Book chapter
Regional arts festivals as infrastructures of care
Routledge Handbook on Spaces of Mental Health and Wellbeing, pp.311-319
Routledge, 1st
2025
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Abstract
Our work on regional Australian festivals has demonstrated the complex and competing roles attributed to regional festivals. Drawing on an infrastructures of care framework, we argue that the significance of regional festivals involves determining impacts beyond the time and location of the festival because of the multiple roles they may offer for regional places and communities. Regional communities are facing challenges such as a just transition to low or zero carbon emissions; out-migration of youth and population decline; lack of essential services; and the impacts of climate change. However, despite the crucial importance arts festivals have for enhancing wellbeing, little research has considered how regional arts festivals can be leveraged to optimize their contributions to rural and regional wellbeing. We argue that festivals 'make visible, re-vision and re-value the caring possibilities of community (Power & Mee, 2020, p. 486, emphasis added), a perspective yet to be taken up in festival studies, which we argue has been a significant barrier to understanding the full importance of arts festivals for wellbeing in regional communities.
Details
- Title
- Regional arts festivals as infrastructures of care
- Creators
- Michelle Duffy - University of NewcastleJudith Mair - University of QueenslandElaine Stratford - University of Tasmania
- Contributors
- Candice P Boyd (Editor) - University of MelbourneLouise E Boyle (Editor) - University of GlasgowSarah L Bell (Editor) - University of ExeterEbba Hogstrom (Editor) - Umeå UniversityJoshua Evans (Editor) - University of AlbertaAlak Paul (Editor) - University of ChittagongRonan Foley (Editor) - Maynooth University
- Publication Details
- Routledge Handbook on Spaces of Mental Health and Wellbeing, pp.311-319
- Publisher
- Routledge; London
- Edition
- 1st
- Number of pages
- 9
- Identifiers
- 991013309815202368
- Copyright
- © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Candice P. Boyd, Louise E. Boyle, Sarah L. Bell, Ebba Högström, Joshua Evans, Alak Paul, and Ronan Foley; individual chapters, the contributors.
- Academic Unit
- Office of the PVC (Academic Innovation)
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Book chapter