Crowding as Co-destruction in Festivals: Scale, co-creation and Transformation in La Mucada, Mallorca

Transformational community festivals thrive on the active participation of multiple stakeholders as co-creators. However, maintaining such co-creative participation becomes increasingly challenging when festivals grow, creating a paradox. The feature that initially makes transformational festivals attractive - the possibility of an autonomous, heterotopic festival space for co-creation - is threatened by the festival´s success. This article investigates the impact of scale on transformative co-creative festival spaces. Using the example of the new festive traditions of La Mucada in Mallorca, this article asks why co-creative participation is more difficult when festivals become commodified and crowded. overcrowding is a critical barrier to co-creation and an example of co-destruction in festivals. However, its negative impact, particularly on participation and generational change, is not well understood. To thrive, autonomous festivals must address the sociality of crowds as a positive experience and avoid reducing creativity to an individual process, instead promoting collective co-creation.