Relevance and Significance of Festivals in Contextualising Arts - Literature review Example

Relevance and Significance of Festivals in Contextualising Arts Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Introduction The significance of arts and culture in promoting humanity has been contested for a long time. Indeed, a growing body of researchers are continuing to arrive at the conclusion that arts and culture play a vital role in fostering economic and social goal, through attraction of tourists, promoting inventions and talents, and improving health and wellbeing (Michelakis 2010; Olsen 2012). However, the role of arts and culture in promoting economic and social goals is limited without festivals that exemplify or demonstrate their existence. Therefore, festivals lead to the realisation of the significance of arts and culture (Rappaport 1999). Indeed, festivals are among the fastest growing forms of promoting general arts and culture. According to Anil (2012), festivals refer to a kaleidoscope of planned sports, culture, business and political events or occurrences. Hence, they may include community festivals, intergovernmental assemblies, competitions, and conventions. Quinn (2009) describes festivals as formal programs or events of congenial and enjoyable entertainment of activities that have festive character, and which openly celebrate some happening, concept or fact. Falassi (1987) describes festivals as either irreligious or sacred occasions, distinguishable by special performance or ceremony. In short, festivals are themed public ceremonies that celebrate a concept or idea. From a survey of literature, substantial and well-established literature exist that attest to the significance of the roles and benefits of festivals in exemplifying the roles of arts and culture across socio-cultural, political and economic domains (Quinn 2009). Studies have recurrently emphasised that festivals present the likelihood of stimulating, crystallising and expressing local arts and cultures. Based on this backdrop, this essay argues that since festivals present the likelihood of stimulating, crystallising and expressing local arts and cultures, arts depend on festivals in the modern regimes to promote tourism, cultural consideration, economic development and social development. Arts rely on festivals to bolster their In as much as festivals are significant tourist attractions, arts need the festivals to bolster their significance in tourism. As emphasised by the Arts Council England (2014), arts have spill over impacts, through tourism. Olsen (2012) also promotes this idea. She argued that festivals embody a significant driver for increased attractiveness of a destination. Such strategies are linked to ‘social control logic or theory,’ which seeks to form a consensus from the local communities to attract more investors and consumers to a destination, by fostering civic prides and galvanising local support (Olsen 2012). A report by Centre for Economics Business Research (CEBR), on the spill-over effects of arts and culture industry due to tourism in the UK, shows that in 2011, some 10 million inbound tourism visits to the country consisted of those looking to engage in arts and culture, which represented nearly 32 percent of the entire visits to the UK, making up some £7.6 billion (Arts Council England 2014). Festivals are, therefore, significant forms of expressing arts and culture, which feature as tourist attractions. Some studies that examined the history of festivals have made claims that festivals have indeed affected the redefined places as tourist destinations. Among the landmark studies in this respect was that of Gold and Gold (2005), who explored how recognition of Greenwich as the pivot of the time zones of the earth triggers hosting of a yearlong event in 1884, in order to promote international tourism in the Greenwich city. Quinn (2009) also explored how Handel Centenary Festival, which was held in London, effectively marketed London Crystal Palace as a tourist attraction site in 1859. The festival’s organisers distributed over 50,000 prospectuses. In this regards, the tourists, the government and local communities need festivals for cultural tourism to subsist. Indeed, this can be confirmed by peering at the international market, where festivals have currently become a global tourism phenomenon. According to the Arts Council England (2014), arts trigger spending by the tourists in two ways. While some may visit a destination to witnesses the arts and cultural attractions, other tourists participate in the arts activities during their excursions, which generate income to the tourist sector. In this regards, the festivals may feature as the arts and cultural attractions that attract tourists to witness, as well as which the tourists participate during their visits (Hall et al 2010). Arts rely on festivals encapsulate social identities Since festivals encapsulate identities for individuals, communities and states, it is through these festivals that arts are able to encapsulate social identities (Koster 2002). Quinn (2009) supports this assumption when she suggests that transient or recurrent festivals act as a significant means of communal identification of communities that host the events. It is reasoned that this is since festivals engender local continuity and make up opportunities for emphasizing, strengthening, and regenerating and at some point in time contesting prevalent social values, norms, and beliefs (Presenza and Locca 2012). Without a doubt, the public and festive elements identifiable in the definition of festivals as themed public ceremonies that celebrate a concept or idea are significant. This is since festivals have traditionally