The impact of festivals on the image of a cultural industry: The case of the new Italian dance platform

Over the last years, there has been a growing attention on the impacts generated by festivals both on the host territories and the internal dynamics of the celebrated cultural industry. However, extant literature has overlooked the impact that festivals produce on the image of the industry. This study thus aims at filling this gap by exploring how a festival improves the image that the professionals attending the event have of their cultural industry. More particularly, the paper is based on a case study on the New Italian Dance Platform, the Italian biennial contemporary dance festival. Findings suggest that a festival provides industry professionals with the opportunity to conduct two groups of activities: crafting a shared space and building a shared vision. The two groups of activities trigger both social and cognitive mechanisms through which the attending professionals construe and share a positive image of their cultural industry.