📘 Part 3: Festivals

This episode's vocabulary

Boost (noun) - an occasion when something is improved or increased.

Short of something (idiom) - not including something.

Commercialized (adj.) - organized in order to make a profit.

Inevitable (adj.) - certain to happen and unable to be avoided or prevented.

To be down to something - if something is down to something else, the second thing is the cause of the first.

Alternative (noun) - something that is different from something else, especially from what is usual, and offering the possibility of choice.

Down-and-out (idiom) - having no luck, no money, and no opportunities.

Hard-pressed (adj.) - having a lot of difficulties doing something, especially because there is not enough time or money.

Brewery (noun) - a company that makes beer or a place where beer is made.

Distillery (noun) - a factory where strong alcoholic drinks are produced by the process of distilling.

Standpoint (noun) - a set of beliefs and ideas from which opinions and decisions are formed.

Merchandising (noun) - the activity of making people aware of your products and increasing sales through advertising, special events, etc.

Kitschy (adj.) - connected with art, decorative objects, or design considered by many people to be ugly, without style, or false, but enjoyed by other people, often because they are funny.

Mass market (noun) - a market of as many people as possible, not just people with a lot of money or particular needs or interests.

To appeal (verb) - to interest or attract someone.

Ostensibly (adverb) - in a way that appears or claims to be one thing when it is really something else.

To unfold (phrasal verb) - to open or spread out something that has been folded.

To immerse yourself in something (verb) - to become completely involved in something.

To triumph (verb) - to have a very great success or victory.

Pilgrimage (noun) - a special journey made by a pilgrim.

A chicken and egg situation (idiom) - a situation in which it is impossible to say which of two things existed first and which caused the other one.

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, is it important to celebrate traditional festivals?

R: I think so since it seems like there are only positive outcomes for all involved. Tourists have something to do. The local economy gets a boost. And the local people have something to work towards and the chance to express their culture. For example, the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh accomplishes all of that. And more, actually, since it's an international event too.

M: Will these traditions be lost in the future?

R: I don't know if they're ever going to be totally lost, short of some major cataclysm like a volcano erupting, but they might change to an extent where they would be unrecognizable from where they started. For instance, the Highland Games is much more commercialized than it used to be. And there are probably more safety measures involved these days. But change over time is pretty much inevitable, isn't it?

M: Do you think that festivals and traditions have an important role in society?

R: I think that's down to the scale of the event, really. If it's a major thing with lots of people and resources involved, then they would be quite important, but smaller-scale things with limited interests might not have such an important role to play for the majority of people.

M: Are festivals becoming less important in modern society?

R: I don't even know how you would begin to measure that. Certainly, there are more alternatives to festivals with online events, for example. But I think the number of festivals is actually increasing if we take music festivals alone. So while there's more competition with them, I wouldn't say they're down and out just yet.

M: What's a traditional food or drink that people typically enjoy during festivals in your country?

R: Well, it's Scotland, so you'd be hard-pressed to hold a festival that didn't involve some kind of alcohol-related event. For most people, it's either beer or whiskey since there are always lots of local breweries and distilleries who want to advertise these days. It's funny, though, people never really stopped to question why it's considered an essential part of the festivities. Including me, until right now.

M: How have festivals and traditions changed over the years in your country?

R: Since I haven't really gone to many, it's hard to say with any certainty. At least from a personal standpoint. There has been a general trend of greater commercialization, though, so you see more sponsored events and more merchandising than ever before. Some events are kitschier than before as well since that caters to the mass market of tourists and tourism.

M: Do you think they will continue to change in the future?

R: Everything will change in the future, won't it? Life is generally about that. If we make predictions about how they will, though, it will probably be the case that we'll see more commercialization. And the efforts to appeal to the mass market will expand I suppose. However, more people will rebel and start their own ostensibly more authentic events, it should be quite interesting to watch unfold.

M: Are traditional festivals disappearing?

R: I wouldn't say so. If anything, people seem much more interested in their roots and cultures than ever before, as we try to find ways of, well, finding ourselves, and explore or express what we find there. And traditional events inform and play a big part in that. Thanks to globalization too, people are finding out about cultures other than their own, and where better to immerse yourself in that for a short time, if not a festival?

M: Should children learn about traditional festivals at school?

R: If it's integrated into the wider curriculum and context, then yes. I mean, they should see the purpose behind them and the connection to the wider world, not just as standalone events that happen for no reason. For example, lots of children at Scottish schools learn about Diwali and Eid, which are Hindu and Muslim festivals. But they rarely see how this is relevant to their lives and how they compare with festivals in their lives and related universal concepts like light triumphing over darkness or the struggle to the end of a pilgrimage.

M: And do you think foreign festivals are more interesting for people than their local festivals?

R: That is a very good question. And I have no idea what to think about that because they're happening for a reason. But are they happening because the local people are interested or the local people are interested in money from tourists who go to these things because they're foreign? So it's kind of a chicken and egg situation, isn't it? I honestly have no idea. It's hard to tell right now.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!