existed as important cultural practices, set up as types of public display, civic ritual or just communal celebration. Anil (2012) suggests that all cultures are cognisant of the significance of setting aside certain periods and spaces for shared celebration and creativity. Such practices, according to Quinn (2009), were historically allied to the rhythms of agrarian society. Some researchers, such as Olsen (2012) have also point to the idea that throughout history, festivals have encapsulated identity in respect to nation state, heterogeneous or personal identities for people. According to Falassi (1987), festivals restore the life stream of communities periodically and provide sanctions to its institutions. From the above discussion, it is also ascertained that the tourists, the government and local communities need festivals for cultural tourism to subsist. A report by the British Council called Trust Pays examined the implications of arts and cultural participation to the UK by tourists and established that it led to a higher degree of trust by other countries (Arts Council England 2014). The report discussed that such cultural engagements was linked to greater attractions to visits in order to attend business or sports festivals in the UK. While the report centres on the perceptions and attitudes instead of the actions taken and hence may not be viewed as a report on effects, it does underscore the role that arts and culture (in this case the festivals) play as a factor that promotes an upbeat image of the UK globally (Arts Council England 2014). Overall, festivals has significant identity-enhancing roles and have increasingly become tools for territorial competition as countries take advantage of them to promote urban revitalisation and to attract visitors through marketing (Quinn 2009). Arts rely on festivals embody past traditions Since festivals are essentially a medium for expressing or conveying past traditions, norms and values, arts rely on festivals embody past traditions (Getz 2010). This idea is supported by Devine (2013) who suggested that events and festivals have a long-standing historical trajectory that symbolize the past traditions and cultures. Therefore, it is through the festivals that some traditional art forms continue to flourish onwards. Quinn (2009) explains that while the current proliferation of festivals is marked is connected to their potential to promote tourism, their underlying relevant is their potential to embody past cultures and traditions, as a combination of demand-driven factors such as the needs for socialisation and growth of a range of leisure have underpinned their growth. According to Thomas and Kim (2010), the primary and most general function of the festivals is to announce and renounce arts and culture and to renew the life-stream of a community periodically by creating symbolic means for recreating cultural norms or a traditional regime, where the festival happened. However, Olsen (2012) suggests that from a cultural viewpoint, instrumentalisation of festivals has led to the idea that contemporary arts and culture have limited cultural significance since they are dominated by commercial and economic logics. Earlier, Falassi (1987) also considered modern-day festivals as having significant cultural values since they are replete with commercial values that challenge cultural norms. In this regards, communities need festivals to convey their traditions to the next generation. Similarly, the new generation and tourists need festivals to gain an insight into a particular community’s past traditions, values and norms (Esu 2009). Arts need festivals to promote social inclusion, civic participation, and residency According to Thomas and Kim (2014), festivals foster social inclusion, civic participation, and residency. Correspondingly, arts and culture rely on festivals to promote social inclusions and residency. There is a growing evidentiary claim that that the participation of the youth and children in the society in arts and cultural events such as festivals has a knock-on effect on their civic and social participations (European Commission 2011). Cultural capital resources, such as attending or taking part in the festivals within a community, have significant impacts in rendering social class differences through civic participation (Arts Council England 2014). Thomas and Kim (2014) explain that festivals also present businesses and community residents with an opportunity to become active participants in community project. In his view, it is this capacity of the festival to engage members of the host community to present a festival, which gives the festivals the vital role of preserving a community’s arts and culture. For instance, in the festivals, an atmosphere is formed with important cultural ideas, traditions, and practices that are shared with others, which creates a sense of cohesiveness and community among the individuals in a community (Turner 1997). A systematic review by Arts Council England (2014) claimed that the American high school students who take part in festivals in schools are more likely to engage in civic duties and take part in voluntary activities as young adults. Arts Council England (2014) cited a study by Bennett and Parameshwaran (2013), who established that young people aged between 10 and 15 years who took part in festivals were more likely to consider themselves a part of a society they lived in and hence participated in voluntary work. These studies indicate the composite measure of youth cultural capital as having a significant positive impact on the youth who volunteer. It also suggests that youth who take part in festivals gain higher cultural capital and are likely to engage