Paper short abstract:

Urban festivals are specific popular events of social interaction. Focussing on the most renowned festival of the gothic scene - the "Wave Gotic Treffen" in Leipzig - this poster presents a new project focussing the question which actors create, negotiate and perform festive spaces in the city.

Paper long abstract:

Every year, more than 20.000 gothics meet in Leipzig in order to celebrate their belonging to a specific social network. At first glance, within the Leipzig festival a coherent group of actors seems to stabilize a specific scene, that from a cultural anthropological perspective is all but homogeneous. Different political attitudes meet different esthetic stiles, different music preferences meet highly differentiated popular formats of amusement. And very different actors such as local inhabitants, organisers, tourists, musicians and last but not least those who understand themselves as members of the gothic scene temporarily create the urban festival.

The paper presents a new research project funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft focussing on gothic festivals, the performative construction of scenes and the role of the culture industry.