Forget clipboards and lab coats – this is science, but not as you know it. Brighton legend Fatboy Slim is teaming up with behavioural scientist Professor Paul Dolan for The Happiness Experiment, a two-night mash-up of rave energy and academic research at Hove’s The Old Market this September.
Here’s the deal: you dance, they measure how much joy you’re having. Expect to get kitted out with wearable tech at the door – tracking your heart rate, stress levels and other biometric clues – before stepping into an immersive space transformed by Fatboy Slim’s beats. Surveys will also pop up throughout the night, capturing how you’re feeling in real time. Think of it as one part gig, one part social science study, with the small matter of Norman Cook himself on the decks.
The project is about more than sweaty smiles and hands in the air, though – all that data (anonymous, don’t worry) will feed into research on happiness, human connection and what it really means to lose yourself in music. Cameras will be rolling too, for a documentary exploring the science behind collective joy.
Tickets are strictly limited (and already selling faster than a Fatboy Slim drop), so don’t hang around.
Whether you come for the science, the soundtrack, or simply the chance to say you took part in an actual experiment led by Brighton’s biggest musical export, one thing’s for sure: it’s going to be a night worth measuring.
Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th September; from 6pm – 11.30pm (various time slots available); £51.50
theoldmarket.com
