An investigation into the importance of recreating Irish historical and cultural traditions in a rural festival setting: The Hollywood Fair in Co. Wicklow

The aim of this dissertation is to gain a deeper understanding of the socio-cultural factors pertaining to rural community festivals and the impact upon host communities. Additionally, it intends to give an insight into the appreciation of culture and heritage by the host community. The focus of the research is on the Hollywood Fair in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. This festival is a rural community based festival that is based on the theme of pre-1950 Irish heritage. A qualitative approach was used by conducting a series of face-to-face interviews with members of the festival committee. Furthermore, document analysis was carried out on materials relating to the festival. The results indicate that rural community based festivals can foster a sense of community and belongingness through participation. In particular, it was found that the Hollywood Fair was successful in creating a pre-1950 heritage theme that engaged audiences and contributed to a sense of pride. It is hoped that the findings resulting from this study inform community festival planners of the positive socio-cultural impacts associated with staging heritage in a festival context.bah_ihtunpub1773_ethesesunpu