Space and Festivalscapes

In this paper I explore a number of ways in which space and festivals interact. My main concern is to describe the impact of festivals on their host cities and to develop a critical approach to the use of space by festival organisers. Using the ideas of Doreen Massey, Michel Foucault, Gay McAuley and Ric Knowles, this essay explores the relationships that are generated by the placement of festivals in relation to the space in their host communities. The text also questions the traditional conception of empty space, a place without ideologies, and argues for a more open notion which includes dynamic processes of both physical and mental spatial constructions, the burden of ideology implicit in each space, and the diverse ways in which people become attached to particular places. The conceptualisation of space has implications for the way we construct our social relations, and can have an impact on the shaping of festival structures. I consider festivals as meeting points where distinct trajectories coexist and multiple shapes and uses of space are possible. I argue that we have to consider, along with particular forms of interaction with specific spaces, the many possible ways of experiencing them.