the definition of festival tourism

Event and festival research: a review and research directions

International Journal of Event and Festival Management

ISSN : 1758-2954

Article publication date: 19 November 2019

Issue publication date: 19 November 2019

Mair, J. and Weber, K. (2019), "Event and festival research: a review and research directions", International Journal of Event and Festival Management , Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 209-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-10-2019-080

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Events and festivals are key elements of the tourism product in many destinations ( Getz and Page, 2016 ). The ability of festivals and events to attract visitors to a host region, and to contribute to its economic and social well-being explains the significance afforded to them in many tourism policies and strategies ( Mair and Whitford, 2013 ). This contribution is a strong justification for public funding of events and festivals ( Felsenstein and Fleischer, 2003 ; O’Hagan, 1992 ). Thus, in conjunction with tourism, they are becoming a realistic policy option for regional development ( Moscardo, 2007 ; Robinson et al. , 2004 ). However, the rapid growth of the events/festival industry in the past few decades has not always been matched with the level of research devoted to investigating it. Additionally, the fragmented nature of the research that exists poses challenges for researchers and practitioners trying to identify both the existing knowledge and any research gaps. Nonetheless, the interest of the academic community in event and festival research has increased significantly, particularly in the past decade. This has broadly aligned with the time that the International Journal of Event and Festival Management has been in existence. Here we look back on the general direction of research in our field and provide some potential avenues for future research to strengthen and enrich event and festival research.

To date, several reviews have examined the state of research relating to festivals and events. Getz (2010) reviewed the literature on festivals, identifying three major discourses – a classical discourse, concerning the roles, meanings and impacts of festivals in society and culture; an instrumentalist discourse, where festivals are viewed as tools to be used in economic development, particularly in relation to tourism and place marketing; and an event management discourse, which focuses on the production and marketing of festivals and the management of festival organisations ( Getz, 2010 ). Getz and Page (2016) also reviewed the event tourism literature. According to Getz (2013), there are five core propositions of event tourism: events can attract visitors who may not otherwise visit the area; events can create a positive destination image and branding; events contribute to place marketing by making destinations more attractive; events animate cities, resorts and parks; and event tourism is a catalyst for other forms of development. A more recent review of trends in event management research was published in 2017, highlighting the themes which appeared to represent the most popular research topics over the period from 1998 until 2013 in studies published in leading hospitality and tourism as well as event-focused academic journals ( Park and Park, 2017 ). A total of 698 articles were analysed and results showed that the most popular research topics were marketing, events and destinations and management. Planning and evaluation of events along with the use of technology in events were also well represented in this sample. However, events education and human resources in events appeared to be less well researched ( Park and Park, 2017 ). Other reviews have been completed in the area of festivals, but they have been limited by a focus on papers published in journals associated with one discipline or field of study only. For example, Cudny (2014) took a geographical perspective and Frost (2015) reviewed anthropological studies of festivals, which broadly position festivals as sites of cultural practice and experience. However, neither addressed festival management issues.

The literature on events and festivals has been approached from a number of theoretical perspectives. Initially, cultural and social research predominated. However, more recently far more research has taken a business orientation, focusing on themes such as management, marketing and tourism, as noted by Park and Park (2017) .

Festivals/events and tourism

The links between events (particularly festivals) and tourism have been a fertile area for research. Increasing tourism is one of the key reasons why local governments support and stage festivals ( Mayfield and Crompton, 1995 ), and according to Anderssen and Getz (2009), many destinations view festivals as attractions and use them as part of their destination marketing strategy. There are clear benefits to hosting festivals, primarily in terms of economic but also social benefits. In relation to economic benefits, increasing visitor numbers, supporting job creation and underpinning economic development appear to be the main positive impacts of festivals; however, the extent of such positive impacts is disputed in relation to whether festivals actually attract visitors ( McKercher et al. , 2006 ); whether visitors are even aware of festivals when they make their destination decision ( Oh and Lee, 2012 ); and whether festival visitors, many of whom camp and eat on the festival site, are actually making much economic contribution at all (Saleh and Ryan, 2003). Further, in relation to social benefits such as community cohesion, sense of place, belonging and identity, the literature appears somewhat contrary. While there is plenty of evidence to suggest that these are the objectives of festival organisers, funding bodies and local authorities, there appears to be less evidence of whether festivals are successful in achieving these objectives, and through which mechanisms this may be facilitated. Further, while festivals have unique features and cultural dimensions which are also important factors for attracting tourists, the importance of exercising caution when using tangible or intangible historic and cultural resources for festival activities seems to be less acknowledged. Therefore, while the potential benefits of festivals have been clearly outlined, research appears to be lacking in terms of truly comprehending how best to achieve these desired benefits.

Festivals/events and marketing

There is also a significant body of work that examines events/festivals and marketing, with this topic representing the most widely researched theme identified by Park and Park (2017) . Drawing on initial work by Crompton and McKay (1997) , who proposed six key motivational dimensions to explain festival attendance, researchers have examined attendance motivations in a multitude of contexts, yet for the most part, few significant differences have been found. Existing reviews have already ascertained that attendance motivations have been thoroughly researched ( Getz, 2010 ); yet, studies continue to be published in this topic. For example, while there have been some minor differences to the original Crompton and McKay (1997) motivation framework, the underlying dimensions appear to be relatively stable over time and across a variety of contexts. Nonetheless, each year more studies appear testing these dimensions in yet more contexts.

Similarly, an established body of research has concluded that good quality festivals result in attendee satisfaction, which then leads to increased loyalty in the form of future re-purchase intentions (see for example, Anil, 2012 ; Cole and Illum, 2006 ; Cole and Chancellor, 2009 ; Lee et al. , 2007 ; Son and Lee, 2011 ; Mason and Nassivera, 2013 ). Nevertheless, despite this literature, studies examining the relationship between satisfaction, quality and loyalty continue to be published. Finally, market segmentation studies occur frequently in the festival literature, yet as most are case study based, they are failing to make generalisable contributions to our knowledge of this area. In summary, it appears that in these areas, researchers have simply been making only small, incremental contributions.

Several issues have arisen in relation to festival marketing and consumer behaviour which would present useful opportunities for further study. For example, the decision-making process of festival goers requires more research, as much of this research to date has been undertaken in case study contexts, without further generalisation (e.g. Kruger and Saayman, 2012 ). Further, there is a noticeable lack of research in areas of marketing that more recently gained greater popularity, including experiential marketing, and very little research on the role of social media and events. Experiential marketing focuses primarily on helping consumers to experience a brand, with the goal of forming a memorable connection and an expected outcome of future purchases and brand loyalty. Festivals offer an unrivalled opportunity for organisations to showcase their brands and build a connection in the mind of the consumer between the festival experience and the brand experience, as noted by Chen et al. (2011) , yet this is a relatively unexplored area where future research should be carried out.

Social media has also been the focus of surprisingly few festival studies thus far. This is particularly unexpected given the widespread use of various types of social media and its obvious links with marketing. In a case study of music festivals, Hudson and Hudson (2013) carried out some pioneering work to understand how festival organisers are engaging with both social media and their consumers. Their findings suggest that music festival organisers are proactive in using social media. In a subsequent study, Hudson et al. (2015) developed a conceptual model that was subsequently tested with music festival attendees. Study findings provided evidence that social media do indeed have a significant influence on emotions and attachments to festival brands, and that social media-based relationships lead to desired outcomes such as positive word of mouth. Montanari et al. (2013) examine an Italian photography festival, and revealed how using social media and Web 2.0 technology enhanced the way the festival was able to communicate with its audience. Social media is also changing the way potential attendees make their attendance decision. Lee et al. (2012) investigated whether engagement with a festival “event” page on Facebook was linked with actual attendance at the festival. They found some evidence to suggest that the event Facebook page stimulated emotions and a desire to attend the actual festival. Research by Williams et al. (2015) suggests that festivals are both generators and animators of electronic word of mouth, but the authors acknowledge the exploratory nature of their research. Sigala (2018a, b) has advanced our conceptual knowledge of social media as it relates to both festival management and marketing, creating a typology of the way that social media is being used in festival management and organisation. She also drew attention to the use and influence of social media on both attendee experiences and decision making and festival marketing strategies. In view of the omnipresent nature of social media, this is an area where there is a considerable need for further research in the festival context; there is ample room for new studies relating to social media to bring theory development and practical implications.

Technology mediated experiences are changing the festivalscape as events and festivals integrate hardware, software, netware and humanware into the attendee experience ( Neuhofer et al. , 2014 ; Robertson et al. , 2015 ; Van Winkle et al. , 2018 ). ICT has been used at events and festivals for utilitarian and hedonic purposes yet little is known about the implications for the events, attendees, volunteers and other stakeholders. Thus, research into the integration of ICT into the administration, design, marketing, operations and risk management of events and festivals is essential. An upcoming special issue of IJEFM will focus on these key issues.

