Many different types of events are staged in England’s public spaces, but few can match the history or the mystery of the fair. These events date back to the 13th century and although there have been notable shifts in their main purpose – e.g. from trading to pleasure in the 18th Century – this heady […]
Read MoreDuring the summer of 2020, event organisers have been forced to think of ways of staging events that don’t contravene measures to restrict the spread of COVID-19. One of the most obvious options is to stage drive-in events: by confining attendees to private vehicles, contact between them can be restricted. These events conjure up images […]
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Our FESTSPACE team has been contributing to discussions and debates about the future of festivals, events and public space during the COVID-19 global pandemic and as we emerge from its more urgent effects. In this post we pull together these contributions in their various multimedia forms. Festivals, events and COVID-19: Navigating a global pandemic Firstly, […]
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While formal, officially sanctioned social gatherings were banned during lockdown, more localised and creative responses to the restrictions associated with COVID-19 were evident, across the world. From the balcony concerts of Barcelona, to the socially distanced street parties celebrating VE Day in London and the neighbourhood DJ sets taking place in other cities, the everyday, […]
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In 2019, The Royal Parks ran a competition for artists and photographers based on the question: ‘What does Hyde Park mean to you?’. Several of the winning entries depicted music festivals – which was apt as they were displayed on the fence surrounding the British Summer Time Festival. This prominent installation highlighted that London’s parks […]
Read MorePeople across the world have had to get used to a situation where cultural activity based on collective participation and occupation of public space is suspended. However, culture is still important and people instinctively want to come together to enjoy collective experiences. Frustration and fear of an uncertain future has been converted into creative energy, […]
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Rome Statute In a city with a high density and agglomeration, the Barcelona research team, focused on observing, during the first stage of the project, the intensity of uses of diverse public spaces in the city by events and culture festivals. The project analyses the coexistence of different events in these spaces alongside the creation […]
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On Wednesday 22nd January, 2020, more than 700 people attended a public meeting titled “City for Sale: The Commodification of Edinburgh’s Public Spaces” in Central Hall, Edinburgh. Organised by the Cockburn Association, this event was the outcome of controversy developing over several months caused by the use of Princes Street Garden for Christmas Markets and […]
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In the context of the 2020 RGS-IBG Annual Conference, held at the Royal Geographical Society in London from Tuesday 1 to Friday 4 September 2020, the Festspace research team has released the following call for papers for a session focused on Festivals and the city. Abstracts can be sent by 31st January 2020. Festivals and the city: […]
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In recent decades Dublin has become increasingly culturally diverse and is now home to more people of non-Irish origin than anywhere else in the state. The city has undergone significant transformations, driven largely by ‘technological advance, demographic shifts, and by new forms of social participation and expression’ (Dublin City Council, 2016: 5). Through a series […]
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