Festival Context Research Articles

Does Gender Moderate the Relationship among Festival Attendees’ Motivation, Perceived Value, Visitor Satisfaction, and Electronic Word-of-Mouth?

Festivals are experiential products heavily depending on the recommendations of previous visitors. With the power of social media growing, understanding the antecedents of positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intentions of festival attendees is immensely beneficial for festival organizers to better promote their festivals and control negative publicity. However, there is still limited research regarding eWOM intentions in the festival context. Thus, this study aims to fill such a gap by investigating the relationships among festival attendees’ enjoyment seeking motivation, perceived value, visitor satisfaction, and eWOM intention in a local festival setting. Additionally, the moderating role of gender was tested as it is one of the most important demographic variables to show individual differences in behavioral intentions. The results of structural equation modeling showed a positive effect of enjoyment seeking motivation on perceived value, visitor satisfaction, and eWOM intention. Moreover, gender differences in eWOM intention and a full mediating effect of visitor satisfaction between perceived value and eWOM intention for female respondents were revealed. The findings of this study extend the existing festival literature and provide insights for strategically organizing and promoting festivals to generate more positive eWOM which can be utilized as an effective marketing tool and a feedback channel.

Theatre in the Digital World. The Experiment of Theater Treffen 2020

An overview and analysis of Berliner Theater Treffen 2020. Existing already for 56 years, this major European theatre festival and the most representative one for the Germanspeaking world ventured on its first online edition. COVID-19 situation has not only activated the ongoing discussions on the influence of digital technologies on theatre, but has made it a most urgent topic. It has become central because of the isolation, the sudden flood of streamings of concerts, performances, films, etc. Two topics seem especially important in the festival context. First, how to make theatre in a digital format and what kind of theatre phenomena are produced in consequence of such experiments. Second, what are the possibilities when streaming theatre productions.

An Attitudinal Impacts Analysis of Social Media Platforms And Brand Relationship Quality at Music Festivals

The purpose of this study is determination of ways in which music festival organizers can target their social media communication with greater certainty toward younger generations (i.e., Generation Z, also called "digital natives"). This research has two core purposes: the first is to investigate how music festivals' use of social media can affect their brand relationship quality (BRQ) with their audience, and the second is to determine how connecting to online brand communities prior to, during, and after a music festival affects the satisfaction and loyalty of attendees. The research follows a positivist epistemological framework and a deductive research approach. The research design grew from a collected body of e-research and uses asynchronous data from the social media platform Twitter to understand consumers' perception of brands in a music festival context. A social network analysis framework is applied. The findings show that social media does affect brand experience, brand image transfer, and BRQ in a positive way and that social media can, therefore, strengthen BRQ with Generation Z music event attendees. The results indicate that music festivals can strengthen BRQ with young consumers through social networking platforms if digital marketing strategies are utilized to their full potential. Reflection is made of the psychosocial value of this networking for young people at a time of socioeconomic turbulence. The practical implications for these findings are also discussed.

Exploring the relation between festivals and host cities on Twitter: a study on the impacts of Lucca Comics & Games

This article investigates the relation between festivals and their destination cities. We examine what festival attendees think about the festival experience and the host city, and how the online image of the host city is shaped through the dissemination of these opinions on Twitter. We conduct a case study and analyze the opinions about a big scale event, Lucca Comics & Games and its host city, Lucca. Our results indicate that the festival significantly reinforces the online image of the host city on social media and not only promotes the existing strong characteristics of the city, such as historic monuments and architectural elements, but also enriches the portrayal of the city by relating the existing legacy to the fantasy culture with the festival experience. This study sheds light on the social aspects of emergent digital information practices and platforms within the context of festivals. Furthermore, our methodological framework serves as a model for prospective research on the relationship between events and cities and contributes to the development of a common methodological framework for the empirical assessment of this relation.

¿Cuál sería el problema de que una reina fuese negra? Género y visibilidad étnica en la Fiesta Provincial del Inmigrante (Berisso, Argentina)

