ABSTRACT
Festivals allow for exchange of knowledge, networks, trades, goods and services. This allows festival encounters to have specific links with notions of inclusion and exclusion. Festivals can be extremely inclusive, facilitating access for all (residents and visitors alike); using local resources, suppliers and producers; incorporating local artists and performers, using local volunteers, encouraging civic participation and providing a space where people can get together to celebrate identity, community and belonging. However, festivals also have the potential to be exclusive or divisive, particularly where visitors are privileged over locals, where minority groups are further marginalised and where the local community is not engaged in the festival organisation. This chapter examines the notions of both inclusion and exclusion, and identifies ways in which festival organisers can actively promote inclusion, and minimise the potential for exclusion.
