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PurposeTo explore the value in reminiscing about past festivals as a potential way of improving wellbeing in socially isolated times.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses previous research on reminiscence, nostalgia and wellbeing to underpin the analysis of self-recorded memory narratives. These were gathered from 13 pairs of festivalgoers during Covid-19 restrictions and included gathering their individual memories and their reminiscences together. The participant pairs were a mix of friends, family and couples who had visited festivals in the UK, Finland and Denmark.FindingsFour key areas that emerged through the analysis were the emotions of nostalgia and anticipation, and the processes of reliving emotions and bonding through memories.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies could take a longitudinal approach to see how memory sharing evolves and the impact of this on wellbeing. The authors also recommend undertaking similar studies in other cultural settings.Practical implicationsThis study findings have implications for both post-festival marketing and for the further development of reminiscence therapy interventions.Originality/valueThe method provides a window into memory sharing that has been little used in previous studies. The narratives confirm the value in sharing memories and the positive impact this has on wellbeing. They also illustrate that this happens through positive forms of nostalgia that centre on gratitude and lead to hope and optimism. Anticipation, not emphasised in other studies, was also found to be important in wellbeing and was triggered through looking back at happier times.
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Volunteering benefits recipients, volunteers, communities, and society, while digital technologies establish new opportunities for virtual volunteering. We describe how volunteers transitioned the UK's long-established Oxjam grassroots music festival online in response to the COVID pandemic, delivering a local pilot before scaling up nationwide. We adopt an infrastructural perspective to reveal how two teams of volunteers defined a flexible festival format, knitted together diverse technologies into a technical platform, and operated this to deliver the festival. We highlight the need for teams of volunteers to orchestrate both audience and performer trajectories through festivals. We argue for deliberately designing in volunteer labour rather than automating it out by translating traditional roles online while defining new digital ones. We propose to make these roles rewarding through a more social volunteer experience, including privileged backstage access. We highlight the challenges of using social media for such events, including complying with algorithmic policing of rights. © 2023 Owner/Author.
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Risk management and the navigation of loss are inherent to working conditions within the festival industry. With festivals cancelled, postponed or redesigned, the coronacrisis has deeply affected the already uncertain festival sector. Based on thirty-five interviews with Danish, Dutch and British music festival organisers, this article examines which losses organisers experienced when faced with a social trauma that disrupted their ontological security. Additionally, it analyses how they have coped and responded to this situation via organisational and emotional strategies. Three phases in how organisers cope with loss are identified, where organisational and individual responses play varying, complementary roles: (1) imminent short-term loss and its realisation, (2) acceptance of short-term loss and (3) moving beyond loss. The analysis reveals how managing potential personal loss and facing organisational crisis should not merely be seen in terms of a rational decision-making process but is also mediated by emotional losses organisers experience as not only their livelihood, but their work identity is existentially challenged. Implications are drawn on the nature of cultural work, with attention to the entwinement of personal and professional identities. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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A popular turn to online live music in response to the COVID-19 pandemic included the staging of so-called virtual music festivals, including Splendour XR, an ‘extended reality' version of Australia's largest ticketed music festival in 2021. Where the ‘liveness' of online performance is now broadly accepted, a virtual music festival necessarily makes a more ambitious claim, as popular music festivals are valued for their construction of certain types of place affording particular kinds of experience. This article considers this claim in light of the history and meaning of popular music festivals, including the role of mediating technologies, before presenting a case study of Splendour XR drawing on primary research at the event. The article explores key issues for the online delivery of popular music festivals including the negotiation of liveness, the construction of place and the music festival experience. [ FROM AUTHOR]
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In recent years, festivals, especially music festivals have become important vectors for promoting their host cities. Festivals are complex phenomena with high economic and socio-cultural impact. High CO2 emissions and huge resource consumption are commonly related to the festivals' negative environmental impact. Ensuring the suitable amount of water for a large-scale event is essential for both the audience experience and the city residents, especially when their access to water is hindered by excessive water usage for the festival. Therefore, an accurate estimation of water consumption during festivals is a prerequisite for rigorous water planning. In the Covid-19 world, due to the worsening crisis of resources and to the increasing pressure exerted by audiences asking for more eco-conscious events, festival organizers are called to get together with other stakeholders and re-examine the water management issues. Water companies have already started to embrace digital solutions. Their further implementation will result in a large amount of environmental data that could contribute to a paradigm shift concerning festival sustainability. The present paper was conceived around this topic, with the goal of increasing the awareness of all the actors involved in festival operational processes. Outcomes of a desk research and a case study focused on the UNTOLD and Electric Castle music festivals are presented.
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Yet, while there is indeed evidence of accessibility and inclusivity initiatives in the live music industry (Bossey, 2020), the supposed benefits of concerts and music festivals as open, inclusive, egalitarian, and positive are undermined by reports of sexual assault and the need for safe space policies within those same sites (Arnold, 2018;Hill et al., 2019). Moving to live music regulation practices, Jacopo Costa's article examines Espace Django, a French concert venue that benefits, like many French institutions, from state funding. [...]Arno van der Hoeven et al. analyse the methodologies used for measuring the value of live music and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these.
