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Festivals and Cultural Events BS3969 “People are at the heart of a festival and cultural event” James Edgar Thompson

Dr Hugues Seraphin Dr Rami Mhanna Word count: 3,198 BLS 1608058

James Edgar Thompson

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Contents Page Introduction

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- The size of the event industry

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- The different sectors of the event industry

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- The emergence of the sector

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- Festivals and cultural events

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- The proposition

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Definition: what does it mean?

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-Why people are at the heart of a festival or cultural event8 People Heart Festivals and cultural events

The Reading Music Festival

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- Authenticity or commodification?

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- Tourism Lifecycle

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Host and Tourist

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- Tension

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The future of Reading Festival

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Conclusions

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Introduction

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The size of the event industry The UK’s event industry is wide and diverse with many segments. The UK’s event industry has grown over many decades, with an estimated worth of £42.3 billion to UK’s economy (Eventbrite, 2016). This represents continuing growth of the sector from the 2014 position reported by the Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP) at the International Confex in March 2014 where the total spend was valued at £39.1 billion, up from £36.1 billion in 2010 (Rogers, 2014). This spend is broken down in the graph below, indicating festivals and cultural events may be one of the smaller segments of the event industry (2.8%), but still contributing a substantial total spend of £1.1 billion (Rogers, 2014).

Direct spend by segment (£billion) $25.00

$19.90

$20.00 $15.00 $10.00 $5.00 $0.00

$11.00 $2.30 $0.00

$1.30

$1.20

$1.20

$1.10

$1.10

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Image 1: Rogers (2014)

The different sectors of the event industry

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The many segments or sectors include outdoor, charity, exhibitions and trade fairs, conferences and corporate events, music festivals and festivals. They can be commercial profit seeking ventures, public sector activities, educational, cultural or not for profit. These event management genre are described by Silvers (2004) in Table 1, below. Genre Business &

Description Any event that supports business objectives, including management functions,

Corporate Events

corporate communications, training, marketing, incentives, employee relations, and customer relations, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events

Cause-Related &

An event created by or for a charitable or cause-related group for the

Fundraising Events

purpose of attracting revenue, support, and/or awareness, scheduled

Exhibitions,

alone or in conjunction with other events. An event bringing buyers and sellers and interested persons together to

Expositions & Fairs

view and/or sell products, services, and other resources to a specific industry or the general public, scheduled alone or in conjunction with

Entertainment &

other events. A one-time or periodic, free or ticketed performance or exhibition event

Leisure Events

created for entertainment purposes, scheduled alone or in conjunction

Festivals

with other events. A cultural celebration, either secular or religious, created by and/or for the public, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events. (Many festivals include bringing buyer and seller together in a festive

Government & Civic

atmosphere.) An event comprised of or created by or for political parties,

Events

communities, or municipal or national government entities, scheduled

Marketing Events

alone or in conjunction with other events. A commerce-oriented event to facilitate bringing buyer and seller together or to create awareness of a commercial product or service, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events.

Meeting &

The assembly of people for the purpose of exchanging information,

Convention Events

debate or discussion, consensus or decisions, education, and relationship

Social/Life-Cycle

building, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events. A private event, by invitation only, celebrating or commemorating a

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Events

cultural, religious, communal, societal, or life-cycle occasion, scheduled

Sports Events

alone or in conjunction with other events. A spectator or participatory event involving recreational or competitive sport activities, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events. Table 1: Silvers (2004)

The emergence of the sector “The late twentieth century saw an events industry emerge, with various sectors, particularly those focussed on business related events, pushing forward the claim for an industry to be recognised” (Bowdin, 2006). Bowdin discusses the growing size of the industry and the impact and importance that has been created through this growth over time. Bowdin (2006) refers to a rapid development of the events industry, particularly over the past few decades with stakeholders and the importance of stakeholders, with clearly identifiable practitioners, suppliers and professional associations. This view is shared, in the contemporary setting of 2018. The Eventbright annual Pulse Event Industry Report (2018) describes the current event landscape as having a shift in thinking in relation to the reasons for holding events. It suggests the main reasons for organising events were community building, about “…giving attendees reasons to want to be part of your brand, where there is greater value placed on real-life experiences over material things.” ‘(eventbright.co.uk/blog/Pulse Event Industry Report 2018). The UK has a long, lasting history of local and national events, traditions and ceremonies spanning thousands of years that has influenced the development of local cultural events. This may include local fairs, festivals, sporting events, exhibitions and other cultural celebrations. Palmer and Lloyd (1972) highlighted that “Britain has many customs and traditions that are tied in with the changing seasons and country life, while with developing immigration, particularly after the war, settlers, including migrants from overseas bringing their own individual customs and traditions”. This has now since become part of Britain’s heritage, but the tone of ‘community building’ continues.

