When the music stops: The role of cultural festivals in the creation of urban space

This paper analyzes how cultural festivals contribute to the creation of urban space through the study of residents' perceptions regarding the impacts on daily life of a public music festival organized annually for over more than 28 years, the Mercat de Musica Viva de Vic in Spain. The results of an exploratory factor analysis using data obtained from a survey conducted among residents show that the festival creates multiple spaces which influence both the physical and the perceived dimensions of the city, while favoring the redefinition, expansion and rediscovery of the city's social life and physical space. Moreover, as a bearer of new meanings, the festival is building new narratives of the city and creating new links between the city and its citizens.