ABSTRACT
Festivals constitute a significant feature of the cultural life of late modernity, and in Scandinavia, as well as all over Europe, the number of festivals has increased exponentially since the 1990s. Festivals cover and celebrate a vast array of topics and promote different kinds of arts: film, theatre, literature and music. In the area of music, festivals can be found that are dedicated to any kind of musical style, ranging from death metal and electronica to classical chamber music and jazz. Some music festivals even present programmes of diverse styles, encouraging plurality, crossover and genre-mixing. The festival utilized as an example of an informal learning practice throughout this chapter, the Festspel i Pite Älvdal, is of this latter kind. Taking place in North Bothnia, the northernmost county in Sweden, it offers a programme of various musical styles to quite a large audience, considering that most of the attendees come from the nearby municipalities. The programme consists of different kinds of performances and concerts, and the performing musicians operate mainly on the regional and national level. No competitions are included; however, a master class for young performers of classical music is arranged each year in conjunction with the festival. The Festspel i Pite Älvdal is, in many ways, a quite typical example of a Scandinavian regional or local festival. Due to its musically stylistic diversity, it helps to effectively disseminate the arts in a long-stretched country, in which the population is sparse, at least in the northern parts. As will be seen below, it also provides important experiences of learning for its attendees.