in volunteer work in their specific communities. In a review to establish the underlying principle that explains why participation of individuals in festivals has a knock-on effect on their civic and social participations, Arts Council England (2014) cited Lee et al (2012) who examined the barriers and triggers for pro-social behaviour among the youth ad established that a majority of the individuals are motivated to witness social inclusion since they consider the activities inherent in the festivals as helping to develop their confidence and skills. According to Arts Council England (2014), festivals are particularly more significant for the young people compared to the older ones and in most cases, the instrumental motivation are the underlying reason for social inclusion. Therefore, communities and organisations looking to initiate new projects need festivals to launch their projects and to create high returns for further investment in the project. As noted by Thomas and Kim (2014), among the most notable features of festivals is their capacity to create high returns from small investments. One of the methods that festivals can use to create less financial obligations is when the events are held in already existing locations. Such locations are particular beneficial to communities and organisations. While the communities benefit from the high returns and capital inflow, the festivals benefit from the labour that needs limited monetary compensations. Such features make festivals favourable to communities or organisations seeking new projects. Arts rely on festivals to promote cross-cultural communication Arts depend on festivals to cultivate cross-cultural communication. Esu et al (2009) have explored this postulation in their study of cultural tourism in Nigeria. The researchers noted that festivals are forms of arts and cultural festivals that can promote cross-cultural communication between different age groups of the host and the visitors. This evidence is further supported by Falassi (1987) who views cultural festival as a regular social occasion where individuals in a community from diverse backgrounds engage in either directly or indirectly through a range of coordinated series of events. Historical bonds, linguistic or ethnic bond, united the individuals. They may also share a worldview. This means that although each community, such as a society, government or stakeholders, has own expectations and values in staging a festival, the attribute of shared experience implies that tolerance is accorded to other’s cultures and values (Presenza & Locca 2012). Therefore, the community (such as a society, government or tourist industry stakeholders) need the festivals to promote cross-cultural communication. Thomas and Kim (2014) shows that festivals are critical aspects of arts and culture that create an atmosphere where communities (such as a society, government or tourist industry stakeholders) uses valuable practices, values and idea to celebrate arts, music, food, film or any other aspect of a community’s art forms and heritage. To this end, festivals are the ultimate events for developing the unique aspects of a community’s culture. Hence, a sense of pride is created as the different people from varied cultures join in participating in the festival. Such a pride and exhilaration from the host community can be a significant factor for attracting tourists to the festivals and presenting a great opportunity for individuals from different cultures to communicate in one language. As reasoned by Presenza & Locca (2012) festivals promote tourist’s experience, by using the cultures of a local community to promote unique experience. Arts need festivals to promote economic development Festivals are a significant component of the wider variety of new cultural strategies that can be applied in regenerating and reorienting post-production economies towards consumption, where entertainment, leisure, and tourism underscore economic development. In that order, arts need the festivals to promote economic development. According to Falassi (1987), the modern-day proliferation of festivals can be explained in terms of their role in urban restructuring processes. Falassi (1987) explained that festival is a driver for growth and re-invention of cultures as well as deliver a sequence of development outcomes in regards to the economic restructuring and revitalisation. Hence, festivals can be staged as urban spectacle to promote economic benefits as they have the potential to raise the profile of places, institutions as well as attract inward investment and flow of tourists. For instance, Karabaev (2003) takes this perspective to argue that for many cities in the developed economies, the key drive for organising festival as an arts and cultural event is to recover from the long-term economic decline. Olsen (2012) and Cohen (1988) take this perspective to trace the rise of awareness of the link between arts and culture, and economic development to the 1980s after a shift of entrepreneurialism in urban policies. Similarly, the number of festivals has rapidly increased and gained popularity in various cities worldwide. Olsen (2012) argues that arts and culture became substantially instrumentalised as an economic asset, or a commodity with significant market value that generates economic benefits. It is based on this backdrop that it is reasoned that the emergence of instrumentalised festivals embodies on aspect that countries have harnessed to generate additional income and to promote visibility of destinations. Several studies have hinted as positive yet surprising outcomes. Lee and Taylor (2005) examined the economic impact of the FIFA World Cup 2002 that was held in South