Moving the audience: Dutch landscape experienced through the SummerJazzCycleTour

Abstract

Geographical location plays an important role in the form and experience of music festivals. This article explores how the landscape shapes the uses, experiences and meaning of a music festival, by a close study of the SummerJazzCycleTour (ZomerJazzFietsTour). This is a summer festival that has been organised for over 30 years in the Reitdiep valley, the oldest cultural landscape of Northwest Europe, situated in the most Northern region of the Netherlands. Festivalgoers’ experiences tell us how the characteristic locations and the act of cycling from one venue to the other affect both the music and the festival experience, and provide insight in the perception and the role of the landscape therein. The results are drawn from focus group interviews held with festival attendees, completed with participant observations during the 30th jubilee edition of the festival in 2016 and the 31st edition in 2017.