This new book critically investigates the purpose, reach and effects of heritage festivals. It demonstrates how intangible cultural heritage could be mobilised within events that have specific agency, particularly in the production and consumption of intrinsic and instrumental benefits for tourists, local communities and performers.
A wide variety of heritage festivals across Europe are presented in the volume’s case studies and examined by experts from different disciplines. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, the book addresses the gap between discourses of heritage at an official level and cultural practice at the local and regional level. Moreover, it examines the important factors in the heritage-making process at the micro- and meso-levels, as well as the underlying structures that are common across different countries.
Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 11 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access.
Read the description of the book at Routledge.