Paper short abstract:

The aim of the paper is to explore the connection between regionalization on the one hand, and food and taste on the other hand. The material of the analysis is based on fieldwork and qualitative interviews, in three different European food festivals.

Paper long abstract:

In the last decades the festival phenomenon has become a striking feature of European everyday life. There is a festival for almost every type of cultural activity, music, theatre, literature, art, etc. Also, the number of food festivals in Europe increasing. While, some is more like chef and culinary festivals, others are rooted in various dishes, and there are the wine and bread festivals, beer festivals, festivals of aquavit, hem festivals, etc. At the same time, the number of local food festivals, are increasing.

In this paper I will focus on the food of festival dwelling, connected to the body, moving, and materiality; and mainly the material as a 'sensual materiality'. The discussion will be based on empirical studies. Further, the theoretical approach will be based on the discussion of the food festival as 'making' and 'doing'. But it will also bring in foreground the phenomenological approach focusing on the study of the festival as 'being'. In both cases/ positions the discrete focus of ethnography and the sensual materiality are often missing.