Paper short abstract:

Festivals as spaces for the performance of group identifications are examined using the example of the Slovenian folklore festival Jurjevanje in Črnomelj. The paper focuses on how the festival is used to present the selective past in order to shape the future development of the local community.

Paper long abstract:

Festivals are often understood as spaces for the articulation, performance, and rediscovery of group identifications. They enable collective representation and its celebration. Slovenia's oldest nationally and internationally known folklore festival, Jurjevanje in Črnomelj, was founded in 1964 as a showcase for the 19th century folk dances from the Bela Krajina region. Over the years, the festival has expanded and evolved, and is now promoted as "a blend of the traditional and the modern, the local and the global, all in the spirit of sustainable and holistic development of the town of Črnomelj, its residents and visitors"

In this paper, I explore the question of what identifications have been represented in the festival over time and how they have changed. Since the festival was primarily advertised as safeguarding the regional dance, song, and music heritage, the question arises as to which festival actors were most influential in reflecting and presenting the past in order to shape the future. And what and whose developmental goals and strategies for creating a stable future for the region were pursued through the festival? More broadly, I will focus on the extent to which the folklore festival in Črnomelj is a place where the articulation of the politics of identification and the development potential of the local community is possible and acceptable.