Abstract

The article is devoted to the investigation of the phenomenon of musical festival as a factor of contemporary socio-cultural existence. In European culture, festivals have their genesis from ancient, medieval and renaissance theatrical acts that were directly linked to their locus and acted as an integral attribute of urban culture. The first music festival launched in Europe was Salzburg, which set the paradigm for further events of this kind. A mandatory feature of the festivals was their relevance to the city model: concentric or eccentric. But in any case the festival became subordinated to the mythological, ideological and economic needs of the city, stimulating the processes of identification of the urban community. Basing on P. Bourdieu’ theory of artistic production, the authors analyze the peculiarities of the functioning of the Odessa classics musical festival and its role and place in the formation of the symbolic space of the city’s culture. The role of agents and actors is analyzed, and this analysis makes the possibilities of creation and efficient operation of the symbolic space.