Music festivals

Executive Summary

Background & Aims

Despite increasing anecdotal evidence that sexual violence occurs at music festivals, to date no research has addressed this issue. This pilot project aimed to establish a research base in this area by investigating patron experiences and perceptions of sexual assault, harassment and safety at music festivals in Australia.

Methods

This project involved three phases:
1. Observation at the 2017-18 Falls Festival
2. An online survey conducted with 500 patrons of the 2017-18 Falls Festival
3. One-on-one interviews with 16 individuals who had experienced, or had been involved in responding to, sexual violence at music festivals across Australia.
It should be noted that while participants for the survey were recruited from patrons who attended the Falls Festival, the survey asked participants about their perceptions of sexual violence and safety at music festivals in general, i.e., these findings are not specific to the Falls Festival.

Key Findings – Surveys

The online survey addressed a range of issues relating to participant demographics, perceptions of safety and sexual violence at Australian music festivals, and alcohol and drug consumption at festival events.
Key findings include:
• The vast majority of participants reported that they either ‘usually’ (61.5%) or ‘always’ (29%) feel safe at music festivals.
• A strong majority of participants indicated that they believe physical violence (92.8%, n=347), sexual harassment (95.1%, n=351) and sexual assault (88.6%, n=295) occur at music festivals.
• Participants were less certain as to whether homophobic or transphobic violence occur, with 61.2% (n=148) and 61.6% (n=141) of participants respectively responding that they thought these forms of violence happened at music festivals.
• Most participants believed that sexual harassment occurs ‘often’ (31.2%) or ‘very often’ (30.2%) at music festivals.
• Participants indicated they would be ‘extremely’ likely to report sexual assault (75.2%, n=215) and sexual harassment (62%, n=176) to the police. However, this does not reflect the actions of participants who had directly experienced these forms of violence.
• Almost all participants (99%) consumed alcohol at music festivals, while just under half (47.8%) consumed drugs. Previous research illustrates that music festival attendees use illicit drugs at a higher rate than the general population (Lim et al. 2010). However, rates of use for our sample are considerably lower than those identified in previous research. For example, 65.3% of participants in another Australian study reported using illicit drugs at festivals (Hughes & Moxham-Hall, 2017).

Key Findings – Interviews

Interviews were conducted with individuals who had experienced, or were involved in responding to, sexual violence that occurred at any Australian music festival. Participants were asked to reflect on the nature of their festival experience(s), the impacts of their experience(s) of sexual violence, what role the festival setting played in facilitating the violence, their experience(s) with reporting and disclosure, and reflections on steps festivals could take to both prevent and better respond to sexual violence. Key findings included:
• Participants reported diverse experiences of sexual violence, ranging from sexual harassment (e.g., verbal comments) through to actions that may constitute sexual assault.
• Groping and other forms of sexual touching in crowded moshpit and performance areas was a common experience.
• Perpetrators were overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, men.
• Bystanders (other patrons) rarely intervened when sexual violence was occurring.
• Experiencing sexual violence of all kinds resulted in negative and often ongoing impacts, including hyper-vigilance, altered behavior at festivals, anxiety, and shock.
• Most participants did not report to police, security or festival staff. Those who did report typically recalled negative responses from authority figures, such as victim-blaming, not taking the report seriously, and/or a failure to take appropriate action.
• Participants viewed the male-dominated nature of the music industry as a contributing factor to sexual violence in festival spaces.
• Zero-tolerance policing of drugs and anti-social behavior deterred participants from reporting to police.
• Participants expressed the need for music festivals to introduce a range of policy and practice-based changes in order to better respond to and prevent sexual violence. We drew on these suggestions in developing our recommendations.

Key Recommendations

Festival policy and management:
1. Introduce clear protocols and consistent messaging about sexual violence, including consequences for perpetrators.
2. Increase the number of female police and security staff working on-site.
3. Develop multiple avenues for reporting sexual violence at festivals and ensuring all staff are adequately trained to receive and respond to these reports.
4. Implement processes for the systematic documentation of incidents of sexual violence.
5. Follow through on reports with feedback to victim-survivors.
6. Implement the provision of on-site access to appropriate support services.

Environment:
1. Provision of quiet ‘chill out’ spaces.
2. Ensure security and police are distributed throughout festival spaces, including regular patrols or emergency contact points in camping grounds.
3. Introduce section markers or signposting in camping grounds to improve way finding.
4. Enhance lighting, particularly in isolated areas such as camping grounds.
5. Ensure signage establishing behavioural standards is clearly visible throughout all spaces at festival.
6. Introduce clear and consistently identifiable markers to note the location of security staff in and around performance spaces.

