Festival theme introduction - Catherine Bouchard

When the theme ‘Festival’ was first floated to our team, everyone’s mind went somewhere different. For some, images of crowded music festivals sprung to mind; others were transported to their cultural festivals and rites growing up. Some were inspired to cut to the roots of how celebrating manifests itself in different facets of culture, with others reflecting on the core rituals associated with festivals, and how these present in events like classical concerts or political party conferences. Festivals arguably lie at the heart of human identity and culture, with the first festivals predating ancient Greek and Roman times, hence, there are plentiful celebratory moments and traditions to draw on for this issue.

This issue also wades into the nuance behind our conceptions of ‘festival’. The growing commercialisation of the act of celebrating casts alarming shadows over local communities and their traditions. In light of the growing trend to kitschify old festivals to attract tourist revenues, it is more important than ever to understand how to respectfully celebrate others’ festivals without disrupting them.

Larger festivals have begun to eclipse smaller celebrations that have endured for generations, prompting a grassroots level fight back for the right to celebrate as communities to preserve older histories. Large scale events sweep into town, leaving behind litter and environmental pollution in their wake - won’t someone think of the coked up Glastonbury eels? And for what - so we can post the perfect festival look on our instagram and curate a 5 minute highlight reel of events we hated anyway?

There has never seemed a time more apt than now to unpack what it means to celebrate. Swept up on a wave of post-lockdown bacchanalia, everything seems revived anew in Glasgow. Festival is global, and yet, festival begins at home. As we once again dance in clubs, chin pints during freshers week, and drag ourselves in for our 9ams, the city has now become our festival.

This issue starts with two creative pieces that reflect on the core ethos of festival and rituals, before moving on to two science articles that compare the history of festival traditions with the modern mysticism of commercialised science. Our next two articles reflect on the duality of celebration, and reflective sadness as the flipside of the festival coin. The issue then moves on to explore celebration and festival in the post covid context, with an article on the importance of healing through celebration. Our final three articles focus on the modern aspects of festivals post covid, with reflections on party conferences, festival fashion and the glamourised social media appeal of festivals.

Join us now, in this issue’s revelry.

BY CATHERINE BOUCHARD.