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1 – 10 of over 5000Allan Jepson, Alan Clarke and Gillian Ragsdell
This study lies within “classical discourse” (Getz, 2010) within festival studies as its context is firmly situated within cultural anthropology and sociology. Unlike previous…
Abstract
Purpose
This study lies within “classical discourse” (Getz, 2010) within festival studies as its context is firmly situated within cultural anthropology and sociology. Unlike previous studies this research is unique in that it integrates social cognitive theory (SCT) which is usually found in psychology discourses. The purpose of this paper is to propose how the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model would benefit from integrating self and group efficacy theory. It achieves this by building on previous analysis of primary data collected in the field at the Utcazene, Street Music Festival, Veszprem, Hungary, (Jepson et al., 2013) using an adapted MOA model.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyses previous studies which have tested the MOA model through primary data collection. Following this analysis best practice is and similarities are identified through discussion; then a case is then made to adapt the model to integrate and test Bandura's (1986) concept of self-efficacy based on the benefits it could provide to future research within community festivals and events.
Findings
This paper has been framed by initial research by Jepson et al. (2013) and Hung et al. (2011) which after analysis revealed that the MOA model was still lacking in its ability to reveal “why” local people were motivated or empowered to engage in the planning of community festivals and events. It has become evident through discussion that measuring self-efficacy has much to contribute in regards to community engagement in the event planning process; moreover there is strong evidence to support its inclusion within the MOA model. It could be used to further inform on the synergy within and between the three disciplines underpinning the model such as the relationship between knowledge, opportunity and ability, as well as reveal new ones between self-efficacy and knowledge, opportunity and ability.
Research limitations/implications
This is a conceptual paper and therefore is based on theoretical discussion but not on empirical data collected in the field of event studies.
Originality/value
Very few studies have engaged measurement of community participation within festivals and events. This study is original as it is interdisciplinary and investigates the concerns the roles local community take (as stakeholders), meanings (how local community culture is represented within the festival) and impacts (internal and external festival impacts and how these effect the local community) through established planning frameworks and SCT.
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Allan Jepson, Alan Clarke and Gillian Ragsdell
The purpose of this paper is to debate on community engagement and participation in local community festivals and events by empirically analysing the factors which either inhibit…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to debate on community engagement and participation in local community festivals and events by empirically analysing the factors which either inhibit or facilitate engagement. The application of the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) model to the analysis of community festivals is an important contribution.
Design/methodology/approach
Recognising the complexity associated with community participation in festivals produced a set of four research questions which are addressed via a mixed methodology research design. The model was then tested using four key data collection methods including the interviews and the questionnaires analysed within this paper.
Findings
The MOA model can be seen as an appropriate framework with which to analyse community engagement in a local community festival setting, in the case of “The Utcazene-Fesztival”, a Street Music Festival in Veszprém, Hungary. Community participation is often interpreted quite simply as a way of involving local people in community planning and development. However, within the realm of community festivals and events the reality reveals a multitude of stakeholder webs and interconnected decision-making processes within a multi-faceted phenomenon. The paper reflects on the value of the MOA model to guide analysis within event studies and further considers the methodological challenges that the study brings to events studies.
Research limitations/implications
This paper presents two key data sets as part of a broader study of the MOA model. Due to size restrictions only the primary data derived through qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires are analysed here.
Originality/value
Currently there is limited understanding, agreement and research within community engagement remains an increasingly important area of academic enquiry. This particular paper explores the central concepts of inclusivity and engagement which can be considered as fundamental to the creation of successful community festivals and events. The paper begins by defining community festivals and events; it builds on Jepson and Clarke's (2012) work on developing inclusive community festivals and events through inclusive participation within the planning and decision making process.
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Maria Luciana De Almeida, Marisa P. de Brito and Lilian Soares Outtes Wanderley
The study aims to understand the meaning of event-based and place-based community practices, as well as the resulting social impacts.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to understand the meaning of event-based and place-based community practices, as well as the resulting social impacts.
Design/methodology/approach
An ethnomethodological approach was followed (participant observation and interviews were supplemented by secondary data), with the analysis being exploratory and interpretative.
Findings
The festival and the place reinforce the community’s social practices, which have impacts beyond the festival, benefiting individuals, the community and the place, becoming a means for valorisation and diffusion of the rural way of life, and placemaking.
