INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THEORIES AND CONCEPTS IN THE CREATIVE AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES (CCI)

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Festivals and Art Events

Introduction……..

Now, it’s festivals, festivals everywhere. Big ones, small ones, wild ones, silly ones, dutiful ones, pretentious ones, phony ones. Many have lost purpose and direction, not to mention individual profile. Place a potted palm near the box office, double the ticket prices and – whoopee – we have a festival!" (Bernheimer, 2003, Financial Times, W21)

Definition of events

‘…a special event is a one off happening designed to meet specific needs at any given time….local community events may be defined as an activity designed to involve the local population in a shared experience to their mutual benefit’

Wilkinson (1998)

Why events?

Events have always existed but the number of events declined:

Industrialisation and fixed timetables

Impact of religion

Growth of events as a result of the need to ‘escape’ the routines of daily life and to find meaning to existence – postmodern issues

Why have festivals?

“A festival was traditionally a time of celebration, relaxation and recuperation which often followed a period of hard physical labour, sowing or harvesting of crops, for example. The essential feature of these festivals was the celebration of reaffirmation of community or culture.” (Policy Studies Institute cited in Bowdin et al: 2001:3).

Why Festivals and Events: Some Conceptual Considerations

Social habitus (Bourdieu)

Time out of daily life

Tribalism (gatherings of like minded people - music festival, opera)

Signals a cultured people- city spaces

Art is a currency in society

Art spaces have high social standing.

Festivals and Events as Rupture

‘Building on Erwin Goffman… (1974) Festive frames…describe a kind of socially constructed ‘recipe’ for people to deal with the smaller and larger life crises they face in their daily lives, both by giving these meaning and by leading people through an embodied process that eventually allows them to go on with their lives’. (Picard, 2015, 2)

Festivals necessary

Not just different from day to day work life

Also necessary to help us cope with the stresses in our lives as human beings – remind us what it is to be human in the company of other humans mediators of social change?

‘This can include anything from the readjustments required through pivotal points in the life cycle, to the shock of migration, environmental disaster, or revolution’.(Picard 2015, 2)

How?

Definitions vary according to context

‘A special event is a one time or infrequently occurring event outside normal programmes or activities of the sponsoring or organizing body.’ (Getz (1997)

‘There is no festival, even on a sad occasion, that does not imply at least a tendency towards excess and good cheer.’ (Callois 2001:97)

Reflective Exercise

Think about a festival or event that you attended in the last five years?

What were the reasons why you attended the event by considering some the criteria already mentioned?

Special Events

‘a unique moment in time celebrated with ceremony and ritual to satisfy specific needs’

Gold Platt (1997): 3

‘special uniqueness…which differentiated them from fixed attractions, and their ‘ambience’, which elevates them from ordinary life’

Getz, D (1989): 126

Growth in festivals and events reflects the following

Potential impacts: economic, social, environmental

Community

Diasporas

Visitors /tourism

Believe in the need to add value to visits

Special events then…..

They must be of limited and fixed duration, typically hours or days at most.

They must be a one-off or infrequent occurrence, typically monthly or annually at most.

If they are part of a regular series, they must be an unusual component of the series.

They must be unique.

They must require one or more organizers.

Their execution must be planned and controlled.

They must conform to the definition of a special event.

There must be a live audience other than the organizers present at the physical event location

(Doug Matthews http://specialeventguru.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/seeking-definition-of-special-events.html)

Therefore…

Certain events are there:

To showcase cultures

As a show of ‘here we are’

As a way of ‘owning’ space

“A special event is a gathering of human beings, generally lasting from a few hours to a few days, designed to celebrate, honour, discuss, sell, teach about, encourage, observe, or influence human endeavours.”

Regardless of size or scope

‘an event will not succeed unless it can meet the motivations, expectations and needs of the participants, which will often be the local community, and the visitors.’

Hall (1992)

Reflective Exercise

‘an event will not succeed unless it can meet the motivations, expectations and needs of the participants, which will often be the local community, and the visitors.’ Hall (1992)

Can you think of a festival or event that you attended and how it impacted on your motivations, expectations or needs?

Consumption

‘To the customer or guest, a special event in an opportunity for a leisure social or cultural experience outside the normal range of choices or beyond everyday experience.’

Getz (1997)

Diversity of Events

Artistic performances

Festivals

Carnivals

Trade exhibitions

Sporting competitions and displays

Firework displays

Environmental days

Garden displays

Historic tours

Music festivals

Highland games