La Fiesta Provincial del Inmigrante (Berisso, Argentina) constituye uno de los rituales conmemorativos a través de los cuales sus organizadores reproducen anualmente un imaginario de la comunidad local/nacional apelando a un mito de origen: el mito del crisol de razas (blancas y europeas). Este artículo tiene como propósito analizar, desde una perspectiva de género, el proceso de visibilización afro y las disputas por el reconocimiento social que desarrollan las y los integrantes de la Asociación Caboverdeana de Ensenada a partir de su participación en la Fiesta Provincial del Inmigrante. Para ello nos centramos en el análisis de los conflictos vividos por tres mujeres afrodescendientes en el acto central de la fiesta: la elección de la Reina Provincial del Inmigrante. La estrategia metodológica que sostuvo la investigación fue de tipo cualitativa, centrada en un extenso trabajo de campo etnográfico realizado en la Fiesta Provincial del Inmigrante (2010-2015), entrevistas a los/as integrantes de la Asociación Caboverdena de Ensenada y tres entrevistas en profundidad a las tres ex-reinas de dicha asociación que participaron de las elecciones de la Reina Provincial del Inmigrante (años 2001, 2008 y 2010). La originalidad del artículo reside en el análisis de un objeto de estudio escasamente indagado por las ciencias sociales y reiteradamente criticado por el movimiento feminista: las elecciones de reinas y la participación de mujeres afrodescendientes en estos contextos. Buscando no caer en una socio-antropología de la denuncia -que únicamente ponga de manifiesto la reproducción de modelos canónicos de belleza, la sexualización del cuerpo femenino y la existencia de prácticas discriminatorias durante las elecciones de reinas- nos proponemos dar cuenta de los motivos por los cuales dichas mujeres participan de estos eventos y las agencias que desarrollan.

Interpretation of the toxicological findings in a probably Energy drink intake-related fatality

Summary Nowadays, energy drinks (ED) are frequently used or abused in private, sporting or festive contexts. However, adverse health consequences of acute ED intake remain to be clarified on a forensic point of view. We report the death of a 36 year-old man with a recent acute pericarditis antecedent in order to illustrate this challenging situation. He was found dead after an overnight party. Witnesses reported consumptions of alcohol, cannabis and energy drinks (Red Bull™) during this party. Autopsy findings consisted in acute pulmonary edema together with adhesive pericarditis. Collected biological samples were sent to the laboratory for forensic toxicological analysis. General toxicological screenings for drugs and other toxics including caffeine and taurine were performed using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and LC with diode array detection. Toxicological findings are coherent with ethanol, cannabis, caffeine and taurine consumption in the few hours before death. Generally, adverse effects of acute ED intake can be related to either the toxicity of ingredients (especially, caffeine), the combination of those ingredients, or specific situations like combination of energy drinks with alcohol, or cardiologic pre-dispositions. In this case, the observed taurine concentration in peripheral blood (984 μmol/L) cannot be related to any toxic effect. As a consequence, the toxicological implication of the ED-Alcohol intakes could only be suggested, but not established in this fatality.

Assessing the Effects of Perceived Value on Event Satisfaction, Event Attachment, and Revisit Intentions in Wine Cultural Event at Yibin International Exhibition Center, Southwest China

The study examines the relationships among perceived value, event satisfaction, event attachment, and revisit intentions in a wine cultural festival context. Data was collected by questionnaire survey at many famous wine tourism sites at Yibin, China and a total of 419 valid samples were received. A questionnaire survey analyzed by SEM supports the model of revisit intentions as a function of attendees’ expressive and instrumental responses resulting from output/input perceptions of perceived value and a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment of event satisfaction. Implications, such as the managers should design valuable activities to attendees and satisfy their needs for experiencing of wine culture, are displayed as well as future research opportunities recommended.

Exploring Usability and Gratifications for Virtual Reality Applications at Festivals

The digital creation of virtual environments has opened many doors for the creation of new experiences, offering the trend of ever immersive, engaging, and multisensory virtual reality (VR) experiences. However, studies on VR within the science festival context are limited. Therefore, with a focus on usability and gratifications, this study aims to explore the antecedents of the behavioral intention to use VR at science festivals. Before participating in a questionnaire, 447 users experienced a VR application and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings reveal that usability influences gratification factors, which influence users' behavioral intention to engage with science.

Sexual harassment and violence at Australian music festivals: Reporting practices and experiences of festival attendees

Despite the well-documented under-reporting of sexual violence, to date, no research has considered reporting practices within the specific context of music festivals. Drawing on 16 in-depth interviews with victim-survivors, this article examines survivors’ experiences of (non)reporting sexual violence in festival settings. We argue that while some barriers to reporting are shared across contexts, others play out in context-specific ways. Our research argues that the liberal, often transgressive culture of music festivals, combined with site-specific policing practices and spatial context, creates unique impediments to reporting with particular implications in responding to, and aiming to prevent, sexual violence at music festivals.

