Sustainable Festivals Research Articles

Food availability, perceived food environment and social norm perceptions of healthy and vegetarian food consumption at a public music festival in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study

ObjectiveTo gain insight into the food availability, the perceived food environment, and social norm perceptions in favour of healthy and vegetarian food consumption at a festival.DesignTwo cross-sectional substudies were conducted...

Communication Analysis of Sustainable Festivals

Communication Analysis of Sustainable Festivals

Denpasar Festival: A Sustainable Cultural Festival as a Reflection of Denpasar as a Creative City

A program called "Sightseeing Denpasar" was formed to accommodate various arts and cultural activities, and also to develop tourism in the city of Denpasar. One of its signature activities is called Denpasar Festival. This article focused on examining the role of Denpasar Festival as a sustainable cultural festival to reflect Denpasar as a creative city. The method used is a literature study using journals related to Denpasar festival, sustainable festival and creative city.The results of this study showed that Denpasar Festival plays a significant role in the development and preservation of culture and tourism in Denpasar City. The application of Tri Hita Karana values is a good guideline for Denpasar Festival to become a sustainable festival. Reflecting on the Denpasar Festival, Denpasar City has great potential to become a culture-based creative city. Moreover, Denpasar has a historical and cultural background, as well as creative human resources, so Denpasar City is very capable of fulfilling the criteria for Creative City development.

Communication Management of the Ngayogjazz Founders in Building a Sustainable Music Festival

Festivals are tourism activities that are considered as one of the fastest growing forms of recreational activity. Ngayogjazz is a form of festival that has involved the local community since 2007 until now. Interestingly, Ngayogjazz claims that the festivals they regularly hold in tourist villages represent cultural events. Researchers want to focus on the communication management of Ngayogjazz founders in building a sustainable festival, besides this festival is a non-profit event. The author conducted a descriptive analysis to describe the problem in the form of a description. By conducting an analysis using management functions within the organization, namely planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling, the results of the research found that communication management in the Ngayogjazz community applies horizontal communication patterns with informal communication models

Sustainability for the festival policy: Focused on community and v isitors

Purpose: To explore the evaluation between tourists’ and residents’ satisfaction with the tool of Importance-Satisfaction Analysis originally introduced by Importance-Performance Analysis.
 Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted at Anseong Matchum Land, the venue of the festival, and respondents were selected by the convenience sampling method. Also, rest areas at the festival site were used for data collection and 309 out of 400 were judged to be valid. Included in the questionnaires was a series of Likert-type questions about the respondent’s satisfaction with 18 attributes of the festival and the importance of these attributes to overall satisfaction with the festival.
 Findings: The results of this research show that the average degree of importance for the 18 attributes is 3.89, and the degree of satisfaction is 3.02. The result identified that parking lot, rest area, and washroom were found included in “Concentrate Here” quadrant of the ISA matrix as needed to prior management in this festival.
 Research limitations/implications: This study tried to look into local heritage festival regarding comparative perception between festival goers and local residents with ISA to provide that actual problems and potential solutions to the decision-makers of the city to make a sustainable festival. However, it is difficult to extend the results of this festival to other festivals and further research is needed in the future.
 Originality/value: This research tried to find out the gap between perceived Importance and Satisfaction and to identify actual management problems regarding facilities and services of the festival by ISA analysis originally introduced by Importance-Performance Analysis. This study suggested what festival organizers should prepare for the festival that will be activated after the Covid 19 pandemic.

Towards a More Resilient Festival Industry: An Analysis of the Adoption of Risk Management Models for Sustainability

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on numerous industries, including the event industry, resulting in widespread disruptions. The widespread cancellations of festivals have been a direct consequence of the pandemic, and, following the reopening, those that have taken place have had to implement changes in response to the new guidelines and regulations created as a result of the pandemic. In this study, we examine the experiences of festivals held in 2021 in the Veszprém–Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture region (VEB 2023 region). The study aims to adapt the PwC Risk Management Model and identify its four pillars (1: detect; 2: protect; 3: react; 4: restore) in the case of festivals. Our study outlines how festival organizers have faced unprecedented challenges and risks (detect), how they survived in complete uncertainty (protect), what lessons they learned, and what risk management decisions they made as a challenge of the pandemic period from a consumer perspective (react). The present study utilized a qualitative research methodology and involved conducting structured interviews with a total of 19 event organizers from five different events. In addition, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the sustainable consumption habits of festival visitors, a questionnaire survey was administered yielding 1133 responses. The biggest challenges for the organizers during the times of the pandemic were uncertainty and unpredictability, with increased financial, human, and mental risks and burdens. However, the positive benefits of the pandemic period and the future developmental directions of sustainable festivals were also highlighted (e.g., small-scale, family-friendly events). Regarding the future, the aspects of greening aspirations, a need to reflect on the social-environmental criteria of sustainability, and more flexible management decisions to deal with uncertainty have emerged among the festival organizers (restore). The research has revealed that festival visitors themselves will be important allies in the introduction of sustainable measures. The research result helps festival organizers to adapt more effectively to the new socio-economic circumstances caused by the pandemic.