Festivals/events and management

Three key aspects of strategic festival management have received significant attention from researchers – stakeholder management; festival success factors and conversely, festival failures; and festivals and environmental sustainability. The importance of understanding and managing stakeholders is widely acknowledged (e.g. Reid, 2007 ), and it may very well be that further research will simply underline this. However, in relation to other aspects of management, there are certainly areas where more research is required. For example, whilst knowledge transfer appears to be taking place in successful festivals ( Stadler et al. , 2014 ), transfer of knowledge is not well defined, or even explicitly acknowledged. Interestingly, festival failure has apparently been the subject of more research than festival success but further areas for useful contributions remain. These include succession planning and risk management. In addition, differences in strategic management planning and operations between festivals under different types of ownership appear significantly under-researched (Andersson and Getz, 2009; Carlsen and Andersson 2011 ). Despite a few studies (e.g. Robertson and Yeoman, 2014; Yeoman, 2013 ), there have also been few attempts to foresee future trends and issues that are likely to affect festivals and their management.

Getz and Page (2016) also argue for further research to better understand the role that festivals play in bringing together disparate groups such as visitors and residents. Complex relationships between communal identity and place emerge as people have various sets of connections to multiple notions of “place” and “home”. This is an area where social science research could play an important role, bringing together the business aspects of tourism and festival management with the issues of place, space and people researched by geographers and social scientists.

There is also a small but growing body of knowledge on festivals and sustainability; however, this topical area offers considerable potential for future research, and ample room for further theoretical and practical contributions. Research attention may be placed on issues such as the triple bottom line, links between festivals and social sustainability, and even the opportunities for festivals to play an education and behaviour change role in relation to pro-environmental behaviour. For example, Andersson and Lundberg (2013) considered the notion of commensurability and proposed a framework for assessing the overall TBL sustainability of a festival by allocating a monetary value to each component. This is done using market values of emission rights, the shadow costs of environmental resources, contingent valuation analysis of (willingness to pay for) socio-cultural impacts and estimates of direct expenditure and opportunity cost. However, the authors acknowledge that there are aspects of their framework which are subjective, and they note that future research is needed to clarify the generalisability of their framework. Duran et al. (2014) also propose a framework – the Sustainable Festival Management Model – which highlights that stakeholder participation, especially non-governmental organisations, the tourism sector and local people who might be impacted by the festival, is vital for the development of a sustainable festival. Van Niekerk and Coetzee (2011) used the VICE model (visitor, industry community and environment) to assess the sustainability of an arts festival in South Africa and suggest that this framework can help to identify critical issues relating to a festival and its sustainability. However, they also note that research using this model is somewhat limited in the events context and that further research on the efficacy and usefulness of the model is required ( Van Niekerk and Coetzee, 2011 ).

Implications for future festival/event research

There are several implications for future festival/event research resulting from the brief overview provided. These can be classified as opportunities for interdisciplinary research, a reliance on the western perspective and a corresponding lack of different cultural perspectives, an absence of research into the pedagogy of festival/event studies and finally, an array of limitations associated with the current body of knowledge.

First, there is a lack of interdisciplinary work that incorporates business and social and/or spatial perspectives. In his review, Getz (2010) highlighted that the classical discourse was under-acknowledged in extant festival studies, and that more connections should be made between festival studies and other disciplines such as sociology and anthropology. Further, Cudny (2014) called for more theoretical research to underpin the development of festival studies in future. Much of the work that has taken a business perspective, perhaps not surprisingly, has focused inwards on the festival – how to market, manage, stage it and provide a good quality service and experience (see Park and Park, 2017 ). However, very little of the festival research appearing in the business literature has been outwardly focused – considering how festivals may be mechanisms for achieving other aims – social, cultural, political, behavioural, etc. Clearly, in order to survive, festivals have to be successful business products, but in order to achieve other objectives, managers need to be aware of some of the issues that are explored in the social sciences and humanities literature, such as inclusion vs exclusion at festivals, festivals and authenticity/tradition, and festivals as spaces of protest, counterculture and self-expression, to name but a few. Interdisciplinary work, using theories and concepts from beyond business disciplines (e.g. social capital, affect and emotion theories and Florida’s (2002, 2003) creative industries framework) would inform festival research, and while the majority of recent work being published on festivals has appeared in journals associated with tourism, events and business more broadly, applying other disciplinary theories and frameworks would bring these to a new audience and thus, help to make a greater contribution.

Second, there is a dearth of different cultural perspectives in festival and event research. While already highlighted by Getz (2010) , it appears that researchers have not paid much heed to his call for comparative and cross-cultural studies. There is a need to move away from Western paradigms when examining non-Western phenomena. For example, Pine (2002) suggested that the development policy of hotel groups or chains established in China needs to consider the Chinese socio-economic context, thus implying that a research model should be developed specifically for China hotel development. China’s hotel industry is different from that of other countries due to fierce competition, multiform ownership and management systems, and coupled with China’s unique culture society might require a different research approach. Similar considerations would be of value in relation to festivals research in other non-western contexts. In a similar vein, the number of countries with resident populations that are culturally diverse has led to an awareness of the importance of building well-organised, multicultural societies ( Chin, 1992 ; Lee et al. , 2012 ; Parekh, 2006 ). Festivals can play a significant role in this. Multicultural festivals are especially important for minority groups seeking to maintain cultural traditions ( Lee et al. , 2012 ). However, despite some initial research in this area, further detailed study of the nature of festivals in a multicultural society would be of tremendous value.

Third, there are no pedagogical articles specifically related to festival studies. There is a relatively limited body of knowledge relating to teaching event management. For example Getz (2010) highlights that events students should learn and be able to apply both event specific knowledge (such as understanding the meaning, importance and impacts of festivals and events, and in addition their limited duration and episodic nature) as well as management specific knowledge including marketing, finance and accounting. Additionally, initiatives such as the development of the International Event Management Body of Knowledge seek to define research and understand the parameters of events and the knowledge, understanding and skills required in order to succeed in a contemporary environment ( Silvers et al. , 2005 ). Nonetheless, the pedagogy of festival and event studies remains an important, yet significantly under-researched area.

Finally, there are a number of limitations relating to the existing body of festival/event literature. Reminiscent of other review papers in the broader tourism and hospitality context, and beyond (e.g. Denizci Guillet and Mohammed, 2015 ; Kong and Cheung, 2009 ; Mattila, 2004 ; Yoo and Weber, 2005 ), the vast majority of papers relating to festival/event research are empirical rather than conceptual and theoretical in nature. In addition, as has been noted already, much of the research in the field of festivals has taken a case study approach. This has arguably limited the scope and scale of our knowledge of festivals. More sophisticated methods, both qualitative and quantitative, would provide a more nuanced study of particular festivals and places, yet at the same time contribute further to advancing our theoretical and practical knowledge of festivals.

Given this, a call for greater theory development and testing within the festival context appears timely. This is in line with Oh et al. (2004 , p. 441) who note that “[…] applications are not a wrong effort to make; what is needed is a stronger conceptual rigour and meaningful contribution [to] back to the mainstream theoretical thought through creative application and domain-specific theory development activities.”

Judith Mair and Karin Weber

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Further reading

Andersson , T.D. and Getz , D. ( 2008 ), “ Stakeholder management strategies of festivals ”, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism , Vol. 9 No. 3 , pp. 199 - 220 .

Chang , J. ( 2006 ), “ Segmenting tourists to aboriginal cultural festivals: an example in the Rukai tribal area, Taiwan ”, Tourism Management , Vol. 27 No. 6 , pp. 1224 - 1234 .

Lee , J. ( 2014 ), “ Visitors’ emotional responses to the festival environment ”, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing , Vol. 31 No. 1 , pp. 114 - 131 .

Saleh , F. and Ryan , C. ( 1993 ), “ Jazz and knitwear: factors that attract tourists to festivals ”, Tourism Management , Vol. 14 No. 4 , pp. 289 - 297 .

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FESTIVAL TOURISM – THE CONCEPT, KEY FUNCTIONS AND DYSFUNCTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF TOURISM GEOGRAPHY STUDIES, Cudny, W. (2013) Geograficki Casopis

Festivals are a rapidly developing phenomenon, which is why they are frequently studied in different sciences. They play a major role in the development of tourism; therefore it is important to conduct a comprehensive study of festivals within the framework of tourism geography. Travel to visit a festival may be treated as a separate type of tourism called festival tourism. It has a substantial influence on the tourist space. If the impacts are positive, they are referred to as functions. There are also negative impacts described as the dysfunctions of festival tourism. The aim of this article is to compensate for the shortage of geographical works concerning festival tourism. The author’s intention is to present festivals as an object of study in tourism geography, to provide the definition of festival tourism, as well as to establish its main impacts on the tourist space (tourism functions and dysfunctions).

