Cities Regulated by Cultural Events: Tracking Music Festivals in Lisbon and São Paulo

What is the role of festivals in contemporary cities? What are the networks of meaning established between cultural festivals and the city based on the experiences of the Virada Cultural in São Paulo and the Mexefest in Lisbon? How can these events be linked with tourism, city branding, urban renewal projects and social control? What are the different roles played by festivals in contemporary society? This paper engages with these questions through reflections generated from fieldwork conducted at the Mexefest Festival which has been organized in Lisbon by Música no Coração Productions since 2011; and the Virada Cultural which has been organized in São Paulo by the City Hall since 2005. Using Actor Network Theory and based on direct observations, documentary analysis and literature review, it will investigate the ways in which cultural festivals can function as mediators of certain aspects of the social-urban dynamic. Thus, it will attempt to contribute to the discussion of such themes as the relation between culture and economic development, social control by urban musical festivals, city renewal processes, tourism and city branding.