ABSTRACT
Matters are compounded when looking to track rates of proliferation over time, for which general chronological statistics are almost completely absent and about which supposition all too easily takes the place of fact. By way of example, Giordano and Ong examined the proliferation of light festivals; a longstanding type of event that has latterly generated considerable interest as a means of stimulating the urban night-time economy. The growth of theatre festivals predated most other forms of festival. As with film, investment in specialist facilities necessary to stage relatively short-lived annual festivals has economic implications. If the Ruhrfestspiele and Avignon were grounded in the austerity and cultural politics of late-1940s, the steadily gathering pace of new theatre festival creation reflects two key trends. Literature festivals – events at which literary works are read, commented upon and discussed by specialists, authors, critics, publishers, readers, and translators – have roots that are as venerable as their theatrical counterparts.