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Waldemar Cudny

The article presents the case study of the Mediaschool Film Festival held in Łódź, a large Polish post-industrial and post-socialist city. The authors’ main goals were to establish the number of the festival visitors, as well as investigate their structure, main motivations to attend the festival, and the level of satisfaction with the festival services. As a result, the authors draw conclusions concerning the role of the festival as a place of the film culture consumption, as well as its role in the development of social capital. The basic method of study was the survey, conducted among the festival visitors in 2011. It contained questions concerning the structure of the festival audience, the evaluation of the event, and the main motivations to attend it. The method was adapted from the event studies, which was a tactical move in order to place the research on the borderline between cultural geography and event studies. Other methods typical of cultural geography and used in the present study included participant observation and semi-structured interview with the festival organisers. The event is one of the urban festivals created after the fall of communism. It is visited mainly by young people, often connected with the Łódź film school. First of all, the festival satisfies the need for contact with culture and film art, thus contributing to the creation of social capital and the development of the film school in Łódź (a part of the cluster of film institutions in the city). The event is a meeting point for film people from Łódź, Poland and abroad. Thus it could be also described as an obligatory point of passage in film-related network of connections.

Haywantee Ramkissoon (PhD) , Afreen Choudhury

Local festivals are becoming increasingly important tourist attractions for the sophisticated tourist in quest of new authentic experiences (Ramkissoon and Uysal, 2014, Ramkissoon, 2015; 2016). The extent to which local festivals can grow as a point of attraction for international tourists while fulfilling their social and cultural roles at the national level is an issue of immense importance to social and cultural policy makers and destination marketers. This chapter explores the local festival of ‘Pohela Boishakh’, which is the celebration of the Bengali New Year, ‘Pohela Boishakh’. It is recognized by UNESCO as ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ and identified as the largest national event of Bangladesh, a developing economy with crucial geo-political importance in the South-Asian region, with substantial economic promises for the local population (UNESCO, 2016). This chapter draws on Getz, Andersson and Larson (2007)’s framework to explore festival stakeholder relationships, especially, resource dependency issues, with a view to advancing the application of stakeholder theory to festival tourism, festival management and marketing in an integrated manner. Implications for tourism and event management along with theoretical advances are discussed with suggestions for future research in the field. Keyword: festival branding, stakeholder theory, cultural heritage, heritage tourism

Festivals are presently among the fastest growing types of events in the world. Recent years have brought many scientific studies, which include an analysis of the economic and social functions of festivals, as well as their organization and management. Particularly intensive research is carried out in the field of social interactions. The scope of study includes the analysis of the local community’s perception of festivals. The authors of this article decided to contribute to this stream of research and analyze the perception of the festivals organized in Łódź – one of the largest Polish cities. For this purpose, the authors conducted over 1200 interviews with Łódź inhabitants in order to examine how they perceive these events. The main objects of the study were the inhabitants’ evaluation of festivals and their importance for them, the assessment of festival organization, the impact of the events on the image of the city and the residents’ participation in festivals

The issues of creative and cultural industries and their role in city branding and development are explored in this paper. Activities enhancing city placement and city branding via a TV series are subject to enquiry. As a result, the city becomes a film-friendly destination, attracting people and firms from the film industry. Besides, the city is perceived more favourably, standing out from the competition and possibly attracting tourists and potential investors and immigrants. Such a policy has been introduced in Łódź, a large Polish post-socialist and post-industrial city. With the city authority’s support, the town has become the location of a popular TV crime series, entitled “Komisarz Alex” (“Inspector Alex”). The main aim of the research was to investigate how Łódź inhabitants perceive the series and what influence they think the film-making would have on the city. The evaluation of the perception of the series is based on structured interviews, and is generally very positive.

Forum geografic

Tamara Lukic

Kvetoslava Matlovičová

Nowadays, it is rather difficult to say to what extend are above statements true or if they were raised only as a result of the competitive environment. On the other hand, it is certain that a good marketing, built on the strong media coverage, plays a key role in efforts to gain recognition not only by the Michelin Guide, but mainly by all gourmets and tourist, who promoted good food and drinks to the purpose of travelling. In this regard, the media can be really helpful. There are many well-known cases when the persistent work of journalists, who e.g. promoted Danish cuisine for a long time, achieved placement on the Michelin red map. Being part of such a prestigious guide means for the country a great assistance in promoting tourism. Nowadays, the dynamics of changes in culinary products is significant, which points at the high flexibility and viability of this stream of tourism. However, on the other hand, it makes the attempts to classify this form of tourism more difficult. It is therefore necessary to see the definition of individual options not only as temporary, but also as mutually overlapping. From this point of view, culinary tourism can be considered as the umbrella concept, denoting the above mentioned forms, but also tours where the activities associated with food tasting are of the secondary importance. In addition to the above mentioned activities, they can include also different festivals, demonstrations or shows focused on food and gastronomy. Degustation and tasting of culinary specialties on holiday are in many cases of the same importance as the visits of historical sites, museums, etc. (Hjalager, Richards 2002).

Geographia Polonica

Dariusz Swiatek , Tomasz Komornicki

Aykut CAMCI , AHMET ŞAHAP

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Chapter 6. Events, Culture, Heritage, and Sport (Entertainment)

6.1 Festivals and Events

When travellers enter Canada, there is a good chance they will be asked at the border, “What is the nature of your trip?” Whether the answer is for business, leisure, or visiting friends and relatives, there’s a possibility that travellers will participate in some of the following activities (as listed in the Statistics Canada International Travel Survey):

• Attend a festival or fair, or other cultural events
• Visit a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, historic site, national park, museum, or art gallery
• Watch sports or participate in gaming

These activities fall under the realm of entertainment as it relates to tourism. Documenting every activity that could be on a tourist’s to-do list would be nearly impossible, for what one traveler would find entertaining, another may not. This chapter focuses on the major components of arts, entertainment, and attractions, including motion pictures, video exhibitions, and wineries; all activities listed under the North American Industry Classification System we learned about in Chapter 1 .

Festival and Major Events Canada (FAME) released a report in 2019 detailing the economic impacts of the 17 largest festivals and events in Quebec, which amounted to a whopping $378 million in tourist spending. Let’s take a closer look at this segment of the sector and its impact across Canada.

The International Dictionary of Event Management defines a festival as a “public celebration that conveys, through a kaleidoscope of activities, certain meanings to participants and spectators” (Goldblatt, 2001, p. 78). Other definitions, including those used by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the European Union, highlight accessibility to the general public and short duration as key elements that define a festival.

Search “festivals in Canada” online and over 900 million results will appear. To define these activities in the context of tourism, we need to consider two fundamental questions, “Who are these activities aimed at?” and “Why are they being celebrated?”

The broad nature of festivals has lead to the development of classification types. For instance, funding for the federal government’s Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program is available under three categories, depending on the type of festival:

• Local festivals funding is provided to local groups for recurring festivals that present the work of local artists, artisans, or historical performers.
• Community anniversaries funding is provided to local groups for non-recurring local events and capital projects that commemorate an anniversary of 100 years (or greater, in increments of 25 years).
• Legacy funding is provided to community-initiated capital projects that restore or transform event spaces and places. Eligible projects are those that commemorate a 100th anniversary (or greater, in increments of 25 years) of a significant local historical event or local historical personality.

Funds awarded in BC ranges from $2000 for the Nelson History Theatre Society’s Arts and Heritage Festival in 2012 (Government of Canada, 2014a) to $100,200 for the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2017 (Government of Canada, 2017). In 2017-2018, federal funding from the Canada Arts Presentation Fund, Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, and Canada Cultural Investment Fund resulted in $183 million in infrastructure and program development funds to support organizations that professionally present arts festivals or performing arts series (Government of Canada, 2019).

Spotlight On: International Festivals and Events Association

Founded in 1956 as the Festival Manager’s Association, the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) supports professionals who produce and support celebrations for the benefit of their communities. Membership is required to access many of their resources. For more information, visit the International Festivals and Events Association website .

Festivals and events in BC celebrate theatre, dance, film, crafts, visual arts, and more. Just a few examples are Bard on the Beach, Vancouver International Improv Festival, Cornucopia, and the Cowichan Wine and Culinary Festival.

Spotlight On: Cornucopia, Whistler’s Celebration of Wine and Food

For the “epicurious, cornucopia is food + drink unleashed.” Dubbed “so wild you can taste it” this 11-day event showcases tasting events, drink seminars, chef lunches and demos, avant-garde parties and more. For additional information, visit Cornucopia .

An event is a happening at a given place and time, usually of some importance, celebrating or commemorating a special occasion. To help broaden this simple definition, categories have been developed based on the scale of events. These categories, presented in Table 6.1, overlap and are not hard and fast, but help cover a range of events.

Events can be extremely complex projects, which is why, over time, the role of event planners has taken on greater importance. The development of education, training programs, and professional designations such as CMPs (Certified Meeting Planners), CSEP (Certified Special Events Professional), and CMM (Certificate in Meeting Management) has led to increased credibility in this business and demonstrates the importance of the sector to the economy. Furthermore, there are a variety of event management certifications and diplomas offered in BC that enable future event and festival planners to gain specific skills and knowledge within the sector.

