This summer, over 300,000 people gathered in Paris to watch the opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics. People from all over the world came to witness a spectacle that included a stunning performance by Celine Dion, athletes parading down the Seine, playful nods to French culture with fashion, Marie Antoinette references, and traditional music filling the air.

Meanwhile, in late August, 50,000 people gathered in Nevada’s Black Rock City for the annual Burning Man festival. This event—centered around self-expression, art, and self-reliance—transforms the desert into a temporary city. Braving dusty conditions, participants live in basic shelters and engage in workshops, art installations, and rituals that symbolize collective transformation and release. For example, the burning of the Man represents celebration and change, while the Temple burn serves as a solemn, reflective moment of communal grief, healing, and emotional closure.

While these gatherings may seem extraordinary, they are not unlike the ways humans have gathered for thousands of years—coming together to share experiences. Whether it's festivals, feasts, or other communal events, people have always needed to gather. In my work as an event producer and organizational facilitator, I see this need every day. Even with the rise of remote work and virtual meetings, there’s something about in-person gatherings that people crave. This need can be explained by a concept that uniquely mediates well-being on a community level.

Collective Effervescence

In Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim (1912) coined the term collective effervescence after observing how religious rituals could stir up a shared energy among participants, uniting them into a collective consciousness. He believed that this heightened emotional state could transform individuals and even entire societies. Collective effervescence strengthens bonds between people, and when it’s really powerful, it can make something feel almost sacred.

Barbara Ehrenreich (2007) explores this idea in her book Dancing in the Streets, chronicling how collective effervescence has shown up everywhere from tribal rituals to Woodstock to sports events. Such collective behavior is essential to reinforcing community bonds. When people gather, share emotions, and engage in synchronized activities, they create a powerful, communal experience that rejuvenates participants and helps them return to their daily lives with renewed strength and meaning (Rimé et al., 2023).

Awe

One of the emotional outcomes of collective effervescence is awe—a sense of being part of something much larger than oneself (Bai et al., 2017). Awe diminishes the focus on the individual and fosters a sense of unity and collective identity. This feeling of sacredness often leads to greater life satisfaction, emotional well-being, and resilience to stress (Rimé et al., 2023).

The feelings of sacredness and awe that come from collective effervescence help individuals experience the world as vast and interconnected, fostering prosocial behavior and a sense of meaning in life (Gabriel et al., 2020)​. If you’ve ever experienced an arena concert with 15,000 other people singing along to the same song or a church service, singing worship songs with a congregation, you may have experienced the feeling of sacredness in a group.

Belonging

Another powerful outcome of collective effervescence is the deep sense of belonging it fosters. Humans are wired to belong. Baumeister and Leary (1995) argue that building and maintaining strong relationships is as essential as food and water. And in today’s world, loneliness is a growing concern. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, loneliness is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Belonging has never been more important in our society (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023).

Durkheim believed that we need to renew that sense of belonging regularly through collective assemblies, where participants share a common identity and engage in synchronized actions. Such events create a shared sense of belonging and reinforce group cohesion (Durkheim, 1965; Rimé et al., 2023). This is commonly felt in sports teams, marching bands, and group performances where people act in unison.

Individual Application

Collective effervescence doesn’t have to happen at massive events. Durkheim believed that it could take place any time people come together to share emotions and engage in common activities. Researcher William Pickering (1984) expanded on this idea by introducing the term effervescent assembly to describe group activities that are primed to spark this kind of shared energy. Studies show that collective effervescence can happen in everyday situations—like working out with others, attending a concert, or even interacting with strangers (Gabriel et al., 2020). The more people experience these group activities, the higher their well-being tends to be.

Group leisure activities—such as recreational sports, art classes, book clubs, or social dancing—can uniquely foster a sense of collective effervescence, offering individuals an outlet to experience community and meaning. To cultivate this, seek out opportunities to gather, whether by joining a team, attending events, or hosting gatherings yourself. Although we tend to attend or host gatherings for special occasions and rites of passage such as birthday parties, weddings, and baby showers, gatherings can take place for any reason. Consider hosting a small gathering like a dinner party with a group of friends, a picnic in the park, or a block party for neighbors. Collective effervescence can be experienced in large settings as well as intimate groups.

