ICONIC EVENTS AS COMMUNITY CATALYSTS Large-scale civic and regional events can promote a sense of identity, and strengthen economic activity across a range of sectors. Understanding the role of large-scale events in driving local and regional change is moving beyond a focus on visiting attendees or even the establishment of a regional “character.� Festivals have entered into the field of cultural studies alongside film, music, and new media from online communities to video games, as vital forms of cultural expression. Large scale and iconic events are being recognized for their ability to reshape landscapes -- and it is not only the Olympics and the World Cups capable of having the most far-reaching effects. Regional festivals and events are increasingly seen not only as one-time occasions, but as catylysts for lasting change. This idea is foundational in moving past a touristbased approach to urban activation through public events and creating bridges to the parallel fields of urban planning, education and economic devopment. Understanding of the role of events in defining urban character, developing sense of place, and promoting growth begins with the idea that festivals are unique opportunities that can take on a a diversity of forms. They can be directed toward profound impact in terms of regional economy and the development of specific industries, arts and cultural assets, sustainability, livibility and pride.
(c) Emily Appelbaum / i n t e r t e x t u r e Not for distribution.
ArtPrize takes place every year in Grand Rapids, a three-week long festival that reinterprets the city through a series of surprising artistic gestures, culminating in a citywide vote for the greatest civic intervention.
REGENERATION, REDISCOVERY, REINVIGORATION. Events are both lauded and criticized for their ability to reshape an entire city - reweaving urban fabric, displaching those at the margins, rebranding place for the maximum of internaitonal appeal. But this power to effect sweeping change can be used to awaken longdormant, under-utilized and abandoned districts, and to bring new resources and new life to places laking public space and other amenities. This is especially true when a distributed approach is taken to a festival’s offerings; peicemeal strategies can be applied across a range of sites, rather than the wholesale reconfiguration of one central place.
Top: Cleveland’s Ingenuity Festival began as a nomadic event that would activate a different area of the city each year through the marriage of arts and technology. Bottom: Reno’s month-long Artown festival capitalizes on existing arts assets throughout the city, while injecting additional offerings to draw visitors. The festival appeals to tourists, but also locals who rediscover their home town.
(c) Emily Appelbaum / i n t e r t e x t u r e Not for distribution.
Top: For several years, Cleveland’s Ingenuity Festival took place in the “catacombs,” the unused former streetcar level of the Detroit-Superior bridge. Bottom: Artown playfully reinterprets the urban infrastructure to provide cohesion in an other-wise disperesed festival.
CREATING CONNECTIONS Having a lasting impact means living on in terms of dollars injected and memories made, but also in terms of the connective tissue that is grown between small local businesses, larger corporations, civic institutions, private artists and contractors, and other community assets. Some festivals see themselves as preeminant incubators of new talent, small businesses, and other creative enterprises. The event may come once a year, but there may be year-round workshops, residencies, facilties or other resources made available through the event. Whether it’s a public submission process that lowers barriers to entry for musicians and artists, or something more complex, festivals are an amazing petri deish for innovation. Top: Las Vegas’ Downtown Project grew out of the ethos of Burning Man, a community event based on the principles of radical participation and radical self reliance. Today, the project is a permanent fixture, invigorating more than 100 acres of downtown Las Vegas, and incubating numerous startups. Bottom: The Urban Prototyping Festival, held each year in San Francisco, is a way for new ideas to enter the mainstream urban toolkit.
(c) Emily Appelbaum / i n t e r t e x t u r e Not for distribution.
Top: Large-scale interactive artwork, popup structures and semi-permanent programming have all made the leap from event to all-the-time. Bottom: Innovative ideas from shelters to living machines and outdoor warter purifiers line the streets in San Francisco.
Key Considerations and Questioning How-To? Large scale events take a range of forms in terms of structure and management. The When-Where-What of the event -- how long will it be? what time of year? how many venues? spread over what territory? with what performers? artists? exhibits? audience -- should be determined by the Who and the How. Certainly, one model is to task a production company with arranging a line-up and a site map, booking the talent, and setting a schedule. But a more complex, yet in the end rewarding, approach is to let the specifics be shaped by a range of management variables that leverage existing resources and generate a momentum all their own.
Music Based Festivals that have branched out in terms of programming, incorporating art, lectures and other programming include Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonaroo. They remain musicfocused but the diversity of offerings allows them to grow and widen appeal. “Transformational” Festivals are perhaps the fastest growing and changing sector of the field. These events focus on music and dancing, but also on learning, positive change, healing oneself and the planet. Lucidity, Lightning in a Bottle, and Wanderlust are examples. Festivals that celebrate the region and its offerings include the ice festivals of Minnesota, including the funky Art Shanty Projects, a month-long festival of themed huts on the lake, wine festivals in California’s Sonoma and Napa Counties, and tongue-in-cheek regional festivals like Cleveland’s Burning River Festival and Chicago’s Great Chicago Fire Festival. These focus on regional history and can turn a city’s challenges into its best assets.
Events are often privately managed and are occasionally the creations of a public body, but perhaps do best as public-private partnerships, where institutions, arts organizations, non-profits, civic bodies and private, for-profit companies work together to create a unique, scalable offering that speaks to their individual strengths, benefits each in specific ways, and can grow and develop with time. Playing off each region’s history, cultural assets, and above all, willing partners, is crucial to generating impact.
(c) Emily Appelbaum / i n t e r t e x t u r e Not for distribution.
Learning-based festivals can take after popular conferences like TED talks and the Bioneers conferences, or look more like trade shows and expos. Maker Faire celebrates the maker movement with DIY booths and offerings, and the Aspen Ideas Festival brings speakers together on a range of topics.
A Guide to Guiding Questions: typologies and more What type of event does this festival draw from: Mainstream Music Festival? Film Festival? Transformational Festival? Trade show or conference? Lecture or speaker series? Enthusiasts’ “Con”vention? Event promoting disruptive innovation focused on charrettes, prototyping, or other crowed-sourced participation? How are community resources leveraged: Through corporate sponsorships? Programming provided by community partners? Through committees of volunteers excited to get involved? What are the intended long-term community benefits: Identity and local interest? Tourism? Incubator for new talent and outlet for new ideas? Generator of new growth? Continuous presence and yearround programming? Clearinghouse for community connections? What are the linkages seeded among the community: Drawing together stakeholders in support of the event? Generating interested in a place or concept? Showcasing intersections through programming? Creating an enduring format for collaboration? What are the lasting artifacts: Pictures, stories and good times had? Online presence building anticpation and featuring highlights? Social Community? Improved physical landscape or public art? Extended programming? Year round physical presence? Further work in the creative fields, or in bringing people together through workshops, pop-ups, coworking, shared space, recording studios, artists’ residencies or other infrastructure and outreach that allows the community to co-create the experience. (c) Emily Appelbaum / i n t e r t e x t u r e Not for distribution.
Even festivals with a seemingly straightforward model like Bonaroo’s -- lots of people, lots of music -- find ways to tap into their communities year-round, supporting local businesses, building sustainbility initiatives, doling out grants, and funding local arts and educational institutions.