Re-imaging a post-industrial city: The Leeds St Valentine's Fair as a civic spectacle

Abstract

Faced with the perceived consequences of economic, social and cultural shifts variously labelled 'post-modernity', 'globalization' and 'the post-industrial revolution', an increasing number of urban authorities in the UK and beyond have adopted strategies of 're-imaging' their cities as 'creative cities' and/or attractive locations for footloose capital. The production of spectacular urban events has frequently played a central role in such strategies. Tony Harcup examines how one such event was conceived and developed to help transform the image of the West Yorkshire city of Leeds from that of a rather dirty northern English industrial town to that of a vibrant European 'city of culture'. As the event takes the form of a traditional funfair in the heart of a city, the author addresses historical and theoretical perspectives on fairs as locales of contested time and space. Drawing on the work of E.P. Thompson, Mikhail Bakhtin and others, and making a distinction between topdown, managed civic spectacles and a bottom-up, local street festival, Harcup goes on to question whether such events have the potential to transform participants' relations with each other and with their city.