ABSTRACT
In article published in The Guardian in July 2009, British commentator Simon Jenkins discusses the ongoing success of the outdoor festival in the United Kingdom in the face of the then emerging Global Financial Crisis. Framed within a debate about an apparent dearth of interest in and money for the arts – at least as measured against how many new buildings dedicated to it are being built, the author makes the point that, ‘From the vales of Glastonbury to the tent city of Hay-on-Wye, from Latitude to the Glade, from V at Weston to T in the Park, from Womad to Wycheood, from Reading to Leeds, festival promoters are having a year without compare’. These are not all music festivals, nor are they particularly cheap – indeed, many are quite expensive – and not all of them are outdoor, but it is clear that music and ‘being in the open air, rather than entombed in concrete’ continues to offer people an experience in which they are willing to invest their time and hard-earned cash.