Korea and concluded that the arts and cultural extravaganzas that marked the football event provided the country with significant economic benefits and sense of national pride. Olsen (2012) draws a similar perspective to point to mega sports events such as Olympic Games as capable of drawing a great extent of international attention to the arts and cultures in the host countries, and in the process promoting tourism. In this regards, business, the government and local communities need festivals to promote social and economic development. According to Presenza and Locca (2012), festivals present an excellent opportunity for promoting the predisposition of local businesses to engage in networking activities that correspond to an important and effective alternative in respect to mobilising information, resources, knowledge, experience, and ideas. Conclusion Since festivals present the likelihood of stimulating, crystallising and expressing local arts and cultures, arts depend on festivals in the modern regimes to promote tourism, cultural consideration, economic development, and social development. Therefore, in as much as festivals are significant tourist attractions, arts need the festivals to bolster their significance in tourism. Next, since festivals encapsulate identities for individuals, communities, and states, it is through these festivals that arts are able to encapsulate social identities. Yet again, since festivals are essentially a medium for expressing or conveying past traditions, norms and values, arts rely on festivals embody past traditions. Additionally, festivals foster social inclusion, civic participation, and residency. Correspondingly, arts and culture rely on festivals to promote social inclusions and residency. Arts also depend on festivals to cultivate cross-cultural communication. Festivals are forms of arts and cultural festivals that can promote cross-cultural communication between different age groups of the host and the visitors. Festivals are a significant component of the wider variety of new cultural strategies that can be applied in regenerating and reorienting post-production economies towards consumption, where entertainment, leisure, and tourism underscore economic development. In that order, arts need the festivals to promote economic development. In this regards, the tourists, the government and local communities need festivals for cultural tourism to subsist, to convey their traditions to the next generation, and to promote cross-cultural communication and social and economic development. Additionally, communities and organisations looking to initiate new projects need festivals to launch their projects and to create high returns for further investment in the project. Reference list Anil, N 2012, "Festival visitors’ satisfaction and loyalty: An example of small, local, and municipality organized festival," Tourism, vol. 60 no. 3, pp.255 - 271 Arts Council England 2014, The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society, Arts Council England, Manchester Bennett, M and Parameshwaran, M 2013, What factors predict volunteering among youths in the UK?, Third Sector Research Centre, London Cohen. E 1988, "Authenticity and Commoditization in Tourism," Annals or Tourism Research, vol. 15, pp.371-386 Devine, P 2013, "The Concept of Tradition: A Problem out of MacIntyre," Reason Papers vol. 35, no. 1, pp.107-123 Esu, B 2009, "Tourists’ Satisfaction with Cultural Tourism Festival: a Case Study of Calabar Carnival Festival, Nigeria," International Journal of Business and Management vol 4 no 3, pp.116-125 European Commission 2011, European Arts Festivals Strengthening cultural diversity, European Union, Belgium Falassi, A 1987, Time out of time: Essays on the festival, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM Getz, D 2010, "The Nature and Scope of Festival Studies," International Journal of Event Management Research vol. 5 no. 1, pp.1-47 Gold, J & Gold, M 2005) Cities of Culture: Staging international Festivals and the Urban Agenda, 1851 – 2000, Ashgate, Aldershot Hall, J, Grindstaff, L & Lo, M 2010, Handbook of Cultural Sociology, Routledge, New York Karabaev, M 2003, Festival-Ritual Culture As A Factor Of Social Progress, viewed 29 Oct 2014, http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/IIIC-1/chapter_vii.htm Koster, J 2002, "Ritual performance and the politics of identity: On the functions and uses of ritual, viewed 29 Oct 2014, Lee, L, Morrell, G, Marini, A and Smith, S 2012, Barriers and facilitators to pro-social behaviour among young people: a review of existing evidence, Department for Education, London Michelakis, P 2010, "Theater Festivals, Total Works of Art, and the Revival of Greek Tragedy on the Modern Stage," Cultural Critique, no 74, pp.149-163 Olsen, C 2012, "Re-thinking festivals: a comparative study of the integration marginalization of arts festivals in the urban regimes of Manchester, Copenhagen and Vienna," International Journal of Cultural Policy, vol 1 no 1, pp.1-20 Presenza, A & Locca, S 2012, "The Weight of stakeholders on Festival Maangeemnt. The Case of Music Festivals in Italy," Reista Turismo Patrimonio Cultural, vol 10 n0 2, pp.25-35 Quinn, B 2009, Festivals, events and tourism. Festivals, events and tourism, in Jamal, T. and Robinson, M. (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Tourism Studies, Sage, London Rappaport, R 1999, Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Thomas, T & Kim, Y 2010, "A Study of Attendees’ Motivations: Oxford Film Festival," URC Resources, viewed 30 Oct 2014, Turner, J 1997, “Continuity and Constraint: Reconstructing the Concept of Tradition from a Pacific Perspective," Contemporary Pacific, pp.341-381 Read More

