Uncertain festival futures: how European music festival organisers navigate ‘loss’

Abstract

Risk management and the navigation of loss are inherent to working conditions within the festival industry. With festivals cancelled, postponed or redesigned, the coronacrisis has deeply affected the already uncertain festival sector. Based on thirty-five interviews with Danish, Dutch and British music festival organisers, this article examines which losses organisers experienced when faced with a social trauma that disrupted their ontological security. Additionally, it analyses how they have coped and responded to this situation via organisational and emotional strategies. Three phases in how organisers cope with loss are identified, where organisational and individual responses play varying, complementary roles: (1) imminent short-term loss and its realisation, (2) acceptance of short-term loss and (3) moving beyond loss. The analysis reveals how managing potential personal loss and facing organisational crisis should not merely be seen in terms of a rational decision-making process but is also mediated by emotional losses organisers experience as not only their livelihood, but their work identity is existentially challenged. Implications are drawn on the nature of cultural work, with attention to the entwinement of personal and professional identities.