Research limitations/implications
In this study the authors focus on social practices in the context of an event and of a place (the village where the event occurs). The authors connect to theories of practice, which they apply in the analysis. The value of the study lies on the underlying mechanisms (how communities exercise social practices in the context of festivals, and what social impacts may lead to) rather than its context-dependent specific results.
Practical implications
National and regional authorities can play a role in providing local communities with adequate tools to overcome the challenges they encounter. This can be done by issuing appropriate (events) plans and policies while giving room for the locals to voice their opinions.
Social implications
Community-based festivals are key social practices that can strategically impact placemaking, strengthening community bonding, forging connections with outsiders and promoting well-being practices that discourage rural depopulation.
Originality/value
There is a scarcity of research that deepens the understanding of the role of festivals in placemaking and their social impacts, particularly in the rural context. This study contributes to closing this gap by focussing on the social practices of a community-based festival in a village in the interior of Portugal.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify the patterns of local community engagement in a festival held in Indonesia to boost tourism development.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the patterns of local community engagement in a festival held in Indonesia to boost tourism development.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses in-depth interview and observation to answer the research problem.
Findings
The result reveals that the local community actively engaged in the festival, but not strategically or as per the planning process. The reasons were the local community’s lack of confidence and lack of ability.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides a case study of one festival area and the finding may not be applied generally.
Practical implications
The result indicates that the local government may encourage the local community by giving them motivation to raise their self-confidence and equipping them with training in basic principles of festival management. Then, the local government can engage them in the organizing committee. This would enable the local community to be strategically engaged in the festival.
Originality/value
This result identifies reasons for lack of local community engagement in an Indonesian festival.
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Andrew Mason and Rebecca Scollen
This paper aims to discuss the role of a grassroots initiative in engaging local people in an innovative place-making fringe festival. Festivals such as the Carnival of Flowers…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the role of a grassroots initiative in engaging local people in an innovative place-making fringe festival. Festivals such as the Carnival of Flowers are a major tourism event for regional cities like Toowoomba and contribute to place-making through marketing and engagement. Within the professional management of such events, there exists space for innovation and genuine community involvement, which can assist in authentically reflecting place identity. Avant Garden (2007-2008) models a successful grassroots fringe festival, initiated by community members in response to the challenge of long-term drought. Avant Garden engaged locals and tourists in a positive re-imagining of place via site-specific public artworks generated by the community.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 504 visitors to Toowoomba’s public gardens during the first weekend of the 2007 Carnival of Flowers examined how Avant Garden was received by the community.
Findings
The paper suggests that fringe festivals can provide place-making capacity in broadening festivals as an expression of local identity. Fringe festivals can allow authentic community engagement within a mainstream festival and can indicate longer-term innovations to place branding.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for festival managers about effective ways to engage community in grassroots initiatives which reflect innovation, authenticity and greater diversity.
Originality/value
The paper provides a study of a visual arts fringe festival in the context of place management. The project described allows a “bottom up” approach to engaging the local community which provides authenticity and broadens the scope of an existing mainstream garden festival.
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The purpose of this study is to examine how young residents in two Indonesian kampungs (urban informal settlements) participate in two grassroots art festivals and to what extent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how young residents in two Indonesian kampungs (urban informal settlements) participate in two grassroots art festivals and to what extent their participation affects their capacity and network.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a qualitative method. The data collection were done in 2017 and took the form of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 respondents in two kampungs, Kampung Dago Pojok, Bandung, and Kampung Bustaman, Semarang.
Findings
The results show that the grassroots festival can empower youth throughout its process while also influencing their networks. The festival could act as the catalyst for youth to gain event management skills and exchange cultural knowledge. This study also found that there are two sides the art festivals can bring to the youth regarding their network: while the festival was able to develop their internal and external network, it also led to social division within the community.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the context of the research where it contributes to understanding the implications of community-based art festivals in the developing context, particularly in the low-income informal settlements. The paper’s content also provides insights that festivals can also be understood as more than place marketing or branding but as collections of steps and efforts of the community to provide meaningful actions for their place and people.
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Joanna Fountain and Michael Mackay
Recent theorising about the globalising countryside highlights the processes of place making, sense of place and the construction of place-based identities in rural regions, where…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent theorising about the globalising countryside highlights the processes of place making, sense of place and the construction of place-based identities in rural regions, where exogenous forces are utilised, negotiated and contested by local communities as they seek to represent their place. A longitudinal case study of Akaroa’s French Festival shows how this place-based identity has been constructed, promoted and animated over the past two decades at the nexus of globalising and local forces. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on qualitative methods utilising documentary analysis, participant observation and key stakeholder interviews undertaken in the township of Akaroa, New Zealand.
