Investigating the social, economic and environmental impact of festivals.

The FRG was set up in 2016 to bring together academics at Cardiff University and key stakeholders to undertake collaborative research on the festivals scene, and to consider urgent questions on the future of festivals.

Festivals are a key part of British culture and economy. Festival audiences are growing and the festivals landscape, both urban and rural, is dynamic and diverse:

"Festivals are big business: one recent report by UK Music puts the total direct and indirect spend generated by ‘music tourism’ for festivals in the UK in 2014 at more than £1.7 billion, sustaining over 13,500 full time jobs (based on 232 music festivals, UK Music 2015." - From Glyndebourne to Glastonbury: The Impact of British Music Festivals (2016)

Given economic, social and technological changes, festival organisers are considering what festivals of the future will look and be like. How will they be enjoyed, perceived, organised and developed? And how will they impact on society and the environment?

Our focus

The key focus for the FRG is music and arts festivals; members of the group have substantial experience working with and at festivals such as Glastonbury, Green Man and Hay Festival as well as at food-themed events. The FRG is keen to connect academic research with the experiences of festival goers, organisers, performers and other stakeholders. Festivals also present researchers with different platforms for engagement and the sharing of research through participatory methods.

The FRG’s pilot project sees Cardiff researchers working with John Rostron and the Sŵn Festival. John is the co-founder of Sŵn, this annual urban contemporary music festival occurs each October in venues across Cardiff and in 2016 celebrates 10 year of making the city come alive. John is also the vice chair of the Association of Independent Music Festivals, which currently holds its annual congress in Cardiff. The FRG has received seed-corn funding from REACT (the AHRC-funded Research and Enterprise in Arts and Creative Technology initiative) to explore the impact of Sŵn festival on the audiences, the city and the music scene.

This is an interdisciplinary research group made up of people at Cardiff University from the Cardiff Business School, the School of Music, the School of Geography of Planning, the School of History, Archaeology and Religious Studies, and the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. We are also affiliated with the Creative Cardiff Research Network.

Follow us on Twitter @CUFestivals.