Cultural change:
1. Continued efforts to make festival line-ups more gender equitable and diverse.
2. Encouragement of pro-social behavior, such as bystander intervention.
3. Encouragement of an ethic of care among festival patrons.

This volume brings together essays that examine a vast gamut of di ferent contemporary cultural manifestations of fear, anxiety, horror, and terror. Topics range from the feminine sublime in American novels to the monstrous double in horror ction, (in)security at music festivals, the uncanny in graphic novels, epic heroes' Being-towards-death and authenticity, atrocity and history in Central European art, the theme of old age in absurdist literature, and iterations of the "home invasion" subgenre in post-9/11 popular culture. This diversity of insights and methodologies ensures a kaleidoscopic look at a cluster of phenomena and experiences that often manage to both be immediately and universally recognizable and defy straightforward categorization or even description. Contributors are Emily-Rose Carr, Ghada

Festivals are at the heart of British music and at the heart of the British music industry. They form an essential part of the worlds of rock, classical, folk and jazz, forming regularly occurring pivot points around which musicians, audiences, and festival organisers plan their lives. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the purpose of this report is to chart and critically examine available writing about the impact of British music festivals, drawing on both academic and ‘grey’/cultural policy literature in the field. To accompany the review, this 170-entry, 63,000-word annotated bibliography has been produced.

"The Festivalisation of Culture explores the links between various local and global cultures, communities, identities and lifestyle narratives as they are both constructed and experienced in the festival context. Drawing on a wide range of case studies from Australia and Europe, festivals are examined as sites for the performance and critique of lifestyle, identity & cultural politics; as vehicles for the mobilization and cementation of local and global communities; and as spatio-temporal events that inspire and determine meaning in peoples' lives.

Investigating the manner in which festivals are no longer merely periodic, cultural, religious or historical events within communities, but rather a popular means through which citizens consume and experience culture, this book also sheds light on the increasing diversity of contemporary societies and the role played by festivals as sites of cohesion, cultural critique and social mobility.  As such, this book will be of interest to those working in areas such as the sociology, consumption and commodification of culture, social and cultural geography, anthropology, cultural studies and popular music studies.
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Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have transformed how brands operate as cultural processes. Over the past decade, these platforms have engineered an algorithmic brand culture that combines the participatory affordances and data-processing power of digital media. In the brand culture of social media the creative narration of cultural experience doubles as data that trains platform algorithms. We develop an account of the algorithmic brand culture of social media via a case study of the Splendour in the Grass music festival, the activations sponsoring brands build at the festival, and the participatory mediation of the festival on Instagram. Brands play a critical role in both funding and engineering social media platforms, and integrating them into cultural experience. We argue for the development of critical cultural and computational approaches that examine how the use of machines to make judgments about cultural life is intrinsic to capitalising on the participatory nature of brand culture. Media researchers must go beyond describing the content of user-generated content on platforms to critically simulate and scrutinise media platforms' algorithmic infrastructure.

Si algo ha demostrado la reciente y dramática eclosión de la Covid 19 es el alto nivel de interdependencia global entre todas las personas del mundo y la nueva dimensión que han adquirido valores típicamente humanos como la responsabilidad, la solidaridad y la profesionalidad. El FeMAUB 2020, marcado por la expansión del virus, también quiere situar en el centro a las personas por medio del evocador lema “DE MVSICA HVMANA” (la música del hombre), término utilizado desde la Alta Edad Media para referirse a la armonía interior que une el alma y el cuerpo en la persona (por oposición a “mvsica mvndana” o del universo y a “mvsica instrumentalis” o de los instrumentos musicales). El concepto de “mvsica humana” ejerció una gran influencia en el Renacimiento –época de esplendor de Úbeda y Baeza– y cristalizó en el pensamiento humanista, que ubica al hombre en el centro del universo y del saber, en tanto criatura privilegiada. Desde esta perspectiva filosófica más humanizada y antropocentrista, el FeMAUB 2020 se dedica al conjunto de personas que hacen posible su celebración desde hace casi un cuarto de siglo: artistas, audiencias, organizadores, patrocinadores, proveedores y, en definitiva, a todos los que de manera directa e indirecta han participado y participan en el mismo, como metáfora expresiva e ideal, a pequeña escala, de la necesaria armonía universal. Todo ello sin perder de vista el elemento más característico desde su creación: la recuperación y difusión del patrimonio musical hispano en entornos artísticos excepcionales y únicos como son los constituidos por las ciudades de Úbeda y Baeza. // If the recent and dramatic emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has taught anything, it is both the high level of global interdependence between people and the new dimension acquired by typically human values, such as responsibility, solidarity and professionality. The FeMAUB 2020, marked by the spread of the virus, also aims to put people at the centre by means of the evocative title “DE MVSICA HVMANA” (human music), a concept used from the early Middle Age in order to refer to the inner harmony that links the soul with the human body (as opposite both to the “mvsica mundana” or that of the cosmos, and to the “mvsica instrumentalis” or the music produced by musical instruments). The notion of “mvsica humana” exerted an important influence on the Renaissance –a flourishing period in Úbeda and Baeza– and crystallised in the humanist thought, which put the human being at the centre of both the universe and the knowledge, as it was considered a privileged creature. From this more humanised and anthropocentric philosophical perspective, the FeMAUB 2020 is dedicated to the group of people who has made it possible the celebration of the festival for nearly a quarter of a century: artists, audiences, organisers, sponsors, suppliers and, ultimately, all those who in a direct or indirect way have participated and continue to participate in the festival, as an ideal and expressive, small-scale metaphor for universal harmony. Nor is it overlooked that the most characteristic element from the creation of the festival has been the recovery and dissemination of Hispanic musical heritage in exceptional artistic settings such as those provided by the cities of Úbeda and Baeza.

