Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
14.5.4
Festival Experiences
Festive events usually produce many new personal or group experiences for both
participants and spectators, although they can either be of transformative or trans-
gressive natures . In the former case they frequently alter people's feelings, creating
emotions such as pleasure, excitement, even euphoria or awe at the performances in-
volved. New attitudes may emerge, such as pride in the displays or in the city in which
they occur—even new or revived interest or insights into the culture of the forms and
their underlying functions. Throughout history, the major festivals were undoubtedly
unusual spectacles of sensory experiences, given the profusion of colour, sights and
sounds that transcended the escape from the 'real', the typical urban day. Hence they
contributed substantially to the range and character of human life within towns and
cities, providing experiences often unmatched by more permanent features within
the settlements. From an 'insider' perspective there can be little doubt that these fes-
tivals have become major contributors to the revival of local or regional feelings in
towns and cities in a globalized world, providing examples of how the celebration of
cultural difference, not similarity, is promoted by festive events. From an 'outsider'
perspective, especially those of long distant travellers, they also reinforce the feel-
ing of having observed something unique during the festive events, creating a belief
that the town or city involved is somehow unique, even though the life-styles of the
residents for the rest of the year are little different to their own.
The experiences found in festive events are not always positive for the society in-
volved; they can also be transgressive, in the sense that festive behaviours often chal-
lenge or break existing societal mores. Without tight controls, which in themselves
can reduce the positive experiences for spectators, some members of the crowds at-
tracted to festive events turn to rule-breaking, even violence, especially as inhibitions
are reduced by an excess of drink or drugs, or even to criminal or wanton behaviours
that go beyond the norms of the society. In some cases these transgressions can be
considered to be liberating for those who enjoy overthrowing conventional behav-
iours, even if others are hurt. But this provides a problem of governance within the
jurisdiction of the festive events. However, city authorities have always been alert to
the threat of these behaviours becoming too extreme and providing a stimulus to the
overthrow of the established social and political order. Indeed, without appropriate
regulation and policies to cope with crowds, any festive event can get out of control
and inflict serious damage upon other spectators and the local environment, whilst
in extreme case riots may develop. Historically, the problem of maintaining public
order led many festivals to create special temporary courts during their operation,
to issue fines and resolve disputes before the behaviours turned to violence and dis-
rupted the event. It has already been observed that during the Protestant Reforma-
tion in England from the seventeenth century many historic festivals were closed
down by Puritan authorities because of their blatant debauchery and flouting of more
moral societal standards. Yet it can be argued that by allowing these annual outlets
to take place, the negative effects of the temporary disorders were demonstrated,
which often led to support for the existing societal system. However, city authori-
ties have always been alert to the threat of these behaviours becoming too extreme
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