Green hydrogen powering sustainable festivals: Public perceptions of generators, production and ownership

This paper is the first to explore public perceptions about a particular market niche for hydrogen; mobile generators. By utilising a combined research approach including in-situ surveys and online focus groups, this paper explores what festival audience members and residents who live near festival sites think about the displacement of incumbent diesel generator technology with hydrogen alternatives. We investigate if hydrogen production methods are important in informing perceptions and subsequent support, including the extent to which participants are influenced by the organisation or entity that produces the fuel and stands to profit from its sale. In addition to a primary focus on hydrogen energy, we reflect upon how sustainability might be better conceptualised in a festival context. Our findings reveal broad support for hydrogen generators, the use of green hydrogen as a fuel to generate electricity and community-led hydrogen production.

Contribution of Supportive Local Communities to Sustainable Event Tourism

The importance of community attitude and participation for the success and sustainability of cultural festivals has been steadily increasing in recent years. The Chuncheon Puppet Festival (CPF) is an international festival that has been held every year since 1989 in Chuncheon, Korea. The festival has several distinctive characteristics as a sustainable event because: (a) it maintains its single genre of puppet performances based on modern cultural art; (b) it is well-established as the festival for the local residents of Chuncheon City and is planned by local community residents and local small companies, not by government agencies or global large entrepreneurs; (c) it helps children to have an interesting cultural experience in the local environment; and (d) it is regularly hosted in August, an off-season for festivals in Korea that was chosen by residents as it is a school holiday season. However, there is still room for improvement to secure its place as a successful sustainable festival. The following might be considered: (i) increased exchange of human resources among the festival executive members, community groups, and the public staff in Chuncheon City; (ii) local residents should maintain full control of the festival; and (iii) a local cultural trust should be established by cultural art professionals, local resident organizations, puppet show professionals, and public agency staff. The CPF is a typical example of a successful sustainable festival with proactive and supportive community participation and a large number of volunteers that help to increase local competitiveness and sustainable local development. This case report delivers insightful lessons and messages to guide what needs to be preconditioned for local cultural festivals to be sustainable and successful for a long time in many destinations, where they can contribute as efficient catalysts for regional tourism development.

Festival travellers’ pro-social and protective behaviours against COVID-19 in the time of pandemic

ABSTRACT With the uncertain pandemic situation on a global scale, pro-social and sustainable tourism performance has been continuously valued and called for. Undoubtedly, the sustainable festival tourism tactics and formation of festival tourists’ personal norms and pro-social intentions urgently need to be investigated. This study has verified the intricate relations where problem awareness of COVID-19, ascription of responsibility, positive and negative anticipated feelings, descriptive and injunctive social norms and a sense of obligation to take pro-social behaviours efficiently affect travellers’ pro-social intentions for mask-wearing, social-distancing and sanitation activities. Moreover, psychological risk perception of COVD-19 and gender as the significant moderators ably broadened the proposed theoretic framework. This research not only enriched the current COVID-19 tourism literature and contributed valuable research direction of pro-social festival tourism from the theoretical perspective, but also provided practical suggestions for promoting the sustainable and pro-social tourism performance.

Location-dependency and sociodemographics on sustainable festival and at home behaviours

ABSTRACT Festivals are large scale events that can have profound impacts on the host communities. Using the sustainable consumption framework to assess the sociodemographic characteristics of sustainably-minded event attendees, this paper determines the relationship between both at home and while-travelling sustainability practices by gender, socioeconomic status, and family status. Using a factorial repeated-measures ANOVA from 424 renaissance festival attendee surveys, this study shows that Faire attendees are more engaged in sustainable behaviours at home than while travelling, and that women outscored men on 11 of the 14 behaviours analysed. This paper also provides practical applications of the study findings.

