Spaces and Places - Comparing the Music Festivals in Lisbon, Portugal to Those in São Paulo, Brazil

This paper reports interim findings of the project the Cultural Festivals in Lisbon, Potugal by comparing the scenario of Cultural Festivals in São Paulo, Brazil. This is the first study to make such comparisons. The aim of the project is to understand how the music within the music festivals which has been run in urban areas plays an important role not just to support the traditional structure of music festivals such as, the sequence of events and the linear program that the public normally expect to take place. In stead of that, we intend to show how the music works as a particular experience that trigger both: the design and production of places which the public choose to use for leisure. Our research field look at two important events: The Vodafone Mexefest” which is run in Lisbon and “The Virada Cultural” which is run in São Paulo. This research is based on qualitative analysis of data from ten interviews (show business, journalists and the public). According to the results in both festivals, the reason that makes the urban festivals as a distinctive object of leisure is how the public associate music as a relevant element to address significance to spaces where the festivals take place. In this case, we utilized the concepts of space and places as tools in providing a greater understanding of how the music is being capable to turn the space (a physical location) into places (a process of place-becoming), a particular process that illustrate how music can be defined through the emotional bonds part of people culture.