The Festivalization of Values

This book discusses music festivals in the context of the specific values they convey. The authors analyse music festivals from the lens of "festivalization"--- a concept that describes how governments create hegemony in cultural policy through autonomizing festivals. The authors state that grounding festivals in specific values and norms is becoming an increasingly important element of contemporary festival policies, and of urban cultural policy overall. Music as a polysemantic element of culture is based on emotions and generates social practices, and the authors therefore see music festivals as having particular significance in generating norms and values. They discuss how "missions" of music festivals are incorporated into the promotion of cities/villages and regions; delve into whether such festivals function as elements of cultural/historical policy, both at the regional and national level; review how local discourses concerning festivals emerge (local leaders, local government officials, journalists), and ask whether festivals whose missions include explicit values have a spontaneous origin (grassroots, originating from artists, social activists, residents) or a strategic one (imposed by decision makers, sponsors, entities financing festivals). Students and researchers in the fields of cultural anthropology, social psychology, folklore studies, comparative religion, sociology of culture, cultural policy, cultural history, and cultural management will find this book highly interesting.