Various tasks involved in event planning include:

• Conceptualizing/theming
• Logistics and planning
• Human resource management
• Marketing and public relations
• Budgeting and financial management
• Sponsorship procurement
• Management and evaluation

But events aren’t just for leisure visitors. In fact, the tourism industry has a long history of creating, hosting, and promoting events that draw business travelers. The next section explores meetings, conventions, and incentive travel, also known as MCIT .

(As it relates to tourism) includes attending festivals, events, fairs, spectator sports, zoos, botanical gardens, historic sites, cultural venues, attractions, museums, and galleries.

Public event that features multiple activities in celebration of a culture, an anniversary or historical date, art form, or product (food, timber, etc.).

Organization that supports professionals who produce and support celebrations for the benefit of their respective communities.

A happening at a given place and time, usually of some importance, celebrating or commemorating a special occasion; can include mega-events, special events, hallmark events, festivals, and local community events.

All special events with programming aimed at a business audience.

Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC - 2nd Edition Copyright © 2015, 2020, 2021 by Morgan Westcott and Wendy Anderson, Eds is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

New perspectives on satisfaction and loyalty in festival tourism: The function of tangible and intangible attributes

Roles Investigation, Methodology, Resources

Affiliation Faculty of Economics Sciences, Department of Business and Management, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Validation

Affiliation Faculty of Economics Sciences, Department of Statistics and Econometrics, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Faculty of Tourism, Institute of Tourism Intelligence and Innovation Research (i3t), University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft

• Jesús Molina-Gómez, 
• Pere Mercadé-Melé, 
• Fernando Almeida-García, 
• Raquel Ruiz-Berrón

• Published: February 24, 2021
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562
• Reader Comments

This research explains how attributes perceived during the festival celebration generate loyalty in terms of satisfaction. As regard, tangible aspects (festival entertainment and aesthetics) and intangible aspects (escapism and education) shall be differentiated. A theoretical model is proposed, which explains the effects of festival attributes on satisfaction and loyalty through structural equation modelling. The model was estimated with a sample of 440 people attending Weekend Beach Festival in Spain. The research proves the relationship between attributes and loyalty through satisfaction as a moderating variable; likewise, tangible attributes are deemed to have a greater influence on loyalty, specifically, the aesthetic/environment experience.

Citation: Molina-Gómez J, Mercadé-Melé P, Almeida-García F, Ruiz-Berrón R (2021) New perspectives on satisfaction and loyalty in festival tourism: The function of tangible and intangible attributes. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0246562. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562

Editor: Dejan Dragan, Univerza v Mariboru, SLOVENIA

Received: February 9, 2020; Accepted: December 29, 2020; Published: February 24, 2021

Copyright: © 2021 Molina-Gómez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files.

Funding: F. Almeida-García is part of a research team that has received funds to develop this research. The research has received funding from the research projects: "Over-tourism in Spanish coastal destinations. Tourism decrease strategies". (RTI2018-094844-B-C33). Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications, Spain.

Competing interests: NO authors have competing interests.

Introduction

Nowadays, festivals are considered to be a fundamental pillar within the tourism industry. Festivals are valued, among other characteristics, for their ability to create an image in destinations and for being a tourist offering itself [ 1 ]. According to [ 2 ], this experiential product is essential for tourism promotion and is a clear marketing tool for the destination. Festivals play an increasingly more important role in tourist activity, thus relating them to various topics:

• Academic interest on this topic is global, therefore studies can be found in any region around the world, whether in Europe [ 3 ], the Middle East [ 4 ], Asia [ 5 ], Africa [ 6 ], North America [ 7 ] and Oceania [ 8 ].
• In recent years, research has focused on the analysis of visitors’ characteristics: the segmentation of attendees [ 2 ], their behaviour in theoretical models [ 9 ], attendees’ characteristics [ 10 ], satisfaction [ 5 ] and the loyalty created by festivals in their users [ 7 ].

Many authors define festival tourism as an experience product and a tourist offering made up of experiential aspects [ 7 , 11 ]. On the other hand, festival tourism focuses on experience as one of the main competitive advantages, so much so that [ 12 ] defend the existence of an experience economy as a fundamental variable to value festival consumers’ behaviour. For these authors, festival consumers’ behaviour lies in the festival’s educational experience, entertainment, escapism and aesthetics. Organisers wish to create an environment for a satisfactory experience; they must generate an interest to return [ 13 ]. According to [ 14 ], the factors which contribute to creating satisfaction and loyalty in festival tourism are the festival’s activities, authenticity-uniqueness, sales concessions, environment, escape and socialisation throughout the event.

Some studies which analyse festival-goers’ loyalty highlight that festival’s characteristics influence loyalty through festival experience [ 3 , 15 ]; other studies consider the type of attribute and perceptions on loyalty [ 14 ]. However, no focus has been made on the specific weight of each attribute and the festival experience to explain their effect on festival attendees’ satisfaction and loyalty.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effect of the tangibility and intangibility of attributes on loyalty through satisfaction in festival tourism, bearing in mind the distinctive value of attributes ( Fig 1 ). This research delves into previous studies which have analysed relationships between categories and loyalty and satisfaction in festivals [ 3 , 9 , 14 , 15 ]. This study provides a new analysis on the distinctive role of festival attributes and experiences with regard to loyalty and satisfaction. This research represents an advance on the contributions of [ 12 ] in relation to the experiences and analyses of [ 14 ] on tangible and intangible attributes. Specifically, following the recommendation of [ 14 ]: a future festival study could use structural equation modelling to test the hypothesis that tangible attributes influence loyalty through attendee satisfaction , whereas intangible attributes influence loyalty directly (p.216). Thus, we apply structural equation modelling to find out the impact of tangible and intangible attributes on satisfaction and loyalty based on experience.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.g001

Likewise, this research is aimed at increasing knowledge on festival attendees’ perceptions and obtaining useful results for festival managers. We believe that a better analysis of the experiences and attributes of festivals clearly influence a more suitable management of these events. These two above-mentioned elements help to design the offer, distribution and sale of festivals, and allow a better understanding of the behaviour and evolution of the market, and explain the role of satisfaction and loyalty as essential elements in the competitiveness of festivals.

To this end, a structural equation model shall be used in order to discover the specific weight of each of the attributes of a festival and their relation with the variables of satisfaction and loyalty. The research is conducted on the basis of a survey on 440 attendees of the music festival Weekend Beach Festival in 2018 (WBF-2018), located on the Costa del Sol, in Andalusia (Spain).

Literature review

Attributes and experience in festival tourism.

Consumers have experienced a process that pursues the satisfaction of psychological needs, such as inspiration, authenticity and sense of belonging to a community [ 16 ]. It is also important to remember that modern-day tourists seek to be informed and demand a more personal and memorable experiential offering. Thus, companies have been forced to reconsider their business model, since only organisations which are prepared to offer an adequate consumption experience shall succeed in the market [ 17 ].

Festival attributes.

Many studies have been conducted on festivals, with several of them focusing on the aspects and attributes that influence on these events. [ 18 ] analysed the influence of four festival aspects (programme, souvenirs, food and facilities) on the value perceived and satisfaction; [ 14 ] carried out a meta-analysis in which they analysed 66 festival studies and identified the existence of six key attributes that attendees perceived at these kinds of events: programme, authenticity, concessions, environment, enjoyment and socialisation. These authors propose a classification according to the tangibility and intangibility of attributes, in which programme, authenticity, concessions and environment are tangible aspects and socialisation and enjoyment are intangible.

Experience in festival tourism.

One of the first definitions of experience was described as “a subjective mental state felt by visitors during service delivery” [11, p.166]. [ 19 ] understands experience as the result of a group of reflections that originate during moments of conscience. [ 20 ] considers experience as a collection of relationships between the customer and a product/company to create a comfortable sensation.

[ 12 , 21 ] proposed a consumer experience analysis framework which included four types of economic offerings: merchandise, goods, services and experiences; while the first three offerings are external, the experience solely exists in the mind of individuals; they separated service and experience from an economic perspective, creating the theory of the experience economy and identifying four areas of consumer experience: education, entertainment, escapism and aesthetics. The experiential link that a consumer may perceive depends on their participation and relationship with their environment, which result in a more intense and stronger experience [ 12 ]. Different studies have been developed on the basis of this theory, concluding that the dimensions of consumer experience are based on feeling, learning, and being and doing, respectively [ 22 ]. Lastly, [ 14 ] related the experience at festivals with the programme, authenticity, concessions, environment, enjoyment and socialisation.

Table 1 presents a list of all of the authors who have investigated these attributes (tangible and intangible) in connection with experience, satisfaction, loyalty and festival tourism.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.t001

Having presented the classification of festival studies according to the type of attribute and their connection with satisfaction and loyalty, studies relating to the hypothesis proposed in this research are analysed, linking experiences with tangible and intangible attributes and thus establishing a connection between these elements. Table 2 presents the order and correspondence between experiences [ 12 ] and related attributes [ 14 ] according to their tangibility and intangibility.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.t002

In the following two sections experiences and attributes are related in accordance with Table 2 .

