

Welcome to ISFC 25
Making, Remaking, and Limitations
Welcome to the 6th annual online symposium on festival culture website. Our symposium will focus on ‘making, remaking and limitations' on the 8th June 2025. See the CfP tab for more details.
​​
Key Dates:
-
500-word Abstract Proposal Submission Deadline: 20th February 2025
-
Notification of Acceptance: 28th February 2025
-
Completed Presentation Deadline: 1st April 2025
-
Expected Publication: 2025/2026
​
Volume 3 of our peer-reviewed Journal of Festival Culture Inquiry and Analysis is out now. Please note that selected symposium papers will be considered for publishing.
Date:8th June 2025
Call for Papers:
Making, Remaking, and Limitations

During our sixth annual online event, we will discuss 'making, remaking, and limitations' in festive, celebratory, and ritual cultures. Our questions are: How and why do people continue to make and remake culture? In what ways do they experience limitations when making and remaking culture, if any? What is the significance of the making and remaking of culture and whom is it for?
​
Our goal is to examine what funding, policies, gatekeeping, people management, cultural politics, etc. can reveal about making and remaking practices in carnivals, festivals, ceremonies, fetes, fairs, and rituals, taking into account the limitations and advantages of these celebrations and events.
​
In keeping with our previous theme, we will also consider shared values, practices, customs, heritage, traditions, continuity, uniqueness, and differentiation within festive and celebratory cultures. The intention is to examine how culture is made and remade and how emotions and experiences are shared and/or autonomously experienced.
​
Proposals may also address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
​
• Art, Craft, and Practice
• Carnivals (including Diasporic Carnivals)
• Celebration and Leisure
• Competition, Adjudication, and Legacy
• Costume and the Body
• Creative Industries
• Culture and Politics
• Dance and Performance
• Education
• Embodiment
• Events
• Food Culture
• Community Making (Re-making)
• Literature
• Medieval Culture
• Night Festivals
• Memory, Nostalgia, and Temporality
• Music and Sound
• Tradition and Heritage
• Religion
• Resistance, Resilience, and Activism
• Sporting Celebrations
• Tourism
​
Abstracts of up to 500-word (only abstracts/papers that have not been previously presented and published will be considered) and biographies of no more than 100 words (in Word .doc format).
Key Dates:
500-word (Word doc. files only) Abstract Proposal Submission Deadline: 20th February 2025
​
Notification of Acceptance: 28th February 2025
​
Completed Presentation (optional) Deadline: 1st April 2025
​
Symposium Date: June 2025
​




ISFC 2025
The aim of this symposium is to organise and maintain a festival exchange network, focusing on cultural, community, literary, religious festivals, etc., and to publish papers around the theme after the symposium. We believe that a festival exchange will be an excellent resource – a means of developing supportive partnerships and understanding the historical, creative, and cultural links that may exist between different festivals. It represents an opportunity for academics to gain knowledge that could be of value to their research, and for those outside academia to become more aware of and engaged with academic research that could be a source of both inspiration and knowledge.​
​
Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and communications shared at the ISFC 25 virtual event may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the organiser.
​
It is the policy of the symposium that any attendee using foul language or being disruptive or both will be removed.
Terms:
We reserve the right to make alterations to our programme, date, etc. of the Symposium at any time without prior notice.
​
Our goal is to create a positive learning environment and maintain a welcoming atmosphere. To make this symposium a success, we require that attendees be respectful of each other's opinions and refrain from inappropriate language or disruptive behaviour. We strive to create a safe space where everyone can express their ideas and ask questions without fear of judgement or criticism.
We encourage thoughtful and constructive dialogue that fosters learning and growth. We also ask that attendees practice active listening, and take advantage of the opportunity to exchange knowledge and grow together. We want to ensure that everyone can learn and share ideas in a safe and comfortable space. Let's make this a memorable learning event. See the following link for further details on event etiquette.

Coming Soon
Coming Soon

Guest Panelist

Guest Panelist

Kerwyn C Turnbull
Guest Panelist

Chair

Submitted Paper Presenters
Coming Soon

TBA
Chair
Coming Soon

Historical and anthropological aspects of the Marino Grape Festival: between folklore and tradition


India's Intangible Cultural Heritage as a Soft Power with Special Reference to its Festivals and Ritual Culture
Murder on Muharram: The Hosay Massacre of 1884
Coming Soon

TBA
Chair
Coming Soon

"Harp-ethnography: Experience, Rhetoric, and The Blues"

Gods in Distribution: Sugar Craft and Festivals in Bengal

The Interplay of the Local and the Global: A Case Study of South Korean Culture at Prague Quadrennial 2023
Programme Coming Soon
​