She argued that festivals embody a significant driver for increased attractiveness of a destination. Such strategies are linked to ‘social control logic or theory,’ which seeks to form a consensus from the local communities to attract more investors and consumers to a destination, by fostering civic prides and galvanising local support (Olsen 2012). A report by Centre for Economics Business Research (CEBR), on the spill-over effects of arts and culture industry due to tourism in the UK, shows that in 2011, some 10 million inbound tourism visits to the country consisted of those looking to engage in arts and culture, which represented nearly 32 percent of the entire visits to the UK, making up some £7.

6 billion (Arts Council England 2014). Festivals are, therefore, significant forms of expressing arts and culture, which feature as tourist attractions. Some studies that examined the history of festivals have made claims that festivals have indeed affected the redefined places as tourist destinations. Among the landmark studies in this respect was that of Gold and Gold (2005), who explored how recognition of Greenwich as the pivot of the time zones of the earth triggers hosting of a yearlong event in 1884, in order to promote international tourism in the Greenwich city.

Quinn (2009) also explored how Handel Centenary Festival, which was held in London, effectively marketed London Crystal Palace as a tourist attraction site in 1859. The festival’s organisers distributed over 50,000 prospectuses. In this regards, the tourists, the government and local communities need festivals for cultural tourism to subsist. Indeed, this can be confirmed by peering at the international market, where festivals have currently become a global tourism phenomenon. According to the Arts Council England (2014), arts trigger spending by the tourists in two ways.

While some may visit a destination to witnesses the arts and cultural attractions, other tourists participate in the arts activities during their excursions, which generate income to the tourist sector. In this regards, the festivals may feature as the arts and cultural attractions that attract tourists to witness, as well as which the tourists participate during their visits (Hall et al 2010). Arts rely on festivals encapsulate social identities Since festivals encapsulate identities for individuals, communities and states, it is through these festivals that arts are able to encapsulate social identities (Koster 2002).

Quinn (2009) supports this assumption when she suggests that transient or recurrent festivals act as a significant means of communal identification of communities that host the events. It is reasoned that this is since festivals engender local continuity and make up opportunities for emphasizing, strengthening, and regenerating and at some point in time contesting prevalent social values, norms, and beliefs (Presenza and Locca 2012). Without a doubt, the public and festive elements identifiable in the definition of festivals as themed public ceremonies that celebrate a concept or idea are significant.

This is since festivals have traditionally existed as important cultural practices, set up as types of public display, civic ritual or just communal celebration. Anil (2012) suggests that all cultures are cognisant of the significance of setting aside certain periods and spaces for shared celebration and creativity. Such practices, according to Quinn (2009), were historically allied to the rhythms of agrarian society. Some researchers, such as Olsen (2012) have also point to the idea that throughout history, festivals have encapsulated identity in respect to nation state, heterogeneous or personal identities for people.

According to Falassi (1987), festivals restore the life stream of communities periodically and provide sanctions to its institutions. From the above discussion, it is also ascertained that the tourists, the government and local communities need festivals for cultural tourism to subsist.

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