Strategic Solidarities: Cultural Festivals, Relational Encounters and Diasporic Youth Identities

Cultural festivals have grown in diversity, scale and popularity many migrant-receiving societies recent years schools increasingly become involved supporting these for intercultural exchange celebration. While prior research has found that cultural play a significant role maintaining enhancing traditions, much less focused on the as sites of conviviality, cross-cultural encounters solidarity – especially school-aged young people. In this paper we examine three school-focused held Aotearoa New Zealand, paying particular attention to how diverse relational solidarities encouraged through shaped identities diasporic youth. A theoretical lens was used analyse bonds formed festival attendance, might foster new possibilities identity formation multicultural nations. Our study revealed forms (ethnic, trans-ethnic school-based) served affirm traditional practices identities, well strategically craft new, often plural identities. We reflect productive inventive nature such provided space articulate counter-narratives about youth assertions status, belonging citizenship.