Who has the right to the rural? Place framing and negotiating the Dungog festival, New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Many small towns are using festivals and events as a way to boost tourism, by packaging and marketing existing festivals or by creating new events and festivals to attract tourists and the economic impact that they bring. However, increased mobility and migration, including amenity and lifestyle migrants, are changing the composition of many rural and regional centres, bringing both welcome diversity and potentially less welcome intrusion into established ways of life. So-called ‘incomers’ often bring higher levels of education and income and a different culture to small towns and villages, and, using their existing networks and connections, appear to be the driving force behind many cultural developments, including the creation or management of festivals and events. This paper examines the tensions arising as tourism and local festivals are being negotiated by various community stakeholders, and how place is framed through the rural idylls sought by amenity migrants. Drawing on Lefebvre’s notion of the right to the city and the idea of rights in places, we investigate diverse interests, inclusions and exclusions through various place frames related to a local arts festival in Dungog, Australia, and question who has the right to the rural.