"Festivalization" - The short and long term effects a festival can have on the area where it takes place.

          German urbanist Hartmut Häussermann called the increasing presence of these events in cities Festivalization [Häußermann, p.1]. Häussermann created the term in the 90’s to define what is happening to areas that festivals call home. Festivalization is how festivals change the politics, economics, and the overall area of where they are taking place. When festivals go up they create a mini-city, or, a sub-city to the city that it is already hosting the festival. Almost every year Glastonbury Festival takes place in Pilton, Somerset, a small English city in the West Country that has a population of nine hundred and ninety eight people [Pilton Parish ,p.1]. When Glastonbury is taking place the area turns in the seventh largest city in the country. 200,000 people take over the rolling hills and green valleys for the festival [Pilton Parish, p.1]. You can probably guess that Pilton has had to go through huge amounts of change to allow for the festival, while trying to find a balance with the historical factors and culture of the Pilton itself. Festivalization has also taken another English city by storm, Edinburgh. The city plays host to a huge amount of different festivals every year. In 2006, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of at least 40 festivals that happen annually, put on 1867 different shows which were staged in 261 venues across the city [BBC]. The economy has changed substantially because of the amount of festivals and now without them, the city would not be what it is today [BBC]. 
           A certain amount of change is unavoidable when festivals come into a city. Greg Richards, a professional in Cultural Tourism states in his chapter of Cultural Tourism: Global and local perspectives, states that cities are responding to how western cultures are moving away from united styles of consumption and production and the maintenance of social bonds, towards the individualization of experience and self-development [Richards, p.229]. This change is causing the replacement of collective forms of cultural provision. Festivalization is creating many opportunities that cities are excited about such as increasing image-building, employment creation, and economic explosions. The phenomenon has proved successful in cites like Portland, Manchester, and Austin in the United States and Rotterdam, Barcelona, and Pilton in Europe. It has caused other cities across the globe to try and use festivals to reposition themselves in the global economy. These events are pulling people from across the globe and other cities want that to boost their image too. They want people talking about who they are are, what their culture is, and how they had experienced the area. Bottom line, they want people spending money in their cities, and cultural events like festivals are proving to be extremely successful for some cities.
           It is important to figure out where festivals work, because festivals definitely do not work everywhere. If you try to drop an Electronic music festival in the conservative south of the United States, it probably wouldn’t exist for very long. Not only because of the content of the festival, but also because it would be hard to market to the locals, and its geo-economic status. For festivals to survive into the future organizers must be very careful about where they are putting festivals. This is important because they need people to show up. Producers need to be weary of the city they are in to know what type of festival will be successful there. Producers have to focus on many different demographics that will be segmenting their audience. The easiest to track and be clear on are the people from the area the festival is taking place in. The locals are very important to the festival, and its organizers. The locals make up what “type” of person exists in these areas and help the producers sculpt what the content of the festival should be. They also are the easiest to get feedback from, because they literally live through it and see what the festival does to the area. The producers must also be prepared for who will show up from somewhere else. 
           Festivals have learned from the mistakes other festivals have made. Some festivals are attempted and just don’t seem to work. It could be location, economic reasons, the audience’s response, the weather during the events or several other reasons. One of the biggest examples of a festival just not working in almost every respect of the word is Woodstock ’99. Woodstock is a name that is synonymous with word music festival. Woodstock was a huge music and arts festival that was started out of the counter culture movement in 1969. The festival was a huge success, putting on artists like Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, Credence Clear Water Revival and many other pop, rock and folk artists. The festival was so successful that it had five namesake events that took place in 1979, 1989, 1994, 1999, and 2009. It was the 1999 edition that took the name of “Woodstock” and drowned it in the literal mud and human waste that engulfed the festival. The Woodstock name was burned in the multiple fires that occurred at the festival until it reemerged in 2009 with mild success. Now, enjoy a case study on the 1999 edition of Woodstock to look at what exactly made them break.