Festivals have long been a popular leisure activity, and that popularity continues to rise. In the Netherlands alone, approximately 800 are held every year, with nearly 23 million visitors. Due to this increasing competition, festivals are constantly required to improve the efficiency of their infrastructure and, consequently, the overall experience of their visitors. Several obstacles to a smooth experience continue to exist, however, with the loss or theft of wallets, long queues and the drawbacks of a token-based economy the most commonly cited.

As a possible solution to these problems, we present Hapay, a new mobile cashless payment system for festivals. Based on a series of surveys and interviews with festivalgoers and organisers, as well as primary investigation of existing (cashless) payment systems, we aim to build on and improve these current systems by developing a mobile, standardised and sustainable system which can be used across festivals. Hapay is based around a liquid-resistant and shockproof bracelet which stores and displays the user's balance, and a smartphone application which manages that balance via NFC technology. This application makes it possible for users to top up money anytime and anywhere. Possible loss or theft of the bracelet, as well as possible “skimming”, is taken into account in the design.
So far, Hapay focuses solely on streamlining payment for goods and services. Future work could develop further features which would improve the top-up system itself with a buddy system, allowing the user to top up others' bracelets, and a user-specified balance cap, as opposed to the current fixed limit of €50. Extra possible features, including an overview of visited events within the festival and personalized information regarding the festival program, are also considered.

Libro de la edición 2016 del Festival de Música Antigua de Úbeda y Baeza. Contiene toda la programación, notas al programa, currículums de los intérpretes y actividades académicas realizadas.
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En 2016 el FeMAUB celebró su vigésimo aniversario. La conmemoración de esta efeméride sirve para articular la programación, de manera genérica, en torno al concepto de edad, entendido aquí como sinónimo de periodización o división de la historia en periodos o edades que comparten rasgos comunes entre sí. Con su característica vocación pedagógica, el XX FeMAUB ofrece una visión retrospectiva de la historia de la música con programas más o menos “puros” articulados en torno a periodos histórico-musicales concretos. Así, se transita desde la Baja Edad Media (Psallentes, José Luis Pastor) hasta el llamado Clasicismo musical (Cuarteto Iranzo) y el siglo XX (Coro Averroes), con un marcado énfasis en los distintos subperiodos del Renacimiento (Armonía Concertada, Orfeón de Granada, Las Arpas Sonorosas, Capella Prolationum & La Danserye, Salix Cantor, Contrapunctus) y los denominados Barrocos temprano (Xauen Cathedral Brass), medio (Ars Longa, Sparus Aurata) y tardío (Musicum Consensus & Coro Ciudad de Jaén, Harmonía del Parnàs), sin olvidar edades o estilos antes consideradas de transición pero que ocupan un lugar propio en nuestra visión contemporánea de la historia de la música como el galante (Los Músicos de Su Alteza, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla).
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In 2016, the FeMAUB celebrated its twentieth anniversary. The commemoration of this ephemerid served to create a program around the concept of age, understood as a synonym of periodization or division of history in periods or ages which shares common features. Following its characteristic pedagogical aim, the XX FeMAUB offers a retrospective view of music history, presenting programs devoted to particular periods of the history of music. Thus, the programs go from the late Middle Ages (Psallentes, José Luis Pastor) to the so-called musical Classicism (Cuarteto Iranzo) and to the twentieth century (Coro Averroes), with a strong emphasis on the variety of Renaissance sub-periods (Armonía Concertada, Orfeón de Granada, Las Arpas Sonorosas, Capella Prolationum & La Danserye, Salix Cantor, Contrapunctus) and the so-called early Baroque (Xauen Cathedral Brass), medium Baroque (Ars Longa, Sparus Aurata) and late Baroque (Musicum Consensus & Coro Ciudad de Jaén, Harmonía del Parnàs). Transitional styles were also taken into consideration, such as the Galant style (Los Músicos de Su Alteza, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla), as they occupy an important position in our contemporary vision of the history of music.