Festivals and cultural events James Edgar Thompson

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This segment of the event industry includes music, arts/film, food, religious and culture created by and for the public. The area of festivals and cultural events is a major sector of the events industry today. Due to its importance within its community, whether local, national or international, these events provide enjoyment to local communities celebrating the culture of the communities. Getz (1994) defines a festival as “a public themed celebration.” This looks at festivals being open to all, a change or celebration. Gold Blatt (1997) suggests festivals “provide the opportunity to celebrate culture whilst also providing meaning to those attending and participating.” Within the UK, Anon (2005) noted that 350 folk festivals took place in the UK within 2005. Eventbright blog (2016) suggest over 10,000 venues, of which over 7000 were major outdoor events each year, and over 85 million event attendees. Other studies have shown figures of other arts-related festivals reached to over 550, including Carnivals, melas and other multicultural events. As seen below in Image 2, the UK’s festival scene sees a dramatic rise in attendance from 16.9 million in 2011 to 30.9 million in 2016, almost doubling over the five-year period.

Image 2: Satisata (2019)

The proposition James Edgar Thompson

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This paper examines the proposition that ‘people are at the heart of a festival and cultural event’. Festival and cultural events is a segment of the overarching event industry. According to the information on net worth in Figure 1, above, it may be one of the smallest in total spend at £1.1 billion in 2014 (Rogers, 2014), but it has authenticity, providing both social capital and is a substantial commercial entity contributing to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“people are at the heart of a festival and cultural events”

Definition: what does it mean? ‘People at the heart of a festival and cultural event’ suggests the central position people have in festivals and cultural events. Events are built by and for people. It is a personal attachment. The experience, community building, shared sense of belonging: identifying in a similar aspect. Gold Blatt (1997) described this as “providing the opportunity to celebrate culture whilst also providing meaning to those attending and participating”. This provision of meaning which people can share or identify with is a powerful psychological aspect that provokes interest and achieves engagement; an attachment almost. It creates desire to be involved or participate, to support the shared aim or activity.

Why people are at the heart of the festival or cultural event James Edgar Thompson

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For the student to understand why people are the heart of festivals and cultural events the statement has to bee broken down into three parts: 

People;



Heart;



Festival and Cultural event.

People

Andrews & Leopold (2013) talk about people being ‘habitus’ describing this as the things people usually do – often informed by the earliest social experiences and associations. It’s about norms and patterns of behaviour. It is our earliest conditioning as a human. What we are used to, what we know and what we do as a result of this understanding. “Habitus is argued to be formed by our earliest social experiences and associated socialisation processes.” (Andrews & Leopold, 2013, A) This can then be transcribed to a person or people. Navarro (2006) talks about ’habitus’ being transcribed to a social situation rather than an ‘individual’s process transferrable from one context to another’. This can also apply to well-known activities that change. For example, when a specific festival/ cultural event is changed over a period of time. “Habitus is not fixed or permanent, and can be changed under unexpected situations or over a long historical period” (Navarro, 2006). With ‘people’ a sense of belonging can influence an individual or social groups decision to attend an event or whether or not to participate. The Festival the student is looking at is the Reading Music Festival: people make up a festival with the presence they bring, the energy, and the atmosphere that is created. The ‘Habitus’ commonly found at Reading is that of a young 16-35 age group, commonly rock fans but over the past decade has become a diverse multi purpose event. The festival attendee has a feeling of belonging. Navarro noted peoples perception can be changed through social decisions whether or not to participate.

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Heart With the heart of a festival, the feeling of being wanted to belong can be linked to identity. Andrews and Leopold (2013) talks about “the feelings of belonging influence our behaviour and actions(…)People’s social identity, social interaction and group affiliation provide them a sense of belonging” (Andrews & Leopold, 2013,B). Many different festivals contain different narratives whether that be music, food, or art. The effects of attachment to a culture encourages social groups to come together. This can be seen in music festivals such as Rock, Techno, and HipHop based narratives, this attracts subcultures of society to what the individual or individuals identify with “subculture is a culture within a broader mainstream culture, with its own separate values, practices, and beliefs” (www.Chegg.com, 2019). These are linked to key engagement and involvement in communal social processes. Festivals help to sustain niche festival narratives with belonging through bringing people together, with peoples’ individual attachment thus bringing subcultures and sub communities together for a purpose. With the heart of a festival, there is a combination of people and what they want to achieve and the mix of subcultures coming together. The heart and habitus for Reading Music Festival creates a chance of rebellion, a place and time to express who they are and the music they identify with and their social group and situation. It bonds. It binds. It may be enduring over time, or situational to a particular set of circumstances.

