The aim of the present study was to investigate how three specific music festivals, situated in the Barents region, contributed to development of local identity in their respective host municipalities. The aim was further explored through three research questions focussing on 1) how the festivals cooperated with local agents; 2) how the festivals participated in and contributed to processes of glocalisation; and 3) what kinds of stories that were told through the festivals about their respective host municipalities. The festivals investigated was the Festspel i Pite Älvdal (Sweden), the Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Norway) and the Jutajaiset Folklorefestivaali (Finland). The study was grounded in modernity theory as well as previous research on festivals' contribution to development of local identity. Concerning the methodological aspects of the study, it was designed using an embedded multiple case-design, in which each of the festivals constituted one case and the three research questions functioned as the cases' units of analysis. Hence, within-case as well as cross-case analysis was enabled. The empirical data consisted of field notes from participant observation of in all 58 festival events; interviews with the festivals' directors and official representatives of the festivals' host municipalities; and documentation in the form of festival programmes. The findings showed that all three festivals had extensive cooperation with a wide selection of local agents or stakeholders but also that the range and profoundness of this coopera tion seemed to depend on the festival management's awareness of and focus towards the necessity of building and maintaining stakeholder relationships. This awareness seemed further to depend on the festival's perceived self-identity, its degree of professionalism and institutional status. Regarding the participation in and contribution to processes of glocalisation, 17 aspects were found that were divided into the categories of reaching out; letting in; facilitating for meetings; and musical glocalisation. The festivals were seen to be narrators of history as well as telling meta-narratives about their host municipalities and thereby producing and reproducing collective self-images. The latter was exemplified in the Festspel i Pite Älvdal emphasising the local municipality as a centre in its own reality; the Festspillene i Nord-Norge strengthening the urban and displaying strong, international bonds; and the Jutajaiset Folklorefestivaali emphasising connections towards other peripheral and rural communities.

Musikkfestivaler utgjør en stor del av kulturoffentligheten og har i liten grad blitt utforsket som arena for læring og identitetsutvikling. I dette paperet vil jeg i et musikkpedagogisk sosiologisk perspektiv diskutere hvordan muligheten for å bringe inn globale artister i lokale festivaler skaper glokale, sosialt og musikalsk differensierte rom. Videre vil jeg undersøke hvilken betydning disse rommene kan ha for publikums musikalske læring forstått i et situert perspektiv og for utvikling av musikalsk identitet. Et empirisk materiale hentet fra pilotstudien til forskningsprosjektet "Festspel i Pite Älvdal - en studie i festivalens betydning for identitetsutvikling" vil bli sett i lys av Anthony Giddens' teorier om det lokale og globales dialektikk, atskillelsen av tid og rom, frikobling og identitetsutvikling i det senmoderne samfunnet.

The aim of the present study was to explore the music festival Festspel i Pite Älvdal as a source of informal learning with implications for the identity of the audiences and the host communities. The main research question focussed on how the Festspel i Pite Älvdal affected the development of the audience's musical identity and influenced their relation to their local community. The research sub-questions were concerned with how the festival 1) affected the audience's construction of musical self-narratives; 2) contributed to the audience's development and maintenance of parallel musical identities; and 3) contributed to the development of local identity in the festival's host-municipalities. The study was grounded in earlier festival research as well as music educational research concerning informal arenas for learning. The study's theoretical framework was built on theories of modernity, which make it possible to put into perspective identity development in contemporary societies. The sociology of music provided theoretical perspectives on the close connection between music and identity. Also, theories of situated learning were employed as a basis for the discussion of how learning might come through audiences' peripheral participation in the festival community of practice. This research was designed as a case study, combining observations of festival events, surveys of members of the festival audience and interviews with survey participants and official representatives of the festival's host-municipalities. Due to its theoretical points of departure, the study came to carry strong features of narrative research. The study's findings showed that the festival affected construction of musical self-narratives by delivering contextual frames in which experiences, understood as material for construction of such narratives, were developed. Despite the festival offering good preconditions for maintenance and development of parallel musical identities, the majority of the audience chose maintenance, and the festival worked as a device for identity development only for those few who preferred to use it that way. The festival contributed to development of local identity by telling the audiences the stories of who they were, by deepening, re-telling and prolonging pre-existing municipality narratives. In discussing the study's findings, four identity dimensions of music festivals were brought to the fore: On the individual level, a music festival may function as an arena for lifestyle choices as well as a basis for individuals' self-regulatory strategies in connection with music. On the municipal level, the festival may be an outward manifestation of community identity and an occasion for reinforcement of social and cultural identity. The audiences' festival-related learning can be expressed in terms of learning music, learning about music and learning via music. Viewed in relation to theories of musical knowledge, it became evident that the total learning outcome was similar to expected outcome from other informal as well as formal music educational settings.

The purpose of this article was to explore the music festival as a music educational project by means of results drawn from a case study investigating one particular festival's impact on identity development, both for the individual member of the audience (musical identity) and for the local society (local identity). The theoretical framework was taken from theories of modernity, dealing with identity as a reflexive project, created and maintained by self-narratives. The study combined a survey among the festival audience with observations of festival events. The results showed that the festival mediated stories, myths, beliefs and values connected to music and that there was a contrast between the festival staff encouraging the development and the audience preferring the maintenance of musical identities. The festival also created different social rooms for musical activity. These features are discussed in a music educational perspective. Implications are also drawn for music educational practice and research.

The paper reports from a multiple case study investigating three music festivals located in the Barents region, namely the Festspel i Pite lvdal (Pite, Sweden), the Festspillene i Nord-Norge (Harstad, Norway) and the Jutajaiset Folklorefestivaali (Rovaniemi, Finland). The aim of the reported study was to investigate how these festivals cooperated with actors in their surroundings. Furthermore, the purpose was to explore the study's data through the perspectives of network and stakeholder theory. The data consisted of field notes from observations of 58 festival events; 10 in-depth interviews with festival administrators and official representatives of the festivals' host municipalities; and documentation. The data was analysed using meaning condensation and structuring displays. Through the theory-related exploration of the study's data, three themes emerged: first, the festivals cooperated with multiple stakeholders, who assumed multiple roles; second, the festivals and their stakeholders would sometimes enter into a state of symbiosis; and third, the festivals were seen to engage in long-stretched, "loose" and glocal networks. The three themes appeared as interrelated and could all be understood as strategies, which the festivals employed in order to increase their sustainability. The findings could also be connected to a typology of festivals in the context of institutionalization.