Tangible experiences and attributes

Entertainment and festival programme..

One of the key aspects to understand the role of experience in the analysis of festivals is entertainment, which is a crucial aspect for satisfaction and loyalty. The entertainment experience in the festival context occurs when people passively watch other peoples’ performances [ 54 ]. The attribute linked to entertainment is usually found in the festival programme [ 14 ]. In Norway the quality of a jazz concert was measured based on the choice of artists, sound quality and programme [ 40 ]. [ 8 ] measured this attribute through activities such as wine, food and entertainment; [ 3 ] evaluated an Italian philosophy festival using the topics included in the programme. Two Korean festival programmes were evaluated through aspects such as enjoyment, diversity, amazement, correct organisation and planning [ 9 , 29 ].

An example of entertainment analysis as an economic experience is the study conducted by [ 54 ]. This study was applied to a university festival in Iowa in which they identified that the different festival attributes affected the memory experienced and loyalty. Loyalty also demonstrates a connection with entertainment. [ 35 ] analysed a sporting event which confirmed the link of satisfaction and loyalty with entertainment and the competitive tournament. Bearing in mind the aforementioned studies, the following hypothesis is proposed.

• H1. Entertainment will significantly predict satisfaction with the festival.

Aesthetics and festival environment.

The aesthetic experience describes the evaluation of the physical aspects, mood or environment of the festival [ 21 ]. Over the years, studies have differentiated between servicescape and festivalescape . The first term is defined as the environment or influence on consumer’s feelings and behaviour [ 62 ]. In contrast, festivalescape refers to the general environment that attendees may perceive [ 30 ]. [ 63 ] consider the environment to be the essential motivation to attend the festival. [ 30 ] highlight the importance of festivalescape on satisfaction and loyalty. Subsequently, [ 22 ] verified the existing link between aesthetics and satisfaction perceived by attendees.

Regarding aesthetics and environment, [ 14 ] find authenticity to be a festival attribute: the authenticity of the local culture, environment and food, drinks and souvenir selling points. These authors understand the environment or atmosphere to be the festival’s location. Many studies have researched the attribute of festival environments and most of them highlight the importance of hygiene, safety, accessibility and resting areas [ 9 , 15 , 33 ].

Souvenir shops and food stalls have a relevant role at festivals, leading to various studies [ 14 , 29 ]. At the Ginseng festival in Korea, [ 52 ] highlighted food and memory as significant variables. They also linked environment and accessories (souvenirs and food) with loyalty.

The aesthetic experience attribute is found in the authenticity and properties that are discovered in the town in which the festival is held [ 14 ]. At a cultural festival in Mongolia, research was conducted on the learning of the culture and the unique environment recreated [ 36 ]. [ 33 ] highlighted that floats, costumes, music and the city’s image are essential elements of the Patras carnival in Greece. At an Irani artisan festival, [ 4 ] highlighted the influence of the local staff, traditional exhibition and unique environment. Satisfaction in relation to the authenticity of festivals’ local characteristics has been approached by many authors [ 44 – 46 ]. Loyalty is also positively related to this attribute [ 6 , 50 , 55 , 56 ]. On the basis of the studies analysed, the following hypothesis is proposed:

• H2. The festival aesthetics will significantly predict satisfaction with the festival.

Experiences and intangible attributes

Education and socialisation at festivals..

The educational dimension is considered as the participants’ need to know, to experience new skills and abilities that may help intellectual and physical growth ( Table 2 ) [ 12 ]. Educational development within experiences continues to grow [ 64 ], positioning self-education as a fundamental motivation for festival attendees [ 65 ]. [ 66 ] confirm this dimension at the Sidmouth festival, which was one of the reasons for their presence. The socialisation aspect is linked to educational experience, that is, social relationships made at the festival [ 14 ]. Relations with other people, the sense of belonging and proximity were crucial to evaluate social identity [ 3 ]. [ 24 ] also relates the intangible feeling of socialisation at these events with satisfaction and loyalty. At a charity golf event, [ 59 ] identifies familiarity as a sense of belonging and a group link. On the basis of the studies analysed, the following hypotheses is proposed:

• H3. The educational experience will significantly predict satisfaction with the festival.

Escapism and enjoyment at the festival.

Escapism is defined as the participants’ desire to get out of their routine where they are often stuck in, to escape reality, to live new experiences that change their routine ( Table 2 ) [ 67 ]. In [ 24 ] analysed a blues music festival in a Turkish city where attendees commented that, for them, the festival was an escape and a novel experience. The representative attribute of escapism experience is enjoyment [ 14 ].

Attendees’ pleasure or hedonism was evaluated using phrases such as: the customer was satisfied; they appreciated the feeling of escapism and enjoyed the experience [ 3 ]. The following hypotheses is proposed for this research:

• H4. The escapism experience will significantly predict satisfaction with the festival.

Satisfaction at festivals.

According to (p.54) [ 68 ], satisfaction is defined as “ an evaluation based on the global purchase and consumption experience of a good or service in time ”; subsequent studies broadened knowledge on satisfaction, concluding that two precedents existed: the satisfaction of properties and information. Satisfaction of properties is explained as “ a subjective satisfaction judgement resulting from observations of the attribute performance ” (p.17) and the satisfaction of information as “ a subjective satisfaction criteria of the information used when choosing a product” (p.18). Satisfaction has not been included as an attribute in previous studies, although it has been mentioned as a key word along with festivals [ 9 ] or visitors [ 43 ].

Regarding the experience, [ 69 ] researched festival context and highlighted that satisfaction would be explained as a general evaluation of the individual’s experience at a festival. In recent years, a positive relationship is observed between satisfaction and loyalty and it is concluded that satisfaction determines attitude and the willingness to consume is a result of the experience perceived by the customer with a product or service [ 70 ]. The more the customers are satisfied with the product or service, the more they shall be willing to recommend it [ 71 ].

Loyalty at festivals and its connection with satisfaction

[ 70 ] defined loyalty as a strong commitment to buy back or endorse a consistent product or service again in the future , leading to repeat purchases of the same brand , despite influences and marketing efforts that can potentially cause a disruption and behaviour change (p. 34). According to this author, loyalty is a multidimensional concept that develops in several stages of loyalty: affective loyalty, cognitive loyalty, action loyalty and conative loyalty [ 70 ]. Loyalty can be explained from variables such as attitude or behaviour [ 72 ]. Usually, in marketing studies, loyalty has been analysed as a single construct that incorporates the aforementioned variables [ 73 , 74 ]. In this study, the measurement of loyalty was defined by adapting the [ 75 ] scale, related to the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the tendency to repeat.

Other authors consider loyalty in festival tourism as the predisposition of users to repeat certain behaviour [ 15 ], which implies the intention to attend festivals again [ 26 ] and recommend them to others [ 49 ]. Said repetition has been analysed in the tourism field with regards to loyalty regarding specific destinations. The authors [ 76 ] adapted Best’s loyalty index to a tourist destination (Seville, Spain) taking into account the number of repeated visits to the destination [ 77 ]. According to these authors, high loyalty implies more than three visits to the same destination. However, it is not very common to study loyalty at festivals through this type of specific measures. The number of times a festival is attended is not analysed so much as the aspects that affect loyalty, the effects of loyalty and the recommendation to attend a festival.

Some studies measure loyalty as future expenses; for example, purchasing wine after attending an Australian wine festival [ 78 ] or the intention to commit to donating in order to help a cause after attending a charity festival [ 59 ]. [ 33 ] states that attendees’ intentions are directly influenced by the festival experience. Likewise, several studies that have linked satisfaction and loyalty, observed this fact in catering services [ 79 , 80 ].

In other research conducted on festivals, satisfaction is a positive precedent towards loyalty [ 23 , 81 ]; more recently, a study analysed the effect caused by the four attributes (programme, souvenirs, food and facilities) on the value perceived and, consequently, on satisfaction and loyalty. This study concluded that satisfaction and loyalty may be improved through the value perceived, since they are positively related [ 18 ]. Other studies show how emotional solidarity is directly influenced by tourist loyalty and satisfaction. A good example is the study carried out on the Cape Verde Islands, where it is shown the existence of a positive relationship between the variables [ 82 ]. Likewise, the case of the study conducted in Karkala (India) at a religious festival generates an emotional solidarity that has a positive effect on loyalty and, partially, on satisfaction [ 83 ].

• H5. The festival satisfaction will significantly predict loyalty with the festival.

Methodology

The study setting: festival description.

