Introduction: Festivalising Values

Abstract

This book discusses music festivals in the context of the specific values they convey. The reader will find the evidence that today, music festivals are not only a permanent feature of cultural policies, a valuable asset in the tourism industry or a source of income. They are above all, a cultural phenomenon that drags people out of their homes like no other, as opportunity to escape from everyday life, multi-sensory contact with art, an activity that stands for “full-body participation”. The authors claim that there is one common denominator linking the above-mentioned features of music festivals – namely the world of values. The book explicates multiple components of a festival including those explored with the perspective of organisational symbolism.