Why Your City Needs More Festivals
Exploring Social Capital and the Power of Festivals to Bring Us Together
Have you ever wondered...
What truly binds a community together?
Why do we feel instantly at home in some communities, yet like outsiders in others?
How does trust blossom between strangers?
When are we most willing to lend a helping hand?
The answers to these questions lie in the concept of Social Capital. Social capital refers to the networks, relationships, and norms that facilitate collective action, trust, and cooperation among individuals and groups.
Social networks have value1—not only for the individuals participating in them but also for the network as a whole. In fact, this value extends beyond the network to include people outside of it, demonstrating that social networks generate externalities.
Robert Putnam studied regional governments in Italy after their establishment in the 1970s to understand why some regions performed better than others. What was particularly interesting was that the indicators used to evaluate performance included not only conventional metrics such as economic development, education, and healthcare but also qualitative measures. For instance, researchers tested the responsiveness of regional governments by seeking assistance for enrolling in vocational programs. Stark differences emerged in institutional performance between northern and southern Italy. The key factor explaining this divergence was social capital2. Northern Italy exhibited higher levels of civic engagement, associational life (e.g., clubs, cooperatives), and trust, fostering effective institutions. In contrast, Southern Italy lacked such traditions, resulting in lower trust, reduced cooperation, and weaker governance.
What interesting is that social capital does not always lead to positive outcomes; it can also be used maliciously to achieve harmful goals. For example, the Nazis built social capital among Aryan members to perpetrate atrocities against Jews. The consequence of social capital largely depends on the type of social capital being fostered within a society.
Bonding social capital refers to the connections formed with people who are similar to us, while Bridging social capital refers to the links we build with people who are different from us3. By default, most social networks tend to develop as bonding social networks, where connections are formed primarily with like-minded individuals. In contrast, bridging social capital is much harder to build but is crucial for sustaining democracy in a heterogeneous society.
Each of us wants to live in a pleasant neighbourhood—a place where we have a comfortable home and are surrounded by kind and considerate neighbours. We desire a sense of community, a place with low crime, where children can play freely, and where we can feel a sense of happiness and belonging. Research shows that building such a community requires a high level of bridging social capital.
The question naturally arises: how can we effectively foster bridging social capital within our communities? Many people have different ideas4 about how to approach this, and if you’ve read this far, chances are you also have a few ideas of your own.
One thing I’m particularly passionate about is attending local city festivals. I find immense joy in discovering these hidden gems, attending them with family and friends—or sometimes just by myself. Some of my favourites include the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Jaipur Literature Festival, and Delhi’s Jashn-e-Rekhta, among the countless festivals I’ve explored. These festivals offer so much more than entertainment. They’re an incredible way to explore different neighbourhoods in your city, reconnect with friends, and strike up conversations with strangers over shared interests. You can learn something new, experience a slice of culture, and, most importantly, feel the power of community. Festivals are uniquely effective at bringing people together and strengthening connections across diverse groups.
While I love meeting new people, I often find it challenging to strike up conversations with strangers in daily life. Yet, festivals seem to break those barriers effortlessly. While we were grooving to Shreya Ghoshal's music, a couple of young students joined us in doing Garba. It was a surreal moment—a spontaneous celebration where we all felt a profound sense of community. Similarly, at a Bollywood night at Place des Arts in Montreal, a stranger joined us on the dance floor. That simple act of shared joy turned into an unexpected friendship, one that would have never happened outside the vibrant atmosphere of a festival.
Festivals do more than bringing people together; they bridge cultural and linguistic divides. Many modern conflicts stem from tensions around language—where locals feel immigrants aren’t adopting the local tongue, and immigrants struggle to learn and integrate into a new linguistic environment. Festivals celebrating local languages and cultures can be far more effective at fostering linguistic understanding than any government mandate. As an anglophone in Montreal, learning French has been a struggle, but discovering artists like Léonie Gray and Super Plage at Francos de Montréal made French feel alive and beautiful for me. Similarly, Jashn-e-Rekhta, the world’s largest Urdu festival, has played a monumental role in reviving Urdu culture in Delhi, drawing such a massive crowd this year that people complained of overcrowding.
What makes festivals so exceptional at building bridging social capital within communities? Festivals allow us to temporarily set aside our individual identities and embrace a shared identity5 that unites us. This collective sense of belonging is so profound that it transcends cultural, caste, and racial divides. Take, for instance, Swifties at a Taylor Swift concert—many describe surreal, heartwarming moments shared with strangers, as they leave their individual differences behind for the love for Taylor Swift.
So, how can we improve our communities, societies, and cities? Start by organizing or attending festivals. It doesn’t have to be a grand event—begin with a small book club, running group, or cultural night. If you’re already involved in such activities, take the extra step to invite and include people who are different from you. After all, the goal is to build a community where everyone feels connected, fostering the bridging social capital that binds us all.
My understating of this area is mostly influenced by Robert D. Putnam’s research. He has written several excellent books on this topic. If you are looking for a good high quality summary, I recommend this talk.
Nitin Pai often writes that, to solve many of India’s problems (especially issues in urban cities), we need to build social capital within Indian society.
The idea of this essay came after listening to Puliyabaazi Podcast where Pranay was discussing what kind of activities can build Bridging social capital in India.
In A Bit of Optimism Podcast, Trevor Noah mentions small talk as a way to build bridging social capital.
In a discussion with friend this came up, where he was suggesting that going to communal spaces such as parks might also be very effective in building bridging social capital. I think parks are good way to build bonding social capital because we often meet our existing friends there. They are not very effective in meeting strangers but by going extra mile of doing small talks we can also build connections with strangers.