Festivalization: the Boom in Events
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Festivalization: the boom in events Participation, identification, realization and transformation as the core parameters of permanent or temporary autonomous zones. Platform for change How the need for physical contact, anonymous freedom and community gives rise to new models of togetherness and autonomy in festivals, communities, free cultural spaces and tribes. These influence in turn our personal states of mind, but also bring new ideas, innovation and help change our world view. Luc Sala with Aja Waalwijk, Britta Lillesøe, Wolfgang Sterneck, Ferry Maidman, Peter H. Rosen 1 Publishe r: Boekencoöperatie Nederland u.a. Im print: Artscience Sept. 2015, Ma. 2016 All rights, also dig i tal, reserved by Mindlift and L. Sala con tact [email protected] Cover: Tomas Sala, pic ture: An-Jes Wagemans Pic tures: au thor & friends, Margreet Bakker, An-Jes Wagemans, Pe ter Rosen, Firetribe-Kyer Wiltshire, Corel, PhotoDisc, Wikipedia, Mindlift Beeldbankiers. Dis tri bu tion: Boekencoöperatie Nederland u.a., [email protected] www.boekcoop.nl www.boekenroute.nl (webshop) ISBN 9789492079107 NUR 740 price € 19,95 first edition: Sept. 2015, enhance d sec ond edition March 2016 We like to go to fes ti vals, more than ever. Is it to play, to meet, to expe ri ence or just to es cape the norm al, the orga nize d, the suffo ca - tion of daily routines and cyberspace iso lation? This book deals with the roots, back ground and mecha nism s of what is now a global trend, turning into an indus try and becom ing the favor ite of urban policy-m akers . What do au tono mous zones like fes tivals or free cultural spaces, com mu nities and urban tribes bring beyond the lei - sure and en ter tain ment, are they also a tool to ex pe ri ence and shape a differ ent para digm , chang ing our personal world view and political consciousness? Festivalization is not only an economic ac tiv ity, it’s a social phe- nom enon that seems to com pensat e for the lack of physi cal contac t in mod ern life and cyberspace, but also the loss of meaning in an overly ma te rial world. Com mer cial, cul tural, ar tis tic, al ter na tive, re li gious, spir i tual or tribal, transformati onal, ev erybody can find something of his or her liking in the festivalscape, for a day, a weekend or longer. It makes us feel con nected, tol erant and inclined to share. In a world full of stress, fear, eco log i cal threats and ed u ca tional co - er cion there is a need to es cape to places and events where the ‘nor - mality ’ is shelved. Places where we can still play, make mistakes, and thus learn and grow, even as this might entail a dark side. Fes tivals fit in with the expe ri ence econom y and eventification of soci ety, but they also offer an chor points for an expanded identity of the fes ti val-goers. They of fer en ter tain ment, cul ture, par tic i pa - tion, mean ing and iden ti fi ca tion, and the more al ter na tive events are a platform for per sonal and social transformation. The perspec tive of this book is about the transformative quali ties ; how au ton o mous zones fa cil i tate the al ter na tive and of fer trans for- mation. It is about under sta nd ing why people flock to events that offer something extra and looks into what that ex tra is, how that brings in no vation and personal growth and un der what con ditions. Mani fes ting change is what the world needs to under sta nd better. It is not so much about the com mercia l and enter tain m ent ori ented cat e go ries of fes ti vals or about event management, which are well covered elsewhere. Con tri bu tions by dif fer ent au thors give back ground in for ma tion and his tor i cal per spec tives. Table of Contents 1 Introduction 11 Ex pe ri ence econ omy and eventification 12 2 Festivalization: a new boom 15 Towards a wider definition of festival 18 Classification of festivals 21 Themes, authenticity and dynamics 22 Dif fer ent sub cul tures, back stage 23 Understanding Festivals 23 Focus on the alternative 24 The new eth ics, value devel op ment 26 In no va tion, coy ote mind 28 Security and red tape 28 Festivals are the business of the future? 