Libro de la edición 2013 del Festival de Música Antigua de Úbeda y Baeza. Contiene toda la programación, notas al programa, currículums de los intérpretes y actividades académicas realizadas.
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Hasta tiempos relativamente recientes, la música en España y en los distintos países iberoamericanos durante los siglos XVI al XIX se ha venido estudiando de una forma aislada, presentando una visión fragmentada y descontextualizada que no se correspondía con la realidad histórica del momento. Lejos de este estereotipo, fomentado de forma consciente o inconsciente por la ideología nacionalista de los respectivos estados, la nueva historiografía viene poniendo el acento en la reconstrucción de las redes intercontinentales de comunicación y los substratos comunes que conformaron la cultura musical de los Virreinatos Americanos y la Península Ibérica, y también en sus marcadas diferencias, tanto prácticas como ideológicas. Aprovechando la celebración del XVII aniversario, el Festival propone una visión retrospectiva de las músicas coloniales en su más amplia aceptación conceptual y cronológica, prestando especial atención a los procesos de intercambio musical entre la Península Ibérica y América entre 1492 y 1898 y analizando la pervivencia de las músicas coloniales, que no desaparecieron con el inicio de los procesos independentistas en 1810, sino que se mantuvieron vivas —con las correspondientes adaptaciones al nuevo orden político y social— hasta la actualidad.
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Until relatively recent times, music in Spain and in the different Latin American countries in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries has been studied in isolation, which has led to a fragmented and decontextualized vision that did not correspond to the historical reality of the moment. This has consciously or unconsciously been fostered by nationalist ideologies. However, far from this stereotype, the new historiography has focused on the reconstruction of intercontinental communication networks and the common substrata of the musical culture of the American viceroyalties and of the Iberian Peninsula, but also on their marked differences, both practical and ideological. Taking advantage of the celebration of its seventeenth anniversary, the Festival proposes a retrospective view of the colonial musics in its broadest conceptual and chronological acceptance, paying special attention to the processes of musical exchange between the Iberian Peninsula and America between 1492 and 1898, and analyzing the survival of the colonial musics that did not disappear with the beginning of the independence processes in 1810, but were kept alive to the present day with the corresponding adaptations to the new political and social order.

Libro de la edición 2017 del Festival de Música Antigua de Úbeda y Baeza. Contiene toda la programación, notas al programa, currículums de los intérpretes y actividades académicas realizadas. -- Aprovechando la celebración del centenario de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (un texto de vanguardia que incorporó derechos individuales y sociales hoy en boga) y la publicación de la primera historia de la música en México (El arte musical en México de Alba Herrera y Ogazón) en 1917, el XXI FeMAUB plantea, en sentido inverso a como lo hacen las tradicionales narrativas históricas, una visión retrospectiva de la música mexicana desde ese momento y hasta 1517, cuando la expedición del explorador andaluz Francisco Hernández de Córdoba llegó a la costa de la península del Yucatán. La conmemoración de ambos centenarios (1517-1917) constituye una ocasión propicia para articular la programación en torno a las músicas de la Nueva España criolla y el México independiente, sus elementos comunes y sus caracteres diferenciales en el más amplio marco de las tradiciones musicales de Iberia y las Américas. A través de sus cinco ciclos de conciertos y sus actividades académicas se ofrece una muestra del vasto universo musical mexicano, que incluía no solo los repertorios compuestos en México durante los siglos XVI al XIX, sino también aquellos de origen europeo que fueron conocidos, divulgados y practicados en suelo mexicano. -- Taking advantage of the celebration of the centenary of the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (a cutting-edge text including individual and social rights which are now in vogue) and the publication of the first history of Mexican music (Alba Herrera y Ogazón's El arte musical en México) in 1917, the XXI FeMAUB proposes, in contrast with traditional historical narratives, a retrospective view of Mexican music from that moment to 1517, when the expedition of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, an Andalusian explorer, reached the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The commemoration of both centenaries (1517-1917) is an ideal opportunity to articulate a program focused on music in colonial New Spain and independent Mexico, taking into consideration its common elements and its differential characteristics in the broader context of Iberian and Latin-American musical traditions. Through its five concert cycles and academic activities, this edition of the FeMAUB offers a sample of the vast Mexican musical universe, which included not only repertoires composed in Mexico between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, but also those of European origin that were known, disseminated and practiced in Mexico.