The Pop Festival ─ History, Music, Media, Culture

Woodstock is only the tip of the iceberg. Popular music festivals are one of the strikingly successful and enduring features of seasonal popular cultural consumption for young people and older generations of enthusiasts. In fact, a dramatic rise in the number of music festivals in the UK and around the world has been evident as festivals become a pivotal economic driver in the popular music industry, and in the seasonal cultural economy.

Today's festivals range from the massive-such as Rosskilde or Glastonbury Festival, Notting Hill Carnival or (until recently) Love Parade-to local, small-scale or the recently-innovated 'boutique' events. The festival has cemented its place in the pop and rock, and in the seasonal cultural economy. It is a key feature of the contemporary music industry's commercial model, and one of major interest to young people as festival-goers themselves and as students.


This collection, with an in-depth introduction on the history of festivals, brings scholarship in musicology, sociology, cultural studies, media studies, music business, etc. together in one volume.

George McKay is Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English, and Subject Leader in American Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK.