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Creating an eventful rural place: Akaroa’s French Festival

Joanna Fountain (Department of Tourism, Sport and Society, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand)
Michael Mackay (Department of Tourism, Sport and Society, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand)

International Journal of Event and Festival Management

ISSN: 1758-2954

Article publication date: 6 March 2017

947

Abstract

Purpose

Recent theorising about the globalising countryside highlights the processes of place making, sense of place and the construction of place-based identities in rural regions, where exogenous forces are utilised, negotiated and contested by local communities as they seek to represent their place. A longitudinal case study of Akaroa’s French Festival shows how this place-based identity has been constructed, promoted and animated over the past two decades at the nexus of globalising and local forces. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on qualitative methods utilising documentary analysis, participant observation and key stakeholder interviews undertaken in the township of Akaroa, New Zealand.

Findings

The form this festival has taken, and the version of the place identity represented therein, has shifted over the course of the last two decades. While this is in part due to the energy, personal heritage and agenda of local champions, the influence of the globalising forces, political, economic and cultural, have shaped the place image portrayed through this festival.

Originality/value

There are limited attempts to theorise rural festivals within a “global countryside” framework, and the detailed longitudinal research underpinning this paper provides a unique opportunity to explore the emergent issues in a rural community festival in qualitative detail. The study reinforces the understanding of the role of local agency in the making of places in a globalising world.

Keywords

Citation

Fountain, J. and Mackay, M. (2017), "Creating an eventful rural place: Akaroa’s French Festival", International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 84-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-06-2016-0043

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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