Evaluating harm-reduction initiatives in a night-time economy and music festival context

ABSTRACT Pubs, clubs, and music festivals are places characterised by increased alcohol consumption. Drinkaware, a UK alcohol awareness charity, delivered two crime-prevention initiatives designed to reduce alcohol-related harm among young adults: the “Drinkaware Crew” initiative implemented at night-time-economy (NTE) venues, and more recently, the Drinkaware “Festival Crew”. This paper uses mixed methods to present (a) an outcome evaluation of the societal impact of the “Drinkaware Crew” initiative using routinely collected data; and (b) a process evaluation examining the transferability of the “Drinkaware Crew” initiative to a music festival-context. Findings indicate that the Drinkaware Crew occupy a unique gap in existing NTE and festival infrastructures, however, a number of improvements to the data available are recommended to ensure that such initiatives are thoroughly evidence-based.

(Inter)cultural production as public pedagogy: weaving art, interculturality and civic learning in a community festival context

ABSTRACT Informed by the notions of public pedagogy, cultural production as civic/political participation, and the multiliteracies perspective, this article explores the connection between (inter)cultural/art production, public pedagogy, and civic education in a community festival setting in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Drawing upon three examples of cultural production from the interviewing and participating observation data, we demonstrate how festival participants’ engagement with such (inter)cultural practices (1) actualizes their pursuit of civic and political action, (2) develops 'connected civic learning' and (inter)cultural citizenship experiences and learning, and (3) enables them to become critical designers/citizens.

Two <em>cailleacha</em> in Older Scots comic poetry

This essay investigates two appearances of the Gaelic folk figure, Cailleach Bhéarra (Scot. Gael. Cailleach Bheurr) in Older Scots comic poetry. The translation of the iconic ‘mother-goddess’ or ‘hag’ of Beara into Older Scots is provocative on two levels: foremost, the casual and familiar language used to relate the comic tales demonstrates a rich folk culture that crossed linguistic and geographic boundaries. Both tales center around the Scottish lowlands, which were not traditionally Gaelic speaking, however the mythical figures seem to fit comfortably within the cultural community of Edinburgh and its environs. The tales further merit attention since the figure of the cailleach is mobilized in a festive context that creates a pseudo-historical narrative of the fantastical origins of Scottish landmarks apparently formed by the cailleach's excretions. Considering the folk figure in the context of festive, public entertainment informs our understanding of Scotland's socio-cultural landscape in the early sixteenth century.

Phenomenological psychology & descriptive experience sampling: a new approach to exploring music festival experience

ABSTRACT This paper provides in-depth discussion of a methodological approach to researching music festival experience. Grounded in existential phenomenology (Heidegger, 1927/1962. Being and time (J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson, Trans.). Oxford: Blackwell) it argues for the adoption of an interpretative phenomenological perspective (Merleau–Ponty, 1945/1962. Phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). New York, NY: Humanities Press) to more fully understand the live music festival experience. Phenomenological psychology (Smith, Harre and Van Langenhove, 1995. Ideography and the case–study. In J. A. Smith, R. Harre, & L. Van Langenhove (Eds.), Rethinking psychology (pp. 59–69). London: SAGE Publications) contextualises the music festival experience within the attendee's Lifeworld. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications Ltd) provides a robust process for analysing the music festival experience ideographically. Participants used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) (Hurlburt & Heavey, 2001. Telling what we know: Describing inner experience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5(9), 400–403) to record their Green Man music festival experiences, this data was then explored during phenomenological interviews. DES and IPA provide a contrasting conceptualisation of experience, with findings that contribute to Ashworth's (2003b. The phenomenology of the lifeworld and social psychology. Social Psychology Review, 5(1), 18–34) theories of Lifeworld and Krueger's (2014b. Varieties of extended emotions. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 13(4), 533–555) Hypothesis of Individual Extended Emotions and his Hypothesis of Collective Extended Emotions. Lastly, building upon the application and adaptability to the music festival context allows a consideration of future studies.

축제 브랜드개성, 감정반응과 만족도, 충성도의 구조적 관계 연구: 2017금산세계인삼엑스포를 대상으로

The purpose of study is to verify causal relationship of brand personality, emotion, satisfaction and loyalty in festival context and to suggest theoretical and managerial implications based on results of empirical research.<BR> In total, 327 cases were surveyed and analysed by 2017 World Ginseng Expo, Geumsan, Korea using SPSS and AMOS.<BR> The consequences of this research are presented as follows: festival brand personality and positive emotion have a positive effect on satisfaction and loyalty directly, negative emotion has a negative effect on satisfaction directly, but not on loyalty, and satisfaction on loyalty. Brand personality turned out to be the most powerful factor pulling satisfaction and loyalty as well as showing the importance to manage brand personality to increase competitiveness of the Expo.

