FESTIVAL
From Stoeltje, Beverly, "Festival" in Folklore, Cultural Performances, and Popular Entertainments ed. by Richard Bauman, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Ancient, resilient cultural form with various organizations, functions: Occur at calendrically regulated intervals
Public in nature
Participatory in ethos
Complex structure
Multiple voices, scenes, purposes
Rooted in group life – affirm continuity of community
Shift focus from everyday life to foster transformative, reciprocal, reflexive dimensions of social life
USE masks, costumes, sometimes violence
=inversion, risk, symbolic expression
May enact myth, use music, drama, ritual, food, dance, etc.
TYPICAL STRUCTURE of FESTIVAL
1. Opening ceremony (parade, procession, etc.)
2. Rituals (promise to saint, acknowledge ancestors, etc)
Dance, costume, food may be part of this
3. Drama and contest – expression of social conflicts/concerns (sacred/secular reversed)
4. Feast – food used to communicate “our tradition”
Social act of eating (ingest tradition together)
5. Dance and Music: individual in action within group
6. Concluding Event: formal closing (less structured, more creative, personal expression – Olympics)
Noise, participation increase (drumming, dancing, drinking, displays of fireworks, etc.)
PARTIPCATION key: shows commitment, social status, political sentiments, competitive skills, negotiate relations
àRegeneration of social structures & identity (like in ritual)