Jordi OLIVA, Universität Leipzig, Germany
Before the onset of the pandemic, music festivals were experiencing steady growth in Europe. These complex events were subsequently required to adapt to regulations which forced them to transform the way they offered concerts, incorporate live online streaming and social distancing, and in some cases even led to cancellation or reorganization. This article focuses on the reorganization of two 2020 music festivals. Data was collected at the Bachfest classical music festival in Leipzig, and at BAM, the multi-genre music festival in Barcelona. The analysis has been developed from the perspective of three festivals’ stakeholders: the organizers, the performers and the audience. Study of this three-fold analysis revealed novel measures implemented by the festivals’ organizers to engage their audiences, use of the music experience as a coping strategy against desperation on the part of performers and participants, and non- cancellation as a symbol of cultural resistance in times of uncertainty.
Keywords: music festivals|COVID|cultural resistance|intangibles
A102324JO