Resonant Festival Experiences

Empirical Evidence from Hungarian Festivals

Authors

  • Dr Sára Eszter Heidl University of Vienna, Austria

Abstract

The article first briefly discusses the various terminological approaches to religious experience, arguing that new and existing concepts are needed to demonstrate their interpretive potential. It then analyses one of these interpretations: Hartmut Rosa’s resonance theory. This theory does not describe a clear religious experience, but it has religious characteristics and connections, and the article applies the theory empirically to a qualitative analysis of interviews with participants at three festivals in Hungary. The article aims to present resonance theory as a possible interpretation of ‘religious’ experiences, without trying to override previous interpretations in other contexts, but to present it as an additional perspective. Secondly, the article aims to demonstrate the empirical applicability of resonance theory.

Author Biography

Dr Sára Eszter Heidl, University of Vienna, Austria

Sára Eszter Heidl is a lecturer at the University of Vienna. She completed her bachelor's degree in sociology and her master's degree in religious studies. In her PhD, she examined Hungarian festivals, exploring the event experience through theories of religious experience. This work was published in the book Event Religion and European Festival Experience: Concepts and Case Studies (2025). Her current interests lie in the terminological debates on religious experience, and the empirical exploration of that experience in alternative religious and spiritual circles.

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Published

2026-10-06

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2026): Journal for the Study of Religious Experience

Section

Articles

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