States.[2][3]