Public Display and Civic Identity: Managing Religious Messages in Urban Street Festivals
Martin D. Stringer, University of Birmingham
A city such as Birmingham in the UK has a series of festivals throughout the year that
use public spaces to celebrate a cultural or religious date. These begin in
January/February with the Chinese New Year and end in December with all the events
surrounding Christmas. Some of these festivals are clearly of a religious nature (the
Birthday of the Guru among Sikhs) others clearly have no explicit religious connection
(Gay Pride). Others again (the majority) are ambiguous (Chinese New Year, St Patirck's
Day etc.). As discourses of identity have moved from a primarily ethnic register to one
focussed on religion I am interested in the presentation of religion in relation to these
festivals by the participants, the city authorities that sponsor and publicise them, and
by the crowds that gather to witness them. This paper will present some initial findings
of this study.