A squat party is a party that takes place either in a disused building (broken into and secured for the party) or in an already existing squat. Jump to: navigation, search A party is a social gathering intended primarily for celebration and recreation. ... The word squat has different meanings: Squatting is a term for inhabiting unused land without title, especially in a city. ...

Squat parties are usually advertised either by word of mouth, postings on internet bulletin boards, flyers handed out at other similar events and through phone lines set up by the sound system(s) organising the event. This is for security reasons, since the organisers do not want the authorities finding out about them and trying to stop them. Word of mouth is the passing of information by verbal means, especially recommendations, but also general information, in an informal, person-to-person manner, rather than by mass media, advertising, organized publication, or traditional marketing. ... A bulletin board system or BBS is a computer system running software that allows users to dial into the system over a phone line and, using a terminal program, perform functions such as downloading software and data, uploading data, reading news, and exchanging messages with other users. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Flyer can refer to one of the following things: A leaflet or pamphlet A person who operates an airplane A military rank, most common in the German Luftwaffe (i. ... Jump to: navigation, search A telephone handset A touch-tone telephone dial Telephone Complex relay used in a telephone switching system. ... A sound system is a group of DJs contributing and working together as one, making one kind of particular music. ... Security is being free from danger. ...

Most squat parties usually run for 12 to 24 hours, finishing when the organisers have had enough or if they are shut down by police.

Squat parties are typically either free or charge a small donation on the door. Typically the organisers also try to make additional money through selling alcohol inside. Squat parties are also referred to as 'free parties', though 'free' is most likely to mean freedom (unregulated) rather than free entry. A donation is a gift to a fund or cause, usually for charitable reasons. ... In general usage, alcohol (from Arabic al-khwl الكحول, or al-ghawl الغول) refers almost always to ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and often to any beverage that contains ethanol (see alcoholic beverage). ...

The type of music played at squat parties is usually of the underground variety; genres of music that aren't commercially viable for major labels. Each sound system has its own music policy, following and entourage. Typically the most common music genres played by sound systems are techno, jungle, trance, drum and bass, breakcore and hardcore techno, sometimes gabba. Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikisource, as part of the 1911 Encyclopedia Wikiproject, has original text related to this article: Music MusicNovatory: the science of music encyclopedia The Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Distionary, with definitions, pronunciations, examples... Techno- is a prefix relating to technology. ... Jungle music is one of the most deviant and punkish forms of electronic music, employing fast tempos (150-190 BPM is common), layering extended and mangled breakbeats on top of throbbing, authoritative basslines, originally borrowed from reggae. ... Trance music is a subgenre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s. ... Jump to: navigation, search Drum and bass (drum n bass, drumnbass, DnB, dnb) is an electronic music style. ... Jump to: navigation, search Breakcore is a loosely defined electronic music style that brings together elements of jungle, hardcore techno and rhythmic noise, into a breakbeat-oriented sound that encourages speed, complexity, and maximum sonic density. ... Hardcore techno is a kind of techno music closely related to the Gabba style. ...

Drug sale and use is endemic, especially Ecstasy, Cannabis and Ketamine. Due to the drug culture and unregulated environment, security has become an increasing problem for many party organisers. Jump to: navigation, search MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), most commonly known today by the street name ecstasy, is a synthetic entactogen of the phenethylamine family whose primary effect is to stimulate the secretion of large amounts of serotonin as well as dopamine and noradrenaline in the brain, causing a general... Jump to: navigation, search Species Cannabis indica Cannabis ruderalis Cannabis sativa Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant that includes one or more species. ... Jump to: navigation, search Ketamine is a general dissociative anaesthetic for human and veterinary use. ...

Typical parties in the London scene range from small parties with a couple of hundred people up to huge multi-riggers involving a thousand or more people. The number of sound systems involved also varies - small parties may have just one or two sound systems, larger parties may have anything up to 20 or more, including several "link-ups" where two or more sound systems will combine their rigs into a single large system.

Other events might be much smaller acoustic nights run more like a cafe. Squatted buildings are often used as social centres and creative spaces for people to use.