29 Tribal Revival 31 Urban en Cyberspace tribes: bonding or super fi cia l es cape? 32 Ecology, the green angle 33 Social and political impact of festivals 33 Festivals as a lifestyle 34 Fan-community 35 3 Eventification 36 Festivalscape 36 Festival and event science 37 Trendification 38 Crowd reading and crowd control 42 In ter dis ci plin ary event sci ence 43 Event organizing talent, flexible and meticulous 43 So cial cen ters 46 Po lit i cal an gle; squat ters, so cial cen ters 46 Audience diversity, target groups 48 Se cu rity and drugs 50 4 The real potential of festivals 51 Transformational efficacy 53 5 The perspective of the organizers/producers 54 Why, For Whom, What, Where 55 Re strict ing pol i cies 58 Talent 59 Ambitions 59 Image counts 60 Event Im pact 62 Volunteers 63 5 Internet as a ma jor tool 64 6 Needs, motivation and values 65 The need to be free 69 The freedom to fail, in anonymity 70 Looking for meaning, high and low 72 7 The dark side, group mind 75 En force ment 75 Bikers and drug trade 75 Mo ral ity 77 The hunt ing group model 78 Group Mind 79 So cial iden ti fi ca tion 80 Col lec tive mem ory 81 The effect of a Group Mind on per sonal and socia l transfor m ati on 82 Group mind dangers 83 The power of the organizers and sponsors 83 8 Contact and interaction: the basics 85 Contact needs and opportunities 88 The cir cle 89 Sharing 89 Spatiality, routing, mini mood climates 90 Multi-culturality, pluralization 91 Diversity philosophically 92 Diversity practically; the Nescafe Model 93 9 The role of the government 95 Op por tu ni ties to boost this in dus try. 96 Sil i con Val ley re makes don’t work 96 Keeping the folks busy, entertained, happy 97 Po lit i cal choices, gov ern ment stance 97 Push-pull opti ons 98 Entrepreneurs or service providers 99 Creative Cities 100 Culture as snake oil 100 Segregation, diversity 101 Opportunities for growth, partnering 101 FestiValley 103 10 Autonomous zones: freedom to change the paradigm 104 Change agents, political stamcells 105 Identity, persona 106 Peter Lamborn Wilson 107 Cyberspace as au ton o mous zone 108 Freedom, the ultimate task of the state, not of your provider 110 TAZ in a broad perspective 112 6 11 Classification and parameters of autonomous zones 114 A mirror of diver sit y 114 Par tic i pa tion, con tri bu tion 115 Iden ti fi ca tion 116 Re al iza tion 116 Trans for ma tion in ner and outer cre ativ ity 117 Community parameters 118 12 The secret of the TAZ 119 13 Play, transformation, innovation models 123 The mechanisms of change 123 Play 124 Play at the fes ti val 128 Play and perfor m ance 129 Mech a nisms of play 130 In no va tion MATTERS or not? 130 Cu ri os ity 131 133 Mistakes and er ror, but also suc cesses are es sen tial in learn ing 133 A model & reso nance 134 Set and set ting, liminality 137 McLuhan Tetrads 138 14 Meaning and ritual angle 141 The ritual angle 144 The stages of a rit ual 147 15 Festivals & Computer Games 150 TAZ in games; immer sion 152 Transformative gaming 154 Design and Gestalt 154 Tet rads 155 MDA game de sign 157 De cons truc tion and prim ing 161 16 Social media and festivalization 163 Convergence of media 164 Extended range and coverage 165 17 Size of events 167 Group size and social platform, Dunbar’s number 169 The influence of alcohol and drugs on group mind 171 Offline and online, fan & tribe building 172 Serving all or just you 173 Festival in festival, differentiation 173 18 Utopia, intentional communities 175 Origins in history 176 7 Lim i ta tions 180 Utopia models 181 Tribalism 182 Tribes of magic 182 Sustainable reality 182 Us and them 183 Energy is the key 184 Sus tain able in the face of scar city 185 Conflict Resolution 186 De ci sion mak ing 186 Com mit ment 187 Real it y grounding: last stop for heaven 188 19 Christiania, the greatest victory of the squatting movement in the world 190 20 Amsterdam Ruigoord 197 Community, urban tribe and feeling real 197 Landjuweel festival 198 Feel ing the connected ness 202 Two Urban Tribes Meet ing, Christi ania wel comes Ruigoord in 2008. 203 A manifesto of celebration 203 What and how 203 Why 204 21 The central place of fire 206 22 Burning Man: communitas and transformational fun 209 Burning Man and cyberspace 211 Burning Man as a pagan or cybergnostic event 213 Temporary Autonomous Zone 215 My view 219 Ten Princi ples of Burning Man 224 The energy on the playa 227 23 FireDance, a modern ritual festival format 230 A new blend 233 My FireDance song 236 Fire cir cle ar chi tec ture 236 In stal la tions and lo ca tions 238 The ritual elements of FireDance 239 Alchemical phases 240 Clos ing the FireDance 242 Set, set ting and mag ical 243 24 Drugs at festivals, raves, parties, clubbing scene.