The study was carried out on the “Weekend Beach Festival (WBF)” held on the Costa del Sol, Torre del Mar, Spain. The festival was first held in 2014 and was one of the most cutting-edge tourism proposals on the coast of Malaga. The festival had a 67,000 m 2 enclosure with three stages just metres from the beach, hosting current national and international artists. The festival was held for four days in July and reached a record figure of 140,000 attendees in 2008; the growth experienced over recent years has been a breathtaking 42% in comparison to 2015. It is currently number 11 in the official Spanish festival ranking according to the Social Network Festival Awards 2018. The tourists’ staying in the town has increased each year until it reached 100% capacity during its celebration over recent years. 20% of attendees are locals and 80% of them come from the rest of Spain and abroad.

Research instrument

Information gathering was carried out using a structured questionnaire. It was handed out personally in bars, establishments and streets in the town of Torre del Mar, Malaga, the city in which the festival was held. A two-stage method was used to choose the sample. In the first step, the method for selecting the sample was proportional and stratified according to the attendees’ origin. In the second stage, the respondents were selected in a non-probabilistic way for convenience. This method is suitable when it is difficult to find the participants and it is equally valid [ 84 ]. Prior to the fieldwork, a group dynamic was used to explain the procedure of gathering information. Furthermore, a pre-test was taken by 20 people to evaluate their understanding of the questions.

Fieldwork was carried out from June to July 2018, achieving 440 valid questionnaires, with a sampling error of 4.7% and a confidence level of 95%. The response rate was 89%. The research we have carried out has been based on anonymous surveys that respect ethical and analytical standards in the field of social sciences and do not require the prior approval of an ethical committee, in accordance with national and European legislation.

The questionnaire does not ask about sensitive social aspects such as race, religion, sexual orientation, diseases, etc. The items are focused on the analysis of the analysis of the analysed phenomenon (festival). The funding source has not requested the analysis of any particular group. All authors respect the rules of confidentiality and ethics regarding the analysis of data and results, in accordance with national, European standards and international agreements.

In order to have a greater representation of data, a multi-stage sampling by quotas was carried out based on the gender ( Table 3 ). With regards to the respondents’ profile, 50.4% of the participants were female and 49.6% were male. Most respondents were between 20 and 24 years of age (51.8%), followed by those between 15 and 19 (23.6%).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.t003

Measurement scale of variables

The nature of the causal links is reflective [ 85 , 86 ], because they are more suitable for defining attitudinal features [ 87 , 88 ]. The constructs analysed on economical experiences (entertainment, aesthetics, and education) were measured against 4 items each one, and 3 for escapism construct, through an adaptation of the scale proposed by [ 9 , 54 ]. Satisfaction was measured against 3 items based on the consumer’s literature and their behaviour [ 74 , 89 ]. Loyalty is measured against 3 items through an adaptation of the scale proposed by [ 75 ]. The total number of items is 21. The evaluation of the constructs was estimated on a Likert scale of seven points that ranged from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree. The scale with the items used can be seen in Table 4 and the annex of Supporting information.

Psychometric properties.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.t004

Statistical analysis of the data is based on a structural equation model (SEM) to identify the specific weight of each of the attributes and their relationship with the two variables: satisfaction and loyalty. For the analysis of the model being studied, the recommendations made by [ 90 ] were followed. Additionally, STATA.15 software was used for their estimation. At the beginning, the goodness of fit of the measurement model was analysed on the basis of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate the psychometric properties. Then, the causal relationships have been analysed on the basis of the structural equation modelling (SEM).

Analysis of the psychometric properties of the measurement model

In the following tables, the psychometric properties are evaluated using the main measures of reliability, validity and goodness and the matrix of correlations between factors.

First, in order to assess common method bias, we applied Harman’s single factor method [ 91 – 93 ]. The first factor that has been obtained by applying the exploratory factor analysis to all the variables of the model represents 29.92% of the total variance, being below the threshold of 50%.

In Table 4 it is observed that the variables of the theoretical model fulfil all of the measures of reliability. The average variance extracted (AVE) is higher than 0.5 [ 94 ], the Cronbach alpha (α) is higher than 0.7 [ 95 ] and the composite reliability index (CRI) is higher than 0.7 [ 94 ]. The measures of validity are also adequate; the coefficients of standardised loadings are higher than 0.5 and its averages are higher than 0.7 [ 96 ]; therefore, convergent validity is confirmed. This means that the items of a construct are co-related with each other [ 96 ].

The amount of variance that each construct captures from its indicators (AVE) is higher than the variance that said construct shares with other constructs in the model; therefore, the discriminating validity of the measurement model is confirmed [ 94 ]. Table 5 provides the square root of the AVE of each construct, which is higher than the correlations with other constructs in the model. With regard to the measures of goodness, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) is appropriate, since it is lower or equal to 0.08 [ 97 ] and the Tucker-Lewis index (0.91) and the comparative fit index (0.93) are close to 1 [ 98 ]. The only indicator that does not comply is the χ 2 (480.29). However, this is not considered to be a limitation, since it is very sensitive to the sample size [ 93 ] and, frequently, the hypothesis of a good fit of the model is rejected in large samples even if it is significant [ 99 ].

Correlations among the constructs.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.t005

Analysis of the structural relations and hypotheses proposed

Table 6 analyses the standardised coefficients of the structural relationships of the theoretical model proposed. The ordinal data was analysed, taking in account non-normality problems. The model was estimated using maximum likelihood with Satorra-Bentler adjustments [ 100 , 101 ]. In this case, the statistical indices are robust.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.t006

It can be observed that all of the causal relationships are statistically significant (H1 and H5 are supported). In this sense, it can be stated that a positive causal relationship exists between entertainment experience and satisfaction (β = 0.2816), aesthetics experience and satisfaction (β = 0.3675), education experience and satisfaction (β = 0.1086), escapism experience and satisfaction (β = 0.1607) and, finally, between satisfaction and loyalty (β = 0.1832). Therefore, the results show a direct relationship between the different experiences and satisfaction, as well as satisfaction and loyalty. The most intense of the causal relationships between perceived destination attributes and satisfaction occurs between the aesthetics experience and satisfaction, followed by the entertainment experience, escapism and, finally, the education experience. This SEM analysis provides empirical evidence that tangible attributes, such as entertainment and aesthetics, have a greater influence on satisfaction and loyalty than intangible attributes (education and escapism). To analyse the predictive capacity of the model, the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) has been calculated, and the results obtained are 0.39 for satisfaction and 0.14 for loyalty. Fig 2 shows the model with its respective structural coefficients.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.g002

Discussion, conclusions and implications for management

The results confirmed the impact of the different experiences on satisfaction and loyalty in the festival’s context; the results gathered, thanks to the analysis of the structural equation model, as recommended by [ 14 ], shows how tangible and intangible attributes generate satisfaction and loyalty in attendees from the experience, providing tangible attributes (programme, authenticity, concessions and atmosphere) a higher level of satisfaction. In contrast, in the study conducted by [ 54 ], on the basis of a regression analysis, a direct positive relationship is found between entertainment and aesthetics experience, and loyalty; however, this same relationship is not evidenced between education and escapism experience and loyalty; that is to say, only a relationship between tangible attributes and loyalty is found. By contrast, our research points out the existence of a relationship between tangible and intangible attributes and loyalty through satisfaction, having tangible attributes a higher impact on loyalty than the intangible ones.

The conclusions provided by this study may be used by festival organisers to discover which specific experiences and attributes generate the greater satisfaction and loyalty in attendees. This research highlights that tangible attributes are linked to entertainment and aesthetics experiences, being entertainment a key element at festivals for attendees with regards to satisfaction and loyalty.

Knowing festival audience is essential in order to identify what type of entertainment to offer. Thus, a highly-educated audience shall show more musical interest for classical music or traditional theatre [ 102 ]. In contrast, a middle-class audience shall be more interested in music such as pop, hip-hop, jazz or modern dance [ 67 ].

Adequate ground facilities, food quality, souvenirs and authenticity of the location in which the festival is held impact on the aesthetic experience. Thus, variables are deemed crucial for festival-goers and, as a result, they must be thoroughly looked after. An example of the foregoing is the Greek carnival in Patras, where the quality of the event depended on the quality of the food, drinks and hygiene of the toilets [ 33 ]. In the case of the Punggi Ginseng festival (Korea), food and memory were essential variables of the event [ 52 ]. The authenticity of the artisan Turkmen festival in Iran was based on unique products, local staff, traditional presentation and unique atmosphere [ 4 ]. Thus, festival organisers are recommended to make the most of local characteristics to boost the festival’s authenticity [ 67 ].

With regards to festivals’ intangible attributes, socialisation and enjoyment are related to the education and escapism experiences respectively. The aforementioned attributes generate a positive effect on satisfaction and loyalty, although to a lesser extent than tangible attributes. Intangible attributes and experiences are fundamental for planning festivals, once analysed the study conducted by [ 3 ] regarding socialisation and learning, in which attitudes such as the sense of belonging, concordance and identity with other customers and proximity were identified. In this sense, [ 59 ] identified the sense of belonging at a charity golf event and [ 67 ] suggested the inclusion of personal growth as a variable that increases attendance to these events.

