Saving the rain forests, local community building or fighting for gender equality – all are different examples of how festivals engage in social or environmental issues of our time. The modern music festival has proven to be a highly successful concept to gather huge crowds of music lovers to enjoy and experience live music.

Besides organising high profiled concert events, many festivals engage or even invest their brand value in various social, cultural or environmental issues.

Why is it important for the modern festival to act as a social agent? In a time when corporate social responsibility becomes more and more important, will the future of the festival be more a celebration of values than a celebration of music?

In the moody atmosphere of the exhibition “50 years of Roskilde Festival” both festivals and researchers will join a panel to discuss why many festivals develop a social profile.

Professor Ian Woodward, university of Southern Denmark, will host the panel. He will be joined by Søren Eskildsen, spokesperson of Smukfest, Jo Haynes, associate professor University of Bristol and representatives from one or two other significant festivals.

Ian Woodward is Professor at the University of Southern Denmark. He has written many books and papers, listens to a lot of different musics, and goes to music festivals as a personal and professional pastime. He researches consumer cultures, music economies/ecologies and cosmopolitan ethics. His most recent books are “Vinyl”, “Labels” and “The Festivalisation of Culture”.

Jo Haynes is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Her research focuses on popular music, ethnicity/race, festivals, creative labour and entrepreneurship in the cultural industries. She is a principle investigator (with Professor Ian Woodward) on a large European project – FestiVersities – which focuses on the recovery and reimagining of music festivals post-covid and has a strong international track-record of publications. She is currently a director on the Board of Trustees for the Bristol Festivals Network.

TIME AND PLACE

20. november 16:15-17:45

RAGNAROCK – Museet for pop, rock og ungdomskultur

> BUY YOUR FESTIVAL TICKET <