Cutural Policies, Youth and Urban Spaces

the Bandas Novas Festival

Abstract

The article aims at analyzing cultural policies and their role in the democratization of access to cultural goods, not only from the perspective of their consumption, but also as opportunity for individuals acting as producers of culture. Based on a research about the relations between youth and music in Juiz de Fora, MG, it highlights the Festival de Bandas Novas event, held in this city over the past 21 years, seeking to reflect on the positive effects of developing local initiatives as a way of taking into account social diversity and inequalities in the urban space. Thus, the participation of young people in the festival brings to light the key elements of their sociability, the construction of tastes and the sharing of these among their peers, who use free time (leisure) and the consumption of culture to compose one of the scenarios of expression of youth in the city, which is enhanced by the government.