Organizational and Societal Application

In organizations, fostering collective effervescence has become more important than ever, especially with so many people working in remote or hybrid settings. Intentional in-person gatherings offer opportunities for employees to connect in ways that can be challenging in virtual meetings (Forbes Insights., 2009). It’s these moments of collective energy that help create a sense of belonging and strengthen organizational culture. In my work, I’ve noticed this magic happen time and again at retreats or workshops where people start out as strangers, and by the end, they’ve formed bonds that feel like they’ve known each other forever. When we create environments that foster collective effervescence, we invite opportunities for oneness and belonging.

On a larger scale, there’s also a societal push to foster collective effervescence. One interesting approach is social prescribing, where healthcare providers prescribe activities like group exercise, art classes, or volunteering to address social isolation and mental health. This approach, already gaining traction in countries like the UK, connects people to community-based activities that build social ties and promote well-being (Morse et al., 2022). As more countries adopt social prescribing, we’ll see even more collective effervescence in action, bringing people together to improve health and happiness.

Communities can foster collective effervescence by organizing events that bring people together in joyful, shared experiences. Events like street fairs, free concerts, and citywide celebrations provide opportunities for residents to connect, share in collective energy, and build a sense of belonging. For instance, the San Francisco Botanical Gardens’ Flower Piano is a beloved annual event that places pianos all over the garden for a combination of scheduled professional performances and spontaneous performances from attendees of the event. The free event spans 10 days and fills the gardens with thousands of residents and non-residents of all ages. Every year, I meet up with friends at this event to walk around, picnic amongst the flowers and trees, and enjoy the sounds of pianos filling the air.

Similarly, street fairs and local festivals, often sponsored by community groups, offer spaces for neighbors to interact, celebrate their shared culture, and engage in activities like dancing, art, and food. These types of events create a sense of unity and shared excitement that strengthen community bonds. By making these gatherings accessible and inclusive, cities can create environments where people feel connected to one another and part of something bigger than themselves, fostering collective effervescence on a local level. These gatherings can serve as antidotes to the isolation many people feel, providing a space for joy and connection that enhances both individual and communal well-being.

Coming Together

After the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve learned not to take communal experiences for granted. As we return to these spaces, whether in large festivals or everyday interactions, we can recognize the vital role that collective effervescence plays in enhancing our sense of awe, belonging, and overall well-being. Embracing opportunities to gather will not only enrich our lives but also strengthen the fabric of our communities.

References

Bai, Y., Maruskin, L. A., Chen, S., Gordon, A. M., Stellar, J. E., McNeil, G. D., ... & Keltner, D. (2017). Awe, the diminished self, and collective engagement: Universals and cultural variations in the small self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(2), 185.

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497

Durkheim, E. (1965). The elementary forms of the religious life. The Free Press.

Ehrenreich, B. (2007). Dancing in the streets (Unabridged ed.) [Audiobook]. Blackstone Audio Inc.

Forbes Insights. (2009). Business meetings: The case for face-to-face. Forbes. https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Business_Meetings_FaceToFace.pdf

Gabriel, S., Naidu, E., Paravati, E., Morrison, C. D., & Gainey, K. (2020). Creating the sacred from the profane: Collective effervescence and everyday activities. Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(1), 129–154.

Pickering, W. S. F. (1984). Durkheim’s sociology of religion. Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Morse, D. F., Sandhu, S., Mulligan, K., Tierney, S., Polley, M., Giurca, B. C., Slade, S., & Dias, S. (2022). Global developments in social prescribing. BMJ Global Health.

About the author | Louise Wo (C’22) is a producer, facilitator, and experience designer. She works with social impact organizations to cultivate well-being, community, and collective effervescence through their events and team gatherings. She formerly hosted a podcast about lifelong play and creativity where she interviewed some of the world’s most fascinating artists, researchers, and thought leaders. She holds a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and hopes to take her experience and education to further study collective effervescence and its vital role in community well-being. Based in the Bay Area, she feels at home with delicious Asian food, a dance class, and a good podcast. You can reach her at louisepanwo@gmail.com. To learn more about her work, visit her website and Gemlike.