Catherine M Matheson

Legacy planning, Regeneration and events: The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games:

This paper focuses upon the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG) legacy proposals regarding the regeneration of the East End. It provides a preliminary pre-event evaluation by examining local progress towards urban regeneration legacies, primarily physical and economic renewal. Following an examination of the events’ legacy landscape and problems within the legacy planning process, the paper outlines the socio-economic profile of the locale. Thereafter, the relevance of the CWG to the area is highlighted and an evaluation of the progress towards physical and economic urban regeneration goals is charted. Key risks in the legacy planning process are identified. It is suggested that while there are elements of good practice in local progress towards legacy planning and regeneration, there are community issues that could pose tensions.

Music, Emotion and Authenticity: A Study of Celtic Music Festival Consumers

This paper centres upon the concept, authenticity, within the context of a Celtic music festival. Increasing attention has been paid to the music–tourism relationship and this paper seeks to elaborate upon the contested meanings and dimensions of Celtic music in the wake of its commodification through tourism. Attention is accorded to the interlocking tensions relating to commodification and authenticity within music and tourism studies and, moreover, the role of emotion within the authenticity and music debate. Drawing upon empirical research conducted at a Celtic music festival (Glasgow, Scotland) comprising in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey, it is suggested the festival audience attach authenticity to the music on the basis of their emotional interaction with the music. This occurs by the ways in which emotion is evoked within the music and the relationship between music, emotion and audience identities.

The carnivalesque and event evolution: a study of the Beltane Fire Festival

This paper centres on the Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. The objectives are to: first, identify the stages of the festival’s evolution and their respective characteristics; second, distinguish features corresponding to the carnivalesque; and, finally, examine the changes in event evolution, particularly regulatory interventions, and their effect. A qualitative approach comprising interviews with internal and external festival stakeholders was utilised. It is argued that there are three stages in the festival’s evolution: revival and early development; development and regulation; and, maturation. The characteristics of these evolutionary stages are identified. As the festival has developed and been subject to increasing regulation, features of the carnivalesque have been reduced.