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O fenómeno de assistir lives musicais popularizou-se durante a pandemia do COVID-19, enquanto urn ato de lazer dentro de casa. Durante trés meses elas pertenceram á rotina de brasileiros e estrangeiros, para ent&acaron;o perder audiencia de forma exponencial. Essa trajetória é o objeto de pesquisa desse trabalho, estudada sob o prisma da teoria da prática, o qual buscou entender os elementos formadores dessa prática de consumo, sua sincronía com outras práticas do cotidiano, bem como fenómenos externos que atuam na consolidaçâo (ou n&acaron;o) de urna prática. Para tal, foram coletadas entrevistas em profundidade com 24 praticantes, sendo os resultados analisados por meio de urna análise temática. Os achados dao pistas sobre os motivos pelos quais a prática decaiu, com destaque para a sobreposiçâo de práticas pertencentes á rotina criada no isolamento social pelos praticantes, e reduçâo da originalidade (entendimento) inicial de Uves mais intimistas, que se perdem em meio á busca por inovaçöes na prática. Possíveis desdobramentos sobre o futuro das Uves pós pandemia, contribuiçöes teóricas e gerenciais também sao discutidos.Alternate :El fenómeno de ver lives musicales se hizo popular durante la pandemia de COVID-19, como un acto de ocio en casa. Durante tres meses pertenecieron a la rutina de brasileños y extranjeros, y luego perdieron su audiencia de manera exponencial. Esta trayectoria es el objeto de investigación de este trabajo, estudiada bajo el prisma de la teoría de la práctica, que buscó comprender los elementos que forman esta práctica de consumo, su sincronía con otras prácticas cotidianas, así como los fenómenos externos que actúan en la consolidación (o no) de una práctica. Para ello, se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad a 24 practicantes, y los resultados se analizaron mediante un análisis temático. Los hallazgos dan pistas sobre las razones por las que la práctica declinó, con énfasis en la superposición de prácticas pertenecientes a la rutina creada en el aislamiento social por los practicantes, y la reducción de la originalidad (opinión) inicial de Uves más intimistas, que se pierden en medio de la búsqueda de innovaciones en la práctica. También se discuten los posibles desarrollos sobre el futuro de las Uves pospandemia y las contribuciones teóricas y gerenciales.Alternate :The phenomenon of watching live online music events became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as a leisure activity practiced at home while social distancing. For 3 months, they were part of the routine of Brazilians and foreigners, before exponentially losing their audience. This trajectory is the object of research for this paper, studied under the prism of practice theory to understand the elements that form this consumption practice, its synchrony with other everyday practices, and external phenomena that act in the consolidation (or not) of a practice. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 practitioners, and the results were analyzed through a thematic analysis. The findings provide clues as to why the practice declined, emphasizing the overlapping of practices belonging to the routine created during social distancing and the reduction of the initial originality (understanding) of more intimate lives that get lost in the search for innovations in practice. Possible developments in the future of post-pandemic live events and theoretical and managerial contributions are also discussed.
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As indications of ‘overtourism’ appear in the Arctic, tourism presents both management challenges and ethical dilemmas, applicable to broader discussions about sustainability within Polar tourism. I argue that mapping value relations can contribute to ongoing discussions for positive ways forwards and that the concept of degrowth holds promise in redirecting tourism to better serve the local community. Tourism has become the largest employer and most rapidly growing sector in Svalbard, taking over from coal mining. Longyearbyen is a small urban centre but nevertheless is the central hub where almost all tourism passes through. Indeed, tourism is how the majority of human relations with its lands, seas, human and non-human inhabitants will be enabled. This paper is centred on charting the transition of Longyearbyen to a ‘tourist town’. Drawing on local voices from 2013 to 2016 and 2019, I use a value-based analysis to assess the changes experienced in the context of wider systems of value at work in Svalbard.
