Festivals of Religions and Religious Festivals: Heritigized Heterotopias

In this chapter we explore the religious in the city from the perspective of festivals.1 Religious festivals include activities ranging from traditional ritual celebrations to markets with religious gadgets. Unpacking the notion of religious festivals, we focus in particular on what we identify as “festivals of religions,” by which we mean events during which religions are put on display. In what follows, we make a case for the relevance of this category in the study of contemporary forms of urban religion, in between the religious and the secular. Like many other forms of religion in the city, festivals of religions contribute to disseminating information about religions, and they are likely to enhance sensitivity toward religious diversity by promoting knowledge, discussions, and encounters. At the same time, we argue that they may have desacralizing and culturalizing effects.