Making space: Investigating the diversity conundrum for British music festivals

Abstract

Culture always speaks to the history and meaning of place. Music festivals in particular carry considerable significance as they are produced through spatial and temporal processes that extend their symbolic and material meaning beyond their local settings. The onset of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Bristol intensified debates about festival diversity. Drawing on interviews with Bristol-based festival producers, this article examines popular music festivals and the places, communities and identities they represent. Rather than repeating the common criticism of festivals for being too white, we contribute to the debates by unravelling complex processes embedded within festival production. Using Lefebvre's concept of conceived space, we argue that (racial) diversity is a spatial conundrum for music festivals. We demonstrate this through the way festival space is conceived: culturally -as it is framed within established music festival discourses; economically -through entrepreneurial networks of independent producers within local music cultures; socially -their ideals (including diversity), tastes and lifestyles inadvertently organise and represent particular symbolic and material formations of (racialised) identities and communities. Haciendo espacio: Investigando el enigma de la diversidad para los festivales de música británicos RESUMENLa cultura siempre habla de la historia y el significado del lugar. Los festivales de música en particular tienen una importancia considerable, ya que se producen a través de procesos espaciales y temporales que extienden su significado simbólico y material más allá de sus entornos locales. El inicio del COVID-19 y las protestas de Black Lives Matter (BLM) en Bristol intensificaron los debates sobre la diversidad de festivales. Con base en entrevistas con productores de festivales con sede en Bristol, este artículo examina los festivales de música popular y los lugares, las comunidades y las identidades que representan. En lugar de repetir las críticas comunes a los festivales por ser demasiado blancos, contribuimos a los debates desentrañando procesos complejos incrustados en la producción ARTICLE HISTORY