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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider perceptions of sustainability, information communication technologies (ICTs)-enhanced performances, authenticity, COVID-19 and performance futures in relation to digital content for use on-site and off-site at music festivals/events. It responds to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 – Industries, Innovation and Infrastructure. The research analyses existing literature to inform a dialogue among music festival organisers, consultants and performers. It addresses the thesis that: industry gatekeepers’ opinions on the authenticity of environmentally sound ICT-generated live content will influence its adoption at music festivals. Design/methodology/approach: Primary research was carried out using purposive sampling of 50 live music industry professionals to collect and interpret expert empirical evidence through informed narrative. Using a mixed-methods approach, respondents completed a structured e-mail questionnaire comprising closed questions, a five-point Likert scale and additional qualitative open questions. Findings: Predominantly positive quantitative responses relating to the live music industry's role in advocating sustainability contrasted with negative responses to virtual festivals. Responses adopting and rejecting environmentally sound ICT for live content were evident in qualitative results, with significant proportions of undecided or uncertain respondents. The prevalence of postponement and rejection responses around authenticity may prevent adoption at some music festivals. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this research include the relatively small sample size and limited scope in terms of the artform. Originality/value: The “snapshot” of digital aspects of sustainability at music festivals within this research is of particular value due to the paucity of research in this area, rapid change in virtual music festival provision prompted by COVID-19 and its narrative from varied industry professionals. The paper makes recommendations to artists, music festival organisers, consultants, academics and public funders to attempt to advance sustainability. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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The article deals with new development in tourism, especially after the pandemic situation of COVID-19. In the period of economic crises and turmoil tourism places are able to benefit from the positive influence of so called soft and more sustainable values created by the improvement of image, reputation and the quality of destination services, by using of local cultural resources and heritage. The objective of this study is wine tourism, which has become one of the growing niche attractors in specific regions all over the world. In the combination with culinary tourism and cultural tourism offers a specific tourism product not only to the segment of cultural tourists, but tends to be more attractive to the segments of seniors. The study will be focused on two countries, Canada and the case of Brand Niagara Region and Slovakia. The qualitative research has been prepared, especially focused on product development and the innovative promotion strategies. These two countries were chosen due to a personal experience, former research and interest in this topic.
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As festivals were cancelled or people were afraid of participating in mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, the well-being effects of festival participation were missed. How can these missed hedonic, eudaimonic or social well-being impacts be described, and how has the prolonged absence of live music events and the cancellation of the festival summer influenced attitudes towards festivals? Research data comprised nearly 13,000 responses to the Finnish Festival Barometer 2020 at a time when all the large festivals had been cancelled. Clustering the COVID-19 related questions led to three segments named Covid-cautious, Music-driven and Experience-oriented. The findings indicate challenges for event organisers, particularly in terms of communality. The theoretical contribution of this study is in scrutinising the well-being effects of festival attendance at a time when festivals were banned. Thus, survey participants could say the factors they missed most, revealing the most important well-being dimensions for their festival attendance.
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Purpose - Tourism industry is facing unexpected economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak, indicating the need for knowledge that would support the crisis management in rapidly changed market conditions. Such difficulties increased the managers' and decision makers' anxiety and put a pressure on actions with uncertain outcomes. Tourism has become a top priority in Serbia, which is supported by the fact that Novi Sad was declared European Capital of Culture (EC°C) 2021. Authors analyzed the consequences on the EC°C Novi Sad (Serbia). Methodology - The research was conducted in the form of interviews with representatives of the leading institutions related to the EC°C project and tourism of the City of Novi Sad, institutions in the field of the EC°C project management, tourism and creative industries, as well as the leading institution for tourist promotion of the City. Findings - The main findings are indicating the fact that respondents' marketing and management concepts, applied in the previous year of the crisis, are proactive and reflected in the following activities: planning, organizing, communicating, controlling. The main issues were related to the following topics: Modifications in the business since the moment when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared until today;Assessment of the travel risk/benefit perception and activities related to mitigation/exploitation of such circumstances and;Recommendations in the field of the crisis management segment for the next EC°C. Contribution - This research will focus on building a knowledge base for various stakeholders from different sectors in terms of developing the guidelines for the risk management strategies.
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This essay examines the digital feminist strategies of the Russian political performance group Pussy Riot. At the same time that I argue that the risks the group takes in creating a digital transnational feminism on YouTube are interesting for how they open up translocal critiques of authoritarianism, I ask a broader question regarding the criteria by which international feminist scholarship evaluates its objects of analysis. I avoid relying on holistic judgements of success or failure, and instead focus on Pussy Riot's legitimate and tangible feminist engagement with police brutality and border regimes between the United States and Russia.
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INTRODUCTION: This research aims to understand the content and nature, and to explore the harm potential, of suspected 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) substances circulating at music festivals in New South Wales. METHODS: Across 19 music festivals held between October 2019 and March 2020, 302 substances detected and suspected by police to contain MDMA were selected for quantitative analysis. RESULTS: Five percent of substances contained a drug other than MDMA (n = 13) or no drug (n = 2). The remaining 95.0% (n = 287) contained MDMA. Of this sub-sample, capsule was the commonest form (83.3%), followed by tablet (7.7%), crystal (6.3%) and powder (2.8%). The median MDMA base-purity of non-tablet forms ranged between 73.5% and 75.0%. The median MDMA base-dose per tablet (116 mg) was higher than per capsule (68 mg). The dose range varied substantially for capsules (14-146 mg) and tablets (24-201 mg). A higher dose (130 mg or greater) was found in 3.5% of MDMA tablets or capsules. Adulterants were identified in 14.1% of MDMA substances but only 1.6% contained a psychoactive adulterant and none presented as dangerous due to their nature or low concentration. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Dangerous MDMA adulterants or new psychoactive substances in tablet, capsule, powder or crystal forms (whether misrepresented as MDMA or not) were unlikely to be in circulation during the study period. Harm reduction messaging should inform that a key risk-factor for MDMA-related harm is the high and wide variation of purity and dose across forms. Market changes may have occurred since COVID-19, but continued monitoring will ensure messaging remains current.