Experience, Interaction, and Belonging: Configurational Pathways to Future Participation in Cultural Folk Events

In recent years local governments have increasingly turned to cultural festivals as a strategic tool for local development (Hwang & Lee, 2025). However, cultural folk events are far more than passive spectacles. Actually, they are lived, participatory experiences that transmit identity, memory, and belonging across generations (Malinowska, 2025). The way an event is formulated, meaning how it engages the senses, structures participation, and situates individuals within a collective narrative, determines whether it resonates as a genuine cultural encounter or fades as mere entertainment. A well-crafted folk experience immerses participants in the rhythms, textures, and symbols of a living tradition, making abstract heritage tangible and emotionally meaningful (Wong et al., 2020). This is powerfully illustrated by the ‘Koulouma’ celebrations on Philopappou Hill in Athens, Greece, where Athenians gather every Clean Monday to fly kites against the backdrop of the Acropolis, share traditional Lenten delicacies like lagana and taramosalata, and dance to live folk music, whilst weaving together Orthodox ritual, seasonal symbolism, and communal joy into a single, deeply rooted urban experience. When experience design is thoughtful, folk events become powerful vehicles for cultural continuity, fostering pride, curiosity, and a sense of shared humanity that no museum exhibit or textbook can fully replicate.