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.

Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyle Indicators of Travelers and Expectations for Green Festivals: The Case of Canada

Festivals are emerging as one of the most attractive events in the tourism industry as their cultural and social wealth can contribute to the general promotion of a destination. Increased desire by communities to behave more responsibly has encouraged more sustainability-focused strategies on the part of festival organizers and have stimulated other industry stakeholders towards such actions. Accordingly, understanding what ecological behaviors might contribute to encouraging festival attendance can be important to planning a festival. In this regard, the main purpose of this research was to investigate real life environmentally sustainability tendencies of festivalgoers and their attitude towards attending environmentally sustainable festivals. Survey data were collected from 849 Canadian respondents who had attended a festival at least once in 2017. Our findings illustrate that a positive attitude towards attending a green festival is more strongly predicted by the level of intrinsic voluntary environmental actions that reflect personal commitment than by more mechanistic environmental activities such as waste reduction and recycling.

지역문화관광축제 방문객 만족도 분석을 통한 축제활성화방안 연구: 사천와룡문화제를 중심으로

The purpose of this study was to improve the overall quality of the festival by providing basic data that could be used to create a sustainable festival and a representative festival of Gyeongnam Province by analyzing the satisfaction of visitors. The Waryong Cultural Festival was held from April 26 to April 28, 2019. Both the qualitative research methods and the quantitative research methods were conducted in parallel to analyzing the festival activation plan. In total, 300 cases were gathered and 276 cases were used for this study.BR The results of the study are summarized as follows: First, provide a comfortable viewing environment for children visitors. Second, festival space arrangements should be conducted with sufficient review and inspection in advance. Third, enough toilet space for visitors should be prepared. Fourth, it is necessary to effectively organize the festival program. Fifth, it is effective to run the Biryong performance twice a day at night. Sixth, change the programming time so that many visitors can introduce traditional culture. Seventh, expand the program for visitors to participate in the festival and provide souvenirs to visitors as gifts.

Sustainability indicators for festival tourism: A multi-stakeholder perspective

ABSTRACTTo assist the assessment of sustainable festival tourism, this study develops sustainability indictors for festival tourism by including perspectives from four stakeholders: tourists, local residents, business owners, and government agencies. Using the Delphi technique, a panel of 15 tourism experts identified evaluation indicators from the literature. The experts reached consensus on 20 indicators: tourists (four indicators), local residents (four indicators), government agencies (six indicators), and business owners (six indicators). An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was conducted to calculate the relative weight of each indicator. Experts placed the greatest importance on tourists (0.4015) then on local residents (0.3275) followed by governmental agencies (0.1605) and business owners (0.1105) in order.

Impact of government policy and environment quality on visitor loyalty to Taiwan music festivals: Moderating effects of revisit reason and occupation type

Tourists' repeat patronage is a prerequisite for sustainable festivals. Past studies have examined tourist cognition, affection, and conation to festivals. Government involvement in festivals has increased during the past decade; however, few studies have examined how government policy and environment quality influence visitor loyalty to festivals. Using sample data collected from 931 visitors during spring music festivals held in Southern Taiwan, this study used a structural equation model (SEM) with latent variables to examine these influences. The results suggest that government policy positively influences perceived environment quality, visitor satisfaction, and loyalty to festivals. Furthermore, the results from a multigroup SEM approach reveal that tourists' revisit reason (revisit festival versus other) and occupation type (student versus nonstudent) moderate the relationships between government policy and festival loyalty. Implications on festival planning and government policymaking are discussed.

Sustainable Festival Populations: An Application of Organizational Ecology

This article addresses the sustainability of festival populations from the perspective of organizational ecology theory, and in particular age and density dependence. Data from whole populations of festivals in three Norwegian counties are examined. Analyses of festival start-ups demonstrate that the number of events in each county had risen faster than population growth before plateauing, and changes were correlated significantly with trends in the Norwegian gross domestic product. Data on festival age, theme, and other variables were also considered in the light of whole population dynamics. It is concluded that the fundamental tenets of density dependence theory were empirically demonstrated insofar as rapid growth in the festival populations was not sustainable when resources diminished, but no data were available on festival failures. It appears that the hypothetical legitimation of festivals helps to explain rapid growth, as festivals have become popular instruments of public policy. Implications are drawn for future whole population studies and for policy makers who would seek to manage portfolios or whole populations of festivals.