Regarding enjoyment and escapism experience, achieving the enjoyment of festival attendees is a way of accomplishing a feeling of escapism. This topic has been discussed by various authors, some of them highlighting escapism or novelties [ 24 ]; other studies highlight the enjoyment of the experience [ 3 ] and fun [ 13 ].

Therefore, this study may be concluded with evident results. On the one hand, it has been demonstrated that the satisfaction of festival tourists has a direct impact on loyalty and that tangible attributes generate a greater influence; particularly attributes which relate to the aesthetics experience, rather than those which relate to the entertainment experience ( Table 6 ) ( Fig 2 ); therefore, the first, second and fifth hypotheses from our research are accepted. On the other hand, to a lesser extent, intangible attributes generate a positive effect on satisfaction and loyalty, having escapism experience attributes a greater influence than education experience attributes ( Table 6 ) ( Fig 2 ); thus, the third, fourth and fifth hypotheses from our research are accepted. Therefore, tangible attributes present a greater causal relationship than intangible attributes in satisfaction and loyalty, according to the analysis model analysed in this research.

The practical implications of this research highlight that event managers should prioritise entertainment experience and aesthetics experience, because they are the attributes that have the highest influence on the satisfaction and loyalty of festival goers. Moreover, these managers should not forget tangible aspects such as education experience and escapism experience, because although they influence to a lesser extent, they also present a remarkable causal relationship with satisfaction and loyalty. This is in line with other authors who have studied the relationship and satisfaction through attributes [ 73 , 74 ]. The experience of a successful activity is crucial to the long-term competitiveness of destinations [ 103 ].

Limitations and future research

When conducting this research, we came across some limitations which are discussed as follows. The festival participants studied are attendees to a current music festival (Weekend Beach Festival, WBF-2018) and, consequently, the data obtained may not be applicable to other festivals with different characteristics. With regards to creating the analysis scale, the results of the study indicate that tangible and intangible attributes only account for experiences. It would be appropriate for future studies to investigate other aspects such as emotions and experienced memories, which may be important for the analysis of affective variables. Another limitation of this study is the lack of attention paid to the interaction that visitors showed at the festival, emotional solidarity playing an important role in festival tourism, as described by the authors [ 104 , 105 ].

Likewise, no control effect has been included in the model for this study. Future research should include some control variables such as service quality, perceived value and any other variable that is considered crucial to explain the model. Lastly, research on festivals could focus on other aspects of interest such as the change in perception of festivals by new generations. In future research, emotional solidarity in festival tourism will be taken into account as a key element to better explain the behaviour of visitors and their interaction with the destination [ 82 , 105 ].

Supporting information

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.s001

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246562.s002

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Festival Statistics: Key Concepts and Current Practices

In any community, festivals are an important showcase of culture and creativity, and the cornerstone of economic development strategies to attract tourists. But governments often lack the tools necessary to measure the full impact of such multi-faceted events.

A new publication from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics aims to fill the gap.  Festival Statistics: Key concepts and current practices , is the third in  series of cultural statistics handbooks  for policy-makers and practitioners. The handbook sets out major areas of research and practice in the measurement of festivals to help organisers and national authorities to evaluate the economic impacts of festivals.

Festival statistics can be cross-functional. They can be used to develop a macro-understanding of the role and impact of festivals on society, which can in turn inform policy on culture, development and diversity, as well as project management, tourism development and cultural industries commercially-driven or not-for-profit.

Simple definition of festivals as “themed, public celebrations” is the most practical approach. The  2009 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics (FCS)  categorizes festivals under ‘performance and celebration’, further defining them as including “all expressions of cultural events. that occur locally and can be informal in nature”.

In addition to assessing commonly-used methods of evaluation, the handbook provides guidance on how to measure the environmental, social and cultural impacts. It reviews best practices and provides a set of recommendations for festival organizers, public bodies and local communities to consider when deciding how their events should be measured.

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What is Festival Tourism

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What is Events Tourism?

The role of events in tourism & how to market your event.

Events tourism is the act of organising and promoting an event in a town, region, or country in the hope to attract domestic and/or international tourists. An event has a wide spectrum of possibilities: music festivals, sporting events, religious dates (India’s Holi festival, the ‘Festival of Colour’ for example), arts, charity events, food and drink, and much more. Event tourism slides under the tourism umbrella and not only is it a big contributor to the global economy, but it’s also a field of study coupled with events management.

Events can help prompt domestic growth . A successful event can help boost the area via media exposure and, in turn, attract future visitors, provide local jobs, and help make a case for local infrastructure improvements. The benefits that events bring to a country’s economy are why many tourism boards have taken it upon themselves to help promote them.

As a tour operator, having events in your area can prove highly beneficial to you and your business. Take advantage of this extra surplus of possible customers and consider marketing your tours and activities towards those attending the event. If you don’t match the specific event hosted, creating special tours to capture that audience could work too. Take into account how long people will be staying in your area, what time of year will it be, and what they’re there for and what you envision they’d like to see.

But first, let’s dive into some examples of events.

Examples of Event Tourism

In general, you can fit all types of events under 4 main categories : niche events, participatory sporting events, cultural events, and large international sporting events. In the UK in 2019, Statista (opens in a new tab) found that sporting events were the most popular events attended by Brits with nearly 69 million people attending a live football match. Another live sporting event (not football) was attended by 45 million, 42 million attended a live music concert/event, and 32 million visited an alternative arts/cultural event.

Let’s break down the categories.

Niche events can include elements associated with a country, region, or culture. Anything art, food, drink, business, sport, etc related. Pop-up events like local farmers markets, an international expo/conference, a salsa class, group yoga sessions in the park are some examples.

Participatory sporting events are another draw to many places around the world. Marathons, the UK’s Tough Mudder obstacle and mud run course, or Western Australia’s Ironman race are prime examples of these.

Signature cultural events are fun as there are so many examples to pick from. These must-see events draw people from all over the world and some stand-out events include Oktoberfest in Munich, Japan’s sakura (cherry blossom) season, Edinburgh’s world-famous Fringe Festival, the beautiful Loy Krathong festival (Thai lantern festival), or La Tomatina (Spain’s celebrated tomato throwing festival).

And last but not least, international sporting events . These are the events that are broadcast across the world on TV and social media and make huge sums of money for their respective hosts and draw millions of viewers across the globe. Examples include the Olympics, the Champions League, Wimbledon, the Superbowl, the Masters, the Rugby World Cup, and so much more.

What Governments Have Been Doing

Many tourism boards have taken it upon themselves to help promote such events. It makes sense, the benefits that come with hosting events are huge and tourism boards worldwide have a wide audience and the tools to market them.

Take Visit Scotland (opens in a new tab) for example, they have a department dedicated to event funding across the country and have also introduced an ‘Events Recovery Fund’ to help spark the comeback from the pandemic. The funding is available for international events held in Scotland, domestic events, winter festivals, The Scottish Clans & Historical Figures Event Fund, and more! Not only that, but the tourist board also promotes said events on the dedicated section of their website and via their social media channels.

It’s not new though, with other governments pumping funding into their tourism sectors in a bid to fund, create, promote, and host events once again. Visit Britain (opens in a new tab) have introduced a Business Events Growth Programme, Hong Kong’s government (opens in a new tab) injected funds in the hope that ‘high spending groups return sooner’, and South Australia’s government offers several levels of financial support for various sizes of regional events.

How to Market Your Niche Event

For those who are looking to host their small regional event, there are a few general guidelines you can follow. After you have secured your funding, it’s time to promote it. The marketing strategy will differ depending on the type of event, but here are some broad tips to get you started:

1) Make your event look inviting . Whether you’re promoting your event via social media, your website, in a shop window, on online boards, you want to sell your event with a creative, enticing description. This description could be the deciding factor between someone going to your event or walking away from it.

• The description should be clear, imagine you’ve never heard of your event before, then describe it as concisely as you can.
• Break up the text, no one likes chunky paragraphs, especially when reading online. Add an FAQ section, make sure you cover all the questions you feel any possible
• attendee would have to dispel any doubts and encourage a smooth booking process.

2) Ensure your posts are SEO-friendly. Having the correct headlines in place, meta titles/data, permalinks, and strategically placed keywords throughout your descriptions are imperative to help drive organic traffic to your website. There is endless material online to help get the basics down.

3) Expand your horizons and look to post/promote your event on influencers pages (opens in a new tab) . Influencers these days have extensive reach and if you find someone suitable that will promote to your audience, it will only do you good. Another option is Facebook groups. Nowadays, there’s a Facebook group for everything and if you find one that fits into your niche event, get posting! If your event celebrates the country’s culture, consider searching for foreigners living in that country. It’s a great opportunity to market to a precise target audience.

Events play an important role in tourism for many reasons but aside from the financial aspect, events bring people together in celebration of culture, sport, music, food and drink, and more. If you’re creating your own event, good luck, and if you’re attending a local event or heading off worldwide, enjoy it!

