Cities all over the world are facing major crises - from failing services and mounting inequalities, to climate emergencies. And arts and culture have a surprisingly critical role in tackling these kind of urban challenges.
Festivals create exciting spaces to experience art, music, culture and film. At their best, they perform a transformative role in society, celebrating traditions and powerfully expressing the meanings that places hold for people. Festivals can disrupt established ways of thinking about heritage. Taking place in streets, pubs, railway arches, houses, boats and doorsteps, they can help residents explore different ways of belonging in cities, reengage with the past and imagine the future.
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