Raver

[Sonia]

A raver is one who goes to raves. Contrary to popular belief, there are many different types of ravers.
First there are Candy Ravers; these are the ones you see running around shouting things like PLUR! or Want a hug/sucker/glowstick/massage? They are identifiable by their brightly colored clothing (phat pants being a must...if theyre made of fun fur, all the better), enough Candy (brightly colored bead bracelets)to sink the Titanic, oodles of childrens toys, as well as a few glowsticks and pacifiers. Candy kids are known as the cutest/most annoying people you will ever meet. A lot of them are pretty fake - its impossible to be that happy all the time. Candy Kids are also notorious for being users of the drug Ecstasy - this is not entirely accurate, but with the way they dress and act, its not hard to see why this is assumed.
Next we have the Goth ravers. Theyre quite easy to spot - they will be dressed in all black, preferably incorperating some fishnet, spikes, and buckles into their outfits. The more there are the better. They will not socialize outside of the group they came with, and they will NEVER under any circumstances dance. Theyre too goth for that - dancing equates to happiness and celebration, and thats just not cool.
Ginos and Ginas (also known as hoochies). These are those well-dressed, snooty people that really shouldnt even be at a rave. The only reason theyre at the party is to pick up on some 15 year old e-tard. Well, maybe not, but they certainly are only at the party to get a piece of ass. They will be dressed in whatever is trendy and do not know how to dance.
Next are junglists. Junglists are often viewed as being agro. They listen primarily to Jungle/DnB music, and are partial to camo, hoodies, and clothing in dark colors. Popular junglist hairstyles are dreads (m f), short hair (m f), or short with two long bits in the front (f). Quite a few junglists are ex-candy ravers. They may also be old-skool or jaded.
Old-skool and jaded pretty much fall into the same category. Old-skoolers are ravers who have been in the scene since way back in the day. No matter how good the party is, the music/DJs/parties/drugs/people/anything else about the scene was WAY better when they first started raving. A jaded raver is not nessicarily old skool, but shares the same views as the old skooler.
And even still there are many ravers that do not fall into any of these categories. So...perhaps a raver is simply one who goes to parties to dance the night away, and loves the music. Interesting concept, hey?
And we all thought it was about the drugs. sarcasm

[Sarah]

Because I noticed a lot of the entries consisting of a whole shitload of bias, Ill try to do this from an objective position. A raver can be anyone who attends an all night party (could be underground and small or bust-free and a massive) consisting of DJs who play electronic dance music (for example: trance, house, happy hardcore, drum

[Sarah]

In England the term raver is used by a broad spectrum of society to describe the practice of dancing in a club/ware house all night .The word was borrowed from Jamaican slang meaning the same thing (Bob Marley Midnight Ravers). Originating from illegal parties that spread all over England like wild fire in 1988 (The second summer of love) millions of people would flock to a secret outdoor location or derelict building , Keeping details secret till the last minute and arrive in a convoy . The movement was responsible for breaking down social barriers including racism (Rave against racism).The music on offer was “Rave” , “Hardcore” , “Detroit Techno” and “Acid House”
Electronic dance music quickly evolved , and split into many different scenes with very different ethos and ideas attached to each scene. The scenes range from fluffy glow stick trance heads to weapon carrying garage/grime gangsters. In the 90s the scene was commercialised to the extent that raves where multimillion pound industries run by corporate companies and nearly every kid in the UK was a raver listening to “Happy Hardcore” a very cheesy form of dance music with a 4 to the floor kick drum and chip monk vocals (chart hits speeded up). This eventually made the term a dirty word.
Now days the term is becoming fashionable again and the majority of ravers are just normal English kids who love electronic music and dancing (normally involving taking drugs).The phrase rave or raver is mainly used now days by the drum and bass and garage scenes, but is now used more than ever to describe all night parties where electro house , tech house and minimal techno are played particularly in East London, a taste maker for a lot of English dance music