ABSTRACT
The life cycles of local community events and festivals and the attendant role of power in these life cycles is not well understood, particularly when a festival ceases to exist. This chapter examines the evolution of a local community food festival in Southeast Queensland, Australia, and investigates the changing nature of power relations during its existence. ‘Power to’ (as an enabling force) was explicitly implicated in the conceptualising and creation of the festival, while ‘power over’ (as a constraining force) shaped its life course and contributed to its (untimely) death.
