Search results

The purpose of this paper is to understand how festival quality, satisfaction and intention to return among cannabis festival attendees were interrelated by using the 2018 Mile High 420 Cannabis Festival in Denver, Colorado, USA.

This study employed an online survey with festival attendees to the 2018 Mile High 420 Festival. A total of 664 attendees participated in the survey.

Findings of the study revealed the demographic profile of cannabis festival attendees (i.e. relatively young, single and evenly distributed in terms of gender and residency) and its relationships with respondents’ perceived festival qualities. In addition, two dimensions of festival quality unique to the context of marijuana festival influenced attendees’ satisfaction and intent to return significantly. Festival attendees’ travel characteristics were used to describe attendees’ satisfaction and intent to return to a different degree. This research has also highlighted a lack of research in the area of cannabis events/festivals.

This study is the first investigation that studied a cannabis-themed festival in the tourism literature. As legalization of recreational cannabis has been embraced in the USA and abroad (i.e. Canada), the findings of this empirical study will help the industry professionals and policy makers to understand this unprecedented SIT market and can be used as the benchmarks for their legal and operational practicality. Further, this study highlights research gaps in the tourism literature, and identifies those areas where future study is unlikely to provide new knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to: describe and contextualize the aims and distinctive and common characteristics of cannabis festivals in countries with different cannabis policies; assess characteristics of participants; identify reasons to attend cannabis festivals; explore to which extent cannabis festivals contribute to the social and cultural acceptance of cannabis, as perceived by attendees.

The approach incorporates three methods of data collection in the research design; quantitative research among 1,355 participants, participant observation and interviews with the organizers.

Cannabis festivals in Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome and Athens have common features but also maintain and reproduce local, social and cultural characteristics. Cannabis festivals, as well as their attendees, represent heterogeneous categories. The style of the festival – music festival or march combined with music – affects the main reason for attendance by the participants. In cannabis festivals more similar to music festivals the majority of the respondents attended for entertainment while at the cannabis festivals in the form of a march combined with music the majority attended for protest. Furthermore, increasing age, residency and the high frequency of cannabis use are factors that led the participants to attend for protest.

The research on cannabis festivals is limited. This paper not only explores the aims of cannabis festivals in four capital cities of Europe and the characteristics of their attendees including motivations, but also offers interesting insights for understanding the ways in which political and social constructions like cannabis festivals shape attitudes, perception and behaviors around cannabis use.

The present study aimed at classifying cannabis festival attendees based on their motivation and travel activities, profiling the resultant latent groups with demographic and travel characteristics and examining the association between the groups.

With a quantitative-exploratory approach, this study collected 392 out-of-state visitors' responses to a cannabis festival in Denver, Colorado and classified them according to their motivation and activity participation. Using the classification results, the study profiled the festival visitors based on their demographic and travel characteristics. Latent class analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and cross-tabulation were employed.

The results revealed that festival visitors were categorized into four latent groups by motivation and three latent groups by travel activity participation. Regarding motivation, the cannabis seekers (relatively young, White/Caucasian and residents in liberal states) and multi-purpose seekers (relatively young, Black/African American and residents in conservative states) were strongly motivated by cannabis-related factors. For travel activity participation, moderate participants were more likely to be first-time visitors, whereas active and passive participants were classified as repeat visitors.

The current study filled the research gap in the quantitative exploration of cannabis tourism industry in general and cannabis festival segment specifically. The findings contribute to (1) better understanding of out-of-state visitors' motivation and travel behaviors while attending a cannabis themed festival and (2) serving as a seminal work in the context of cannabis tourism literature since the recreational cannabis legalization in the United States.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it investigates the characteristics of Hanfparade 2022 – the biggest prolegalization festival in Germany – and its visitors, as well as the main reason for participation in Hanfparade. Findings are compared to those from Hanfparade 2016 to explore whether the main reason for festival attendance has changed since the legalization of medical cannabis in 2017 and since the announcement of plans for cannabis legalization. Second, this paper assesses Hanfparade participants’ views on cannabis legalization in Germany, in particular their opinions on and their preferences for retail supply options.

