The Process of Eventisation in the Festive Culture of Slovakia in the 21st Century

In the late modernity period, an increasing number of areas of our social contacts are penetrated by some type ofa cultural offer of experiences. The entire festive culture is affected by the dynamic process of changes. In thisprocess, the common forms of holidays, feasts, social occasions and cultural events are enriched with newelements of entertainment and with an offer of consumption. Along with this, specific forms of gathering,occasions and new artistic formations called events) are on the rise (Gebhardt 2000:18). Events as strategicallyconceived social gatherings produced for a certain purpose and aimed at providing an unusual experience andcollective entertainment, attract big amounts of people. These changes of global nature, which can be called theprocess of ‘eventisation’ (Hitzler 2011: 19), are covered by ethnology also in the framework of the study of thecurrent forms and contents of holidays and festivities. The proposed project aims to map the expressions of theprocess of eventisation.