Liminality and festivals—Insights from the East

This research extends our knowledge of liminality through investigating how the liminal experiences of festival-goers are constructed in a Chinese music festival context. The research employs a multi-site data collection approach undertaking field observations and 68 in-depth semi-structured interviews at seven music festivals across three years. The study contributes to the theoretical development of a liminality framework by providing empirical evidence of the nature of liminality. It extends our understanding of event tourist experiences by highlighting the development and role of three types of communitas and identifying six stages within a rite of passage. The resulting multifaceted coexistence of liminal behaviours and identity with everyday routine life provides a new approach to the critical understanding of the role of liminality.

App users’ emotional reactions and festival satisfaction: the mediating role of situational involvement

ABSTRACTIn the context of festivals, the proportion of mobile app users appears to be continuously rising. However, academia has not systematically researched festival-related apps. The few existing studies have primarily adopted the technology acceptance model to investigate the factors that influence the willingness of festival participants to use apps. By adopting situational involvement-related theories, the current study aims to explore the relationship between emotional reactions, the situational involvement of users of official festival apps, and users’ overall satisfaction with the festival, thus bridging the gap between the use of official apps and users’ experience satisfaction with the festival.

Value co-creation processes at sustainable music festivals: a grounded theory approach

Purpose One of the most significant shifts in contemporary business thinking in the tourism and event industry is co-creation and the framework for adopting this collaborative approach is integral for achieving the fundamental goal of value creation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of sustainable events by analysing value co-creation processes from the attendees’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach The methodical framework comprises two steps. First, the study analyses the literature related to festivals and value co-creation, with a focus on sustainable festivals. Second, data rooted research based on grounded theory is conducted, using 12 semi-structured interviews with music festival attendees. Findings Three distinct festival attendee categories were identified: the sustainable co-creation type, the calculating type and the experience type. Within each category, attendees have different attitudes, personal values and experiences as well as individual assessments of what exactly constitutes value and value creation. These three categories are regarded as key factors in describing different kinds of value co-creation processes in the festival context. Research limitations/implications Considering these three types and addressing their personal values, beliefs and value perceptions will allow festival organisers to better manage the development of sustainable festivals and their role as value co-creators. Originality/value This paper addresses the need to better understand how value is created in a festival context. The application of grounded theory also considers scholarly calls for a deeper search into the meaning and essence of value for festival attendees.

Future of the arts festivals: do the views of managers and attendees match?

PurposeTo make sense of the relationship between the festival attendance and the aims in arts festival management, the purpose of this paper is to explore the key characteristics for success and analyze the perceptions of the future in arts festival productions.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study uses interviews with festival managers and empathy-based stories (MEBS) written by members of festival audience. Discourse analysis is employed for answering the questions: What are the characteristics of a successful festival, and what could ruin it?FindingsThe paper highlights the importance of interaction with the audience orchestrated by the festival organization. Such interaction co-constructs a more holistic festival experience valued by both parties, which supports the sustainability and future success.Research limitations/implicationsThe research data are limited to one country, and music festivals dominate the data.Practical implicationsAmong managers, there is a need to consider audiences as consumers and as producers in the current competitive climate in the arts and cultural field and clarify the role of the audience as a partner in the networked festival production by placing the attendee at the core of the strategic planning process of arts festivals.Originality/valueThe research combines the views of the demand-and-supply side. It adds to the knowledge in arts and festival management by exploring the relationship between attendance and the aims of arts festival management in general, and the key characteristics of success in the arts festival context in particular. MEBS offers new interesting opportunities for future research in qualitative festival research.

Niños, fiestas patronales e identidad local

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la participación infantil en las fiestas patronales de Yucatán, México, y mostrar la importancia de esta participación en la construcción de la identidad de los niños. La investigación etnográfica realizada para el cumplimiento de tal objetivo se orientó a la captación de las voces infantiles en contextos cotidianos y festivos mediante el diálogo y la convivencia. A pesar de que el artículo no profundiza en una fiesta patronal en particular, da cuenta de la apropiación infantil de este tipo de celebraciones y visibiliza las formas infantiles de consumo, interpretación y apropiación del patrimonio, que han sido descuidadas en estudios previos sobre el tema. Así, se concluye que, en espacios lúdicos, los niños resignifican el patrimonio festivo y lo cargan de afectos y emociones, lo cual refuerza la identidad comunitaria de estos.

Inclusion Politics/Subalternization Practices: The Construction of Ethnicity in Villancicos de Negros of the Cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala (16th-18th Centuries)

This article problematizes the notion of ethnicity underlying villancicos de negros of the Archdiocesan Historical Archive of Guatemala (AHAG). Although these are musical pieces that project the idea of social harmony in a festive context, the truth is that identities emerge in conflict with colonial power, based on an ambivalent discourse that consolidates and naturalizes racial stereotypes.