The Cyclic Organization of Festivals as Temporary Events: The Critical Role of Spatial Practices

This paper explores how space and spatial practices are central to organizing complex nomadic festivals, particularly how they enable a small number of organizers to coordinate changing actor multiplicity and place-based temporality. We draw on insights from a longitudinal and inductive study of a moving food festival whereby a multiplicity of parties and growing membership transpired. Our analysis reveals that spatial and material practices of envisioning the overarching space, constructing idiosyncratic spaces, enacting distinctive spatial performances, and cultivating unique place-based experiences enable organizers to address core challenges associated with the diverse multiplicity of actors and the temporality of events. Building on the spatial turn in organization studies, we contribute new insights to the study of festivals, temporary organizing and collective meta-level identities.