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Definition of festival

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of festival  (Entry 2 of 2)

• celebration

Examples of festival in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'festival.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin festivus festive

14th century, in the meaning defined above

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing festival

• moon festival
• mooncake festival

Dictionary Entries Near festival

festivalgoer

Cite this Entry

“Festival.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/festival. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of festival.

from earlier festival (adjective), derived from early French festival "festive," from Latin festivus "festive," from festum (noun) "festival, feast" — related to feast , fiesta

More from Merriam-Webster on festival

Nglish: Translation of festival for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of festival for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about festival

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Arts | Gershwin anniversary, Ukraine war, protest and…

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Subscriber only, arts | gershwin anniversary, ukraine war, protest and spirit: so much to ponder, enjoy at ucf celebrates the arts.

We’re halfway through UCF Celebrates the Arts , the annual festival of creativity at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts , and I’ve already experienced unforgettable moments. Here’s a look at some highlights.

Sun-A Park and Ammon Perry Bratt gave a spirited salute to George Gershwin in the stylish surroundings of Judson’s Live, the downtown Orlando arts center’s newest venue. It’s the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s indelible “Rhapsody In Blue,” and Park and Bratt performed a four-handed piano arrangement.

Just the opening notes brought a smile to the soul, and the shifting moods — from the definition of jaunty to downright grandiose — warmed the heart. “Rhapsody” was the finale to a concert that also showcased a bouncy Cuban Overture, with extra percussion, and a medley with a beautifully nostalgic “A Foggy Day (in London Town),” a lush “The Man I Love” and percolating “I Got Rhythm.”

That event followed the Judson’s protocol of a ticket charge plus a mandatory food or drink purchase. But everything else I’ve experienced has been free.

On view throughout the center are multiple art exhibits, which anyone can walk in and view. You can’t miss “The Steampunk Menagerie,” a sculptural installation that has taken over the center’s grand staircase like a city of curious fairy-tale high-rises. The structures, somehow industrial and whimsical at the same time, were created by teams of students from UCF’s 3D-Design Fundamentals classes.

“Art & Autism: Pathways to Expression” is a fascinating look at works by people on the autism spectrum who have unique ways of expressing themselves; often, their creativity fuels their strongest form of communication.

Also fascinating: “#Faces of Russian Resistance,” which tells the story of 16 Russian citizens who have opposed their government’s actions. Their faces — behind jail-like wire — are paired with the details of their circumstances. And it’s especially jarring to consider their plight, and bravery, surrounded by the beauty of the arts center, a place of free expression.

That exhibit is part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ “Big Read,” as was a weekend poetry reading and book signing by “Deaf Republic” author Ilya Kaminsky.

Because Kaminsky, born in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union, lost his hearing at a young age, he described his first language as “the language of imagery.”

“Deaf Republic” tells of a tragedy that befalls a town occupied by soldiers and incorporates themes of protest and change while casting a critical eye on those who remain complacent and comfortable in the face of injustice and suffering.

“It might be Eastern Europe, it might be World War II, it might be now,” Kaminsky said of his story’s setting.

In a separate e-mail conversation with the Orlando Sentinel, Kaminsky touched on a number of topics, including what it was like to grow up deaf — a feeling he illustrated poetically through his writing:

“Walking through the city, I watched the people; their ears were open all the time, they had no lids. I was interested in what sounds might be like. The whooshing. The hissing. The whistle. The sound of keys turning in the lock, or water moving through the pipes two floors above us. I could easily notice how the people around me spoke to one another with their eyes without realizing it.

“But what if the whole country was deaf like me? So that whenever a policeman’s commands were uttered, no one could hear? I liked to imagine that. Silence, that last neighborhood, untouched, as ever, by the wisdom of the government.”

Kaminsky visited that idea in “Deaf Republic,” where the townspeople become deaf to the occupying soldiers as a form of protest.

“So, the idea of Deaf Republic has more than one meaning for me, as you might imagine,” Kaminsky said.

He visits Ukraine every few months to check on relatives and friends who have been affected by the Russian invasion. He describes his hometown of Odessa with affection:

“There was an opera house before there was potable water. Odessa loves art, and it loves to party. In the summer, huge cages of watermelons sit on every corner. You break them on the sidewalk and eat them with friends. The city has an especial affinity for literature. There are more monuments to writers than in any other city I have ever visited. When they ran out of writers, they began putting up monuments for fictional characters.”

New Judson’s Live cranks up the swank on Orlando’s music scene | Review

He also appreciates the spirit of Ukrainians.

“The most important holiday in Odessa isn’t Christmas; it is April 1, April Fool’s Day, which we call Humorina,” Kaminsky said. “Thousands of people come to the street and celebrate what they call ‘the day of kind humor.’ All of Ukraine has a sense of humor — think of the man who offered to tow a Russian tank which had run out of gas back to Russia. Humor is a part of resilience.”

He and others have started a poetry studio to give children something uplifting on which to focus in the hours they spend hiding from bombings. (Find more information and ways to help at vo.od.ua/rubrics/tema-dnya/49409.php .)

“Now they are not quite alone in those bomb shelters,” he said. “They take poems with them.”

He also provides insight into what Ukrainians think of the West and the war.

“The West is watching us,” Kaminsky said, saying that a friend wrote him from Ukraine. “This is their ‘reality TV war,’ they are curious to see whether we will go on living or die.”

Another friend told him: “Putins come and go. If you want to help, send us some poems and essays. We are putting together a literary magazine.”

Kaminsky gets it. He knows the power of the written word — and why his “Deaf Republic” resonates at any time.

“We don’t read the poets to understand the moment. We read poets to understand ourselves,” he said. But he graciously humors a journalist by considering “Deaf Republic” in light of the war:

‘Deaf Republic’ author asks us to ‘consider silence’ at 10th UCF Celebrates the Arts

“If I must put it in terms of this moment, the purpose of the state is to numb the senses. The purpose of a lyric poet is to wake them up,” he said.

As part of the Orlando festival, UCF theater students performed a staged version of “Deaf Republic” to Kaminsky’s approval.

“I feel very lucky, of course, that this is happening, and that it is happening especially in Florida, where there is a censorship of its own taking place right now,” he said. “So it feels interesting to have these texts in that space given a voice on stage.”

He doesn’t feel proprietary about the poems of “Deaf Republic” when they are adapted anew.

“These are not my poems anymore, they belong to those who give them a new life on stage,” he said. “So it has a life of its own, and that’s how it should be with books, I feel.”

So much to think about, and there’s so much more ahead at UCF Celebrates the Arts.

More music? Try the National High School Choral Festival (April 11) or the Hippocrene Saxophone Quartet, which has a history of that instrument’s music (April 12). More theater? A full-scale production of “Sweeney Todd” takes over the center’s Walt Disney Theater (April 11-14). More free stuff? Talks on rebuilding Notre Dame in Paris (April 11) and the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity (April 12), a program of award-winning animated film shorts (April 13) and the National Young Composers Challenge, which is building the future of music (April 14).

Get all the details at arts.ucf.edu/celebrates , and get celebrating.

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at [email protected]. Find more arts news at OrlandoSentinel.com/entertainment .

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Tourism Philanthropy: The Role of Tourism Fair, Festival and Event Stakeholders

• First Online: 30 March 2022

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• Bapon Chandra Kuri 2 ,
• Sadia Afrin Ananya 2 ,
• Synthia Islam 2 &
• Azizul Hassan 3  

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Of course, tourism fairs, festivals, and events may be a nuisance for surrounding communities, from traffic congestion and parking issues to possible increased noise — for every positive influence, there is likely to be something that harms local life! However, event organizers, particularly the larger ones, are aware of this and are working to rectify it by giving back to the local communities through charitable donations and works. Tourism philanthropy is an act of helping people and conserving nature based on strong caring. Tourism fairs, festivals, and events stakeholders play a crucial role in building a sustainable relationship among society, culture, economy, and the natural environment that brings a smile to the community people. This paper draws on responsible tourism to “do good” by giving something back to people and place through philanthropic works. According to the focus group research method, this exploratory study is based on selected respondents’ interviews to set strategies for co-creating a tourism philanthropy program through their knowledge and experiences. There are some specific motivational tools encourage the people to engage in philanthropy program throughout the positive global citizenship that can be initiated from the very beginning of our life cycle based on moral and environmental education. This study adopts a multi-stakeholder engagement approach. It elaborates on the role of tourism fairs, festivals, and events stakeholders for global prosperity to ensure community and natural wellbeing through contribution, commitment, and consciousness.

• Philanthropy
• Stakeholders
• Tourism development

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Bapon Chandra Kuri, Sadia Afrin Ananya & Synthia Islam

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Kuri, B.C., Ananya, S.A., Islam, S., Hassan, A. (2022). Tourism Philanthropy: The Role of Tourism Fair, Festival and Event Stakeholders. In: Hassan, A. (eds) Technology Application in Tourism Fairs, Festivals and Events in Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8070-0_3

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