This study is a replication of a research conducted in 2016 at the same festival in Berlin, with a slightly adapted questionnaire. In this study, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used: observation at the festival, interviews before and after the festival with the organizer and a survey among festival attendees (n = 183).

Protest still looks relevant for the participants at Hanfparade, and the announcement of plans for legalization does not seem to downgrade this feeling. The participants have positive opinions about self-supply through home cultivation, noncommercial supply through Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) and commercial supply through stores similar to Dutch coffee shops. However, positive opinions do not necessarily reflect a personal preference, e.g. CSCs were very low in personal preferences. The options of home cultivation and CSCs were more popular among daily users.

This study contributes to the ongoing debate in Germany, focusing on views of cannabis users.

Recreational drug use is widespread. It is argued that it has reached a phase of ‘normalisation’ among youth and has become a part of mainstream culture. While there is a substantive body of literature addressing substance use in club settings, the world of music festivals is underexplored. The research aims to fill this gap by analysing patterns of drug use and implementation of harm reduction measures among Polish and Hungarian women at music festivals. This explorative inquiry used an online questionnaire, which was shared via social media channels. The data collection lasted for one month during the summer of 2017.

The study found that over 95% (N=510) of women use psychoactive substances at festivals. The most popular drugs are alcohol and cannabis, and the least popular cocaine and psilocybin. The majority of women declare moderate use of alcohol and light to moderate use of cannabis. One-fifth of the respondents report a moderately heavy use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and 8% heavy use of amphetamine. There are numerous positive weak relationships between the intensity of use of various substances. Increased use of drugs is also related to increased frequency of combining them. Low prevalence of illicit drugs testing is observed. There seems to be a negative correlation between the intensity of substance use and the adoption of harm reduction measures. The results have high practical relevance primarily for harm reduction and medical services. Especially cases of moderately heavy and heavy use should be of interest, even more so given that combining substances seems to be prevalent. The data suggest that we can distinguish between two groups: one aware and implementing various measures of harm reduction and second not adopting any of them. There is a need for more widespread drug education and harm reduction promotion, which should be implemented in a favourable legal and policy environment.

Given the increasing number of tourists exposed to commercially available cannabis, it is important to understand visitors' perceived constraints to cannabis consumption while travelling. This study aims to compare cannabis tourists' perceived constraints between first-time and repeat tourists to gain comprehensive understanding.

This study involved 32 conversational field interviews (5–10 min) with Chinese tourists who had smoked cannabis in coffee shops in Amsterdam to identify perceived constraints to engaging in cannabis tourism. The hierarchical constraint model (HCM) informed qualitative data coding using a deductive approach to compare first-time and repeat tourists. Content analysis was conducted manually.

Results showed that both tourist groups faced intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural perceived constraints to cannabis consumption. Differences in first-time and repeat cannabis tourists' perceived constraints were explained using the neutralization technique framework and psychological tactics, such as the defence of necessity, claims of entitlement, normal practice and claims of relative acceptability. In addition, social exchange theory was employed to explain why repeat cannabis tourists perceived fewer constraints than first-time tourists.

Although the current study did not intend to address the importance of cannabis tourism in places where cannabis is commercially available, findings offer empirical guidance for industry practitioners and policymakers regarding cannabis use education, prevention and policy in tourism contexts; related efforts can promote the sustainable development of this tourism market while protecting cannabis tourists' physical and psychological well-being.

This study makes important theoretical contributions regarding travel constraints in the unique context of cannabis tourism between first-time and repeat tourists. Findings will also enable academics, industry operators, policymakers and local residents of cannabis tourism destinations to better understand how these tourists decide whether to consume cannabis overseas. Differences in these perceived constraints between first-time and repeat tourists are discussed to highlight the dynamic nature of travel constraints.