Festival and cultural event To create a festival or cultural event both people and a sense of belonging or a desire for involvement must be present. They must join together, coincide or synchronize. The habitus of people to create the need and want for an event to take place with the heart creating the inner desire or shared behaviour or thinking to be part of it. Festivals need a combination of people to create an event, these factors are products of combinations created by attendees whilst people can identify with each other based on common ways of behaving and thinking. Andrews & Leopold (2013) notes that “community festivals are no longer considered as unique and

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emanation of local culture.” This suggest that after decades of cultural identification and community feel, festivals and cultural events have changed ways due to mixing pots of differing cultures, people and subcultures. This can be seen in Shrewsbury as “Folk Festival bans black- face Morris dancers’ (liberalengland, 2016). Due to cultural appreciation, this is considered to moving with the prospect of ‘People’ understanding affects of pre-modern society and understanding postmodern society considering to be different from before with effects of globalisation and increasing movement of people. What may have been acceptable previously, may not be now or in the future as collective thinking changes and informs our approach over time.

The Reading Music Festival

The festival the student has chosen is the Reading Music Festival held annually on the August bank holiday. The music festival started out as a National Jazz Festival in Richmond Ground, Reading, in 1961 (Skiddle,2019). As the Festival grew, the pattern of the festival moved to more of a progressive rock, blues and heavy metal genres during the 1970s, with the occasional dabble into the world of punk rock. As the years have gone on, the Festival grew to caterer for influential artists at the beginnings of their James Edgar Thompson

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careers, for example The Jam, The Ramones, Nirvana, and Blur have all made appearances in the Festival line up. The Festival has run each year with the exception of 1985 and 1986, when the local Council prevented it taking place.

Authenticity or Commodification?

At the beginning of the 2000’s Reading Festival started to diversify its content with the introduction of Hip Hop right the way through to Dance and Techno. The diversification has continued due to the involvement of BBC Radio One with the creation of the Radio One Stage. Since 1991 Reading has been getting bigger and better, with tickets regularly selling out in an incredibly quick time, with the creation of a sister festival in Leeds in 1999. With the creation of two festivals, there has been a more balanced perception where the music festival was felt to be dual centred in the north and south of the country, becoming more accessible to people from all over the UK. Leeds Festival is now firmly established as one of the most essential festivals in Britain.

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Image 3: Reading and Leeds Festival growth (Infogram, 2019) In the decade to 2012, attendance at Reading Festival has grown, as indicated in the above graph (Image 3). Together, Reading and Leeds attract more than 150,000 attendees each year. This has continued to grow year on year. Since 2000, ticket prices have risen from £80 to just under £200 (£197.50) (Infogram, 2019). This paid event is popular, selling out in advance. This demand in itself encourages a sense of belonging and excitement at the ticketing stage. This encourages a sense of belonging, shared interest and the coming together of community with a shared enjoyment of the festival experience.

Image 4: Reading Festival The people who attended Reading Music Festival historically are from different subcultures including Rock and the sub genres that is enticed with the genre, with the sense of self belonging and self expression with more rock bands having centre stage as seen in the image to the side (image 4). The student has noticed that over the past decade Reading has changed its appeal compared to the audience it once had including major rock bands, for example The Prodigy and Rage Against The Machine, back in 1996.

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The student compared the latest line up in 2018. The Festival has changed with some attendees saying it no longer caters for or applies to them. This can be seen loosing their authenticity. Festival Republic, the Festival organisers defend the change is line up over time saying it is important to keep changing to include the music people listen to in order to stay relevant, and thus keeping people at the heart of the event and ensuring the event is authentic to the larger audiences. This may be driven to changing music tastes and changes in the music scene, becoming more mainstream. Cooper (1998) notes that finality describes how “the host has forgotten what they once regarded as special by them and the tourists – the product has changed and tourists will move to different destinations”.. this can bee seen in a BBC (2018) interview with Reading festival attendees with fans calling it the “worst line up ever” (BBC,2018). The BBC (2018) study analysed major UK festivals and discovered that, in the 1990’s, 70% of the headliners were rock acts. By the 2000s’ this had decreased to 59% and in the 2010’s it was down to 33% of headline acts (BBC,2018,B). This is a difficult balance, but the ticket sales volumes suggest the relevance and authenticity of the approach adopted by the organizers is commercially sound in what some may describe as commodification as the Festival is turned into a commodity and made commercial enterprise. With the changes to the festival over the decades people are still the heart of the festival, even with changes made to the music they accommodate over the bank holiday people are seen as more diverse, ...