ABSTRACT
To best echo its ethnographic nature, the details of a socially constructed grounded theory method investigation of attendee behaviour at community festivals are presented as a confessional tale. A preliminary project suggested social capital bridging between disparate visitors at community festivals does not always occur (Biaett 2012). From primary exploration a substantive theme emerged, indicating lower levels of attendee social capital bonding and bridging corresponded to passive activity at community festivals. Supplementary inquiry saturated this theme, allowed it to evolve to a point of trustworthiness, and led to the conceptualisation of organic festivity theory. This neoteric hypothesis asserts that the combination of physical collaborative creative activities, stimulation of senses, and cyclically aroused emotions at community festivals creates a highly festive atmosphere giving rise to increased social capital bonding and bridging, peak liminal experience, communitas, and feelings of well-being for attendees.
