‘From mosh pit to posh pit’: Festival imagery in the context of the boutique festival

Abstract

Johansson, M. and Toraldo, M. L. (2017) 'From mosh pit to posh pit': Festival imagery in the context of the boutique festival. Culture and Organization, 23(3), pp. 220-237. (doi:10.1080/14759551.2015.1032287) This is the author's final accepted version.There may be differences between this version and the published version. This paper addresses market-based cultural production in the context of the UK festival field, with a focus on the framing of the festival experience through anticipation. In particular, boutique festivals are discussed as examples of a contemporary cultural 'product category' which has emerged and proliferated in the last decade. Through discourse analysis of media representations of boutique festivals we situate the boutique festival in a broader sociocultural discourse of agency and choice, which makes it meaningful and desirable, and outline the type of consumer it is meant to attract. For the contemporary consumer the boutique festival is presented as an anticipated experience based on countercultural festival imagery, whilst simultaneously framing cultural participation through consumption. The paper contributes to a wider debate on the construction of the consumer in the cultural economy.

Serving Time: Volunteer Work, Liminality and the Uses of Meaningfulness at Music Festivals

“…Creative working contexts associated with music and aesthetics are perceived as being self‐expressive and creativity‐enhancing (Neff et al, ), similarly to Lips‐Wiersma and Morris’ () dimension of self‐development and becoming. Festivals often stress political activism, invoking countercultural overtones (Chen, ; Johansson and Toraldo, ). Yet, as temporary and unsettled (Chen, ), festivals are also characterized by short‐term, low‐wage and unstable arrangements, while marketing themselves based on emotional connection and creativity (Beverungen et al, ; Land and Taylor, ; Raunig et al, ).…”

Festivalisation of Urban Spaces

“…Those festivals were organised for the first time on the basis of counter culture activities, which appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. Young generation from a kind of rebellion against the social norms, and organisation of festivals was a part of this rebellion (see Johansson and Toraldo 2015).…”

“…A different kind of festival is so-called boutique festival describe among others by Johansson and Toraldo (2015). Those authors argue that these are small-scale highly participative elegant intimate events, mostly devoted to different kinds of art (thus those festivals might be treated as a kind of art festivals).…”

Dancing Outdoors: DiY Ethics and Democratized Practices of Well-being on the UK Alternative Festival Circuit

“…Although there is some consideration of environment in relation to the separation experience, particularly how the festival provides a different setting to that of daily life or is experienced as a "time out of time" (Falassi 1987), that these events generally take place outdoors and ideally, in the case of alternative festivals, in rural settings of outstanding natural beauty, is overlooked. This omission is surprising given the significance of location to the "anticipated experience" of intensified sensation on offer ( Johansson and Toraldo 2015). Appropriating the iconography of the English pastoral, website publicity alludes to "stunning scenery" (Eden Festival 2015), "beautiful grounds" and "woodland areas" (Bearded Theory 2015), "glorious rolling countryside" (Kendal Calling 2015) and "breathtaking beauty" (Green Man 2015).…”