Urban Festivals and Local Social Space

Abstract
Contemporary spectacles are often criticized for tightly scripting public life,
proscribing spaces and their meanings, and instrumentalizing the public realm for
political, cultural or economic gain. Participant observation of visitor behavior at
festivals in Glasgow, Scotland, and Gwangju, South Korea and analysis of the
festivals' spatial organization reveal how such events can also facilitate social
interaction at the local scale. Four kinds of spatial conditionsenclosure, centrality,
axial connection and permeabilityare shown to shape informal social encounters
among attendees, and stimulate performances of local identity and engagement with
the meanings of place.

Contemporary spectacles are often criticized for tightly scripting public life,
proscribing spaces and their meanings, and instrumentalizing the public realm for
political, cultural or economic gain. Participant observation of visitor behavior at
festivals in Glasgow, Scotland, and Gwangju, South Korea and analysis of the
festivals' spatial organization reveal how such events can also facilitate social
interaction at the local scale. Four kinds of spatial conditionsenclosure, centrality,
axial connection and permeabilityare shown to shape informal social encounters
among attendees, and stimulate performances of local identity and engagement with
the meanings of place.