Multicultural festivals: a niche tourism product in South Korea

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine why people visit multicultural festivals, with the overall aim being to better understand the apparent popularity of multicultural festivals. The paper aims to provide key stakeholders with a platform upon which to better manage and improve multicultural festivals as tourism attractions.Design/methodology/approachAn on‐site questionnaire survey was administered at one of the multicultural festivals in South Korea in 2010. The reasons for visit were measured using a scale based on existing benefit scales, and literature related to multiculturalism. In total, 17 items were analyzed as visitor reasons for their visit. Demographic questions included age, nationality, the reason for living in South Korea if not a Korean, and gender. Out of 203 collected questionnaires, 183 were considered usable.FindingsIn total, five factors were identified as the reasons for attending a multicultural festival – family togetherness, escape, cultural exploration, socialization, and curiosity. The cultural exploration proved to be the most common reason for attending a multicultural festival for visitors.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study will help all key stakeholders to more fully understand what visitors want, and guide festival management to organize sustainable festivals as a niche tourism attraction. Due to the desire for cultural exploration, festivals should offer multicultural themed activities. Sport competitions can be good for socialization between migrants and South Koreans, or migrants themselves.Originality/valueAlthough multicultural festivals are held in many countries, there appears to be little research into the multicultural festivals in a country like South Korea, in transit from being ethnically homogeneous to becoming a multicultural society. This paper is a pioneer study in that particular discipline.

Eliciting the Dynamics of Leading a Sustainable Event: Key Informant Responses

Within the event management literature relating to network development and festival sustainability there is a paucity of research that analyzes the perception of festival sustainability by festival leaders. After an initial review of the context of sustainability, network theory, and an identification of the changing set of competencies for effective leadership, an exploratory and explanatory investigation is made to elicit and identify the critical factors that key informant festival leaders associate with sustainable festivals. The main purpose of this study is to attain a greater depth of understanding of festival leaders' attitudes towards the dynamics of creating and directing sustainable festivals. In-depth interviews with five elite festival leaders helped to generate the elements of a repertory grid from which a "triading" method was used to elicit constructs. Of the constructs identified, the most significant relate to four areas: the event subject focus; the leadership; the funding; and the organizational culture. The research also revealed that festival leaders conceive sustainability not as an environmental concern, but as a matter of festival survival. Suggestions are then drawn as to the future role of the repertory grid method in identifying and managing stakeholder visions, and future lines of research investigation and application.

Sustainable Festivals: On Becoming an Institution

This article conceptually addresses the sustainability of festivals from the perspective of the organizations providing them, specifically in the context of how event organizations can become permanent institutions. Festivals and other recurring events are often viewed as tourist attractions, and are commonly used in place marketing and destination image-making strategies. Little attention has been paid, however, to their individual or collective viability and long-term sustainability. Supportive data are provided from a survey of 14 live-music festivals in Sweden in which responding festival managers confirmed the importance of attaining "institutional status," occupying a unique "niche" in the community, sustaining committed stakeholders, and practicing constant innovation. Theoretical conclusions are drawn on the institutionalization process for festivals, including a set of propositions that can be used both as indicators of institutional status, and as hypotheses for future research.

Problematising ‘Festival Tourism’: Arts Festivals and Sustainable Development in Ireland

This paper problematises the term ‘festival tourism’. It conceptualises festivals as socially sustaining devices and argues that while they frequently function as tourist attractions, their social significance extends far beyond tourism. Using empirical material gathered in two case study arts festivals in Ireland, the paper demonstrates how festivals can contribute to arts development by inter alia creating demand for the arts, enhancing venue infrastructures, encouraging local creativity and animating local involvement. The paper contends that arts festivals, irrespective of their initial objectives almost inevitably develop tourist profiles over time and it proceeds to examine how changing tourism priorities in the two festivals studied impact upon sustainable festival practices. The findings suggest that tourism emerged as a key force promoting festival growth and expansion. It was found to be associated with increased revenue flows but also with increased arts activity on a year-round basis and with an improved venue infrastructure in both places. However, problems were identified with respect to the quality of the relationship forged between the festivals and local populations in the respective places. The paper concludes by arguing that festivals’ engagement with tourism needs to be carefully managed in the interests of promoting the socially sustaining function of festivals and of encouraging sustainable approaches to tourism development.