From media events to my events: Chinese mediated festivals in the digital era1

Abstract

Much has been written about how digital technologies transformed contemporary festivals, yet the festival participants’ perceptions and experiences are less examined. Understanding mediated festivals as events of intertwined mediation processes, this paper explores the perception and practices of mediated festivals in contemporary China. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 Chinese young people to understand their motivations and experiences of festival participation. The paper finds that emerging mediated festivals provide a space for individuals to explore their interests. Further, mediated festivals are perceived as a liberating force for young people through choice-making and self-presentation in convivial and hybrid festival environments. Developing Dayan and Katz’s conception of ‘media events’, we argue that contemporary Chinese mediated festivals can be understood as ‘my events’ through hybrid and networked self-representations. Our study contributes to understanding the Chinese mediated festivals, emphasizing how networked individuals (re)negotiate the festival production.