Festivals in the Development of Cultural Industries

This paper outlines the development of the festival within cultural industries since the mid-20th century. The study argues that festival events can be transformed into brand centres and ambassadors for city branding. The main issues highlighted in here include the relations between festivals and celebrations, and the influence of social and market laws on the growth of the festival industry. The paper has a two-part structure. The first defines the semantic dimensions of the ‘cultural industry’ concept. Closer attention is paid to the place of the festival in the spectrum of cultural and creative industries and its role in the profitability of tourist destinations. The second part presents some views on the genre specifics of festival events and their dependence on market trends and city branding processes. The study is based on the theory of hyperconsumption society (Gilles Lipovetsky) and the conceptions of cultural tourism prospects under conditions of dynamically developing globalisation