Publication: Festivals, Territory, and Society, Aurélien Djakouane, Emmanuel Négrier

Publication of the book by Aurélien Djakouane andEmmanuel Négrier, *Festivals, Territory, and Society*.

Summary:

This book offers a fresh analysis of the festival phenomenon, at a time when their near-disappearance from the cultural calendar during the health crisis has, by contrast, highlighted the importance of festivals in the collective imagination.

The shift toward treating culture as a series of events has been one of the driving forces behind cultural policy for the past four decades, particularly during the Lang years, which highlighted the celebratory aspect of culture. The prominent role that festivals now play in cultural life calls for a reevaluation of their territorial and social impact, beyond their ephemeral nature.

This book offers a fresh analysis of the festival phenomenon, at a time when their near-disappearance from the cultural calendar during the health crisis has, by contrast, highlighted the importance of festivals in the collective imagination. Five perspectives have been selected, each explored in a separate chapter: socioeconomic indicators, audiences, partners, social media, and volunteerism. The analysis concludes with a typology of seven categories of festivals: Icons, Major Events, Brands, Public Hubs, Volunteer-Driven, Small-Scale, and, finally, Off-Season.

This book is the culmination of a three-year research project—SoFEST!—that began before the pandemic and was continued and completed during it. Initiated and coordinated by France Festivals, SoFEST! is the result of close cooperation between a research team, regional and national festival networks (the Collectif des festivals bretons, De Concert!, the Fédération des Festivals de Chanson Francophone), as well as the Grand-Est Cultural Agency and Occitanie en Scène, the Department of Studies, Forecasting, Statistics, and Documentation of the Ministry of Culture, Sacem, and Crédit Coopératif.

More information and access:Link