This teaching activity first offers a general approach for studying community festivals. A study guide is next provided to help teachers conduct a field study with their students. Finally, one celebration is described illustrating the type of analysis possible for such a study. Later they hypothesize about the functions of the festival event for participants and spectators. Students interested in photography can take pictures to check the accuracy of their observations and to search for greater detail.
Tape recorders can record sound level and crowd response as well as conduct interviews.
Library research and newspaper archives are important resources for historical perspectives on the festival. Students may compare these accounts with oral history reports from informant interviews. If students collaborate when they write up their notes, they will see firsthand that observation has a subjective component and that the interpretation of human behavior is very difficult. The students' differing reactions to observation should generate interesting classroom discussion. It is particularly fascinating for students to think about how the perspectives of different people might influence their interpretations of the festival.