On commodification: volunteer experiences in festivals^†

† The paper has been presented on the International Conference on Rural Tourism and Regional Development, 20–22 May 2014, in Petrozavodsk, Russia.

ABSTRACT

This paper is about the creation of non-commodified volunteer experiences, for tourists and local volunteers participating in festivals. How is the tourist experience created when most of the traditional tourism demands are not fulfilled? And what are the experiences and how do they relate to different ‘regimes of value’? The experience context includes tourists who work together with locals voluntarily in a festival, where the volunteers pay for their own travel, food, overnight stay, and work for free. To gain more knowledge on the volunteers is important because local cultural life becomes more festivalized, most festivals are reliant on the involvement of volunteers, and the festivals gain an important role in an economy where even small places are engaged in branding [Löfgren, O. 2003. The new economy: A cultural history. Global Networks, 3, 239–254]. This paper uses a qualitative approach. Interviews were conducted (n = 23) and participants were observed during four festivals in Finnmark, Norway. Nothing in the experiences was facilitated, and the experience creation occurred in the work tasks together with volunteer colleagues. It was like a holiday experience, without a stream of commodified moments. It was a value creation that could be seen as authentic and real, created in the interaction between the local and visiting volunteers.

KEYWORDS:

• Commodification
• tourism
• experience
• festivals
• volunteers

Notes

† The paper has been presented on the International Conference on Rural Tourism and Regional Development, 20–22 May 2014, in Petrozavodsk, Russia.