New Rurality, Events, and Festivals in Selected Places of Rural Spain

Abstract

The study of and participation in festivals and celebrations is an area of great interest in the tourism experience. Social situations and a power structure (which is unequal) can be expressed through the events taking place. Also, by studying the organization of events one can identify different ways of articulating local authenticity and socio-cultural processes of rural change in a global context. Using qualitative techniques, the present study focuses on different events affected, to varying degrees, by socio-cultural processes of rural change in a global setting. Events with farming origins have been studied in term of, or associated with, the seasons, or interactions of the seasonal weather with the agriculture. Also of interest are other festivals or events of more recent origins which try to revive the historical roots of an area or recover traditional trades or professions. The events are often a means of setting rural traditions in a different socio-cultural context, and of emphasizing the nature of the rural place. Hence, each celebration has a different function in each place.

Laboratory Life: Twenty Years of Experimental Research with Locals and New Comers in Remote Rural Areas

“…With few people, more individual identities than groups identities or strategies in a close community. The processes of social transformation are processes of individual change in closed communities [67][68][69] . Multiple processes of permanent becoming in place (with negative transformation in time) are a key factor of research.…”

“…Simple perceptions of (innovation) and changes in remote rural areas are mainly: (1) Improve in the materiality of remote rural areas: rural roads and accommodation, internet… (2) Progressive loss of the sense of community. Feelings of fatality, uncertain-ty… (3) Changes in the touristic and recreational use of sites [66,67] . The antirural idyll in remote rural areas: The loss of authenticity and damages in the rural heritage and environment.…”

What Is New Ruralism and Why It Is Needed for Spatial Planning?

“…There was only one study dealing with events and festivals (tourism) as a subject. Paniagua (2016) examined the effects and meanings of events and festivals in rural areas on new rurality using three festivals in Spain as examples. There was only one study dealing with extraction (education) as a subject.…”

“Fête de la Soupe”: rural identity, self-representation, and the(re)-making of the village in France

“…Festivals have been envisaged as opportunities for place promotion and a way to enhance feelings of belonging in a community (George et al, 2014), but not without tensions as uneven power relations can arise (Jepson and Clarke, 2014), and the success of a festival is jeopardized if the community is no longer the center of cultural production processes (Clarke and Jepson, 2011). In the rural setting, event sustainability is hindered by organizers' burnout when leadership struggles occur over resource scarcity (Frost and Laing, 2015) or when visions of local authenticity (Paniaga, 2016) or identity (George et al, 2014) are disputed.…”