Unlike other plant‐based drugs, cannabis is increasingly grown within the country of consumption, requires minimal processing before consumption, and can be easily grown almost anywhere using indoor or outdoor cultivation techniques. Developments in agronomic technologies have led to global growth in domestic cultivation, both by cannabis users for self‐ and social‐supply, and by more commercially‐oriented growers. Cross‐national research is needed to better understand who is involved in domestic cultivation, the diversity in cultivation practices and motivations, and cultivators' interaction with the criminal justice system and cannabis control policies.

The article introduces the Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium (GCCRC), describes its evolution and aims, and outlines the methodology of its ongoing cross‐national online survey of cannabis cultivation.

Despite differing national contexts, the GCCRC successfully developed a core questionnaire to be used in different countries. It accommodates varying research interests through the addition of optional survey sections. The benefits to forming an international consortium to conduct web‐based survey research include the sharing of expertise, recruitment efforts and problem‐solving.

The article discusses the limitations of using non‐representative online sampling and the strategies used to increase validity.

The GCCRC is conducting the largest cross‐national study of domestic cannabis cultivation to date. The aim is not only to better understand patterns of cannabis cultivation and how they differ between countries but also to build upon online engagement methodology with hidden populations.

The revival of local foods in the tourism context plays a significant role in attracting visitors. Unexpectedly, empirical evidence on food festivals aimed at reviving local cuisine in non-Western countries is scarce. This study aimed to examine and clarify the concept of food culture attributes on visitors' satisfaction and patronage intention in a food festival setting to revive local foods.

A quantitative approach was used. Convenience sampling and questionnaires were administered to 172 attendees as the final response to a food festival. The conceptual framework identifies the assumptions of structural equation modelling (SEM).

Food culture attributes significantly impacted visitor satisfaction based on the results. Cooking methods had an insignificant influence on satisfaction and indirect effects on patronage intention. Additionally, the authors persuaded satisfaction to act as a mediator, and food culture was a significant contributor to the hypothesised framework.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first empirical studies to employ food culture attributes (flavour, presentation, cooking method and gastronomic identification) and patronage intention in the mediating role of satisfaction with Iranian cultural heritage as a revival of a visitor’s attraction towards local cuisine. The results revealed that the resurrection of local dishes serves as an alternative truth that aids in preserving Iranian cultural heritage.

The purpose of this research paper is to examine whether enduring involvement theory plays a role in predicting craft beer and food festival visitors' experience of the festivalscape. Though craft beer and brewing is a growing area of research, there has been limited studies and theory application in this area. Around the world, craft breweries are increasing in number and producing more unique styles of beer as the demand for craft beer increases. Craft beer consumers visit many of these breweries and are attracted to craft beer festivals in which they can sample multiple local, regional, national and international craft beers.

A quantitative methodology was used based on data collected at the site of the festival. Researchers collected 204 useable surveys from visitors attending the North Miami Brewfest in North Miami, Florida, USA. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the relationships among enduring involvement, festivalscape, satisfaction, revisit intention and word-of-mouth.

The results revealed that enduring involvement is significant in predicting all four factors of festivalscape (food/beverage quality, convenience, facility and festival staff). The festivalscape factors facility, food quality and festival staff predicted festival attendee satisfaction which in turn predicted both revisit intention and word-of-mouth. However, the festivalscape factor convenience did not influence satisfaction.

The authors surveyed only one festival in one region in South Florida. Further studies can survey multiple festivals in multiple regions to increase the generalizability of the research model. Enduring involvement theory could be applied to other niche areas in hospitality and tourism in the future (in addition to craft beer tourism).

Craft beer festival organizers should appeal to craft beer clubs, breweries and publications to attract those with a commitment to the craft beer industry to their event. People with an enduring, lasting commitment to craft beer are more likely to have a positive experience of the festivalscape at the event. Lastly, festival organizers should focus on the festivalscape factors facility, festival staff and food and beverage quality to influence satisfaction at the event.

This project applies enduring involvement theory in a festival setting. The research is further unique by adding enduring involvement as a predictor of festivalscape experience.