Findings
The form this festival has taken, and the version of the place identity represented therein, has shifted over the course of the last two decades. While this is in part due to the energy, personal heritage and agenda of local champions, the influence of the globalising forces, political, economic and cultural, have shaped the place image portrayed through this festival.
Originality/value
There are limited attempts to theorise rural festivals within a “global countryside” framework, and the detailed longitudinal research underpinning this paper provides a unique opportunity to explore the emergent issues in a rural community festival in qualitative detail. The study reinforces the understanding of the role of local agency in the making of places in a globalising world.
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Michelle Catanzaro and Elissa James
This paper aims to explore how the entertainment economy excludes individuals and facilitates private investment, the problematic shift towards a “creative economy” and increased…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how the entertainment economy excludes individuals and facilitates private investment, the problematic shift towards a “creative economy” and increased regulations within Sydney’s entertainment sector. It also examines how a grass-roots, rural festival can be regarded as an extension of the urban context. It discusses the alternative counterculture(s) that exist despite (or perhaps because of) increasing inaccessibility and regulation, using as a case study an activist collective created in this climate, the Marrickville Warehouse Alliance, focusing specifically on its Star Shitty River Retreat festival.
Design/methodology/approach
A phenomenological, mixed-method approach is used with a focus on qualitative in-depth interviews with festival organisers.
Findings
This paper demonstrates how politics, embedded within urban place, can be transported to a rural festival site. The phenomenological accounts recorded with the festival organisers, paired with key theories within the literature, demonstrate how organising committees can shape the understanding of place and politics in grass-roots festival environments.
Social implications
By leaving “no trace” on the site and engaging with and contributing to the indigenous community, the Star Shitty River Retreat festival can be categorised as a type of “creative enhancement”, in which a shared environment of political and communal understanding creates a unique, yet temporary, sense of place within a rural setting.
Originality/value
There is limited literature on the Australian festival context. The finding that rural festival sites can be regarded as an extension of the urban context lends itself to the concept of de-territorialisation or blurring of city boundaries, reinforcing how a festival’s geographical location is of little significance when supported by “portable communities”.
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Sanjay Sharma and Savita Sharma
– The purpose of this paper is to explore fairs and festivals organized in the city; reasons to celebrate; and their economic impact on local people, vendors and visitors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore fairs and festivals organized in the city; reasons to celebrate; and their economic impact on local people, vendors and visitors.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data were collected through local library, Web sites, books and other publications. Local residents, visitors and vendors were interviewed through semi-structured questionnaire and personal interviews.
Findings
The events organized are not only an expression of the religious, social and cultural urges of the local population but also help to preserve traditions and folk culture of the region. It brings suppliers and vendors from nearby villages and cities together, resulting in significant economic well-being of the community and self.
Research limitations/implications
Traveling distance to the destination, understanding of the questionnaire by the audience and getting data to analyze the economic impact of such events at a higher level are some of the limitations. Further research is required on the economic impact of regional events on state revenue, and potential areas of study may include traditional sustainable practices and the economic impact and development of an economic framework, keeping regional fairs and festivals as the center of the study.
Practical implications
The research highlights the challenges for the organizers, scope of improvement and ways to popularize regional culture and cuisine. Vendors and visitors find it difficult to reach the event but are optimistic about the development. It also acts as a promotional tool to popularize Pithoragarh as a tourist destination.
Originality/value
The paper helps to project Pithoragarh as a potential tourist destination known for its fairs and festivals. It focuses on the economic impact of the stakeholders and it helps visitors to acknowledge traditions and cuisine.
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Festivals are often explicitly connected to the destinations in which they take place, explored here as contributing to broader processes of place-making and engagement with local…
Abstract
Purpose
Festivals are often explicitly connected to the destinations in which they take place, explored here as contributing to broader processes of place-making and engagement with local communities. Place is defined at a local scale, primarily as experienced by volunteer contributors to an arts and cultural festival in urban Scotland. Networked relationships between festival volunteers inform the research methods and analysis, reflecting both observer and insider perspectives. This paper aims to comment on varying attitudes among the contributors, relating these findings to their positions in the festival’s social network.
Design/methodology/approach
Social network analysis methods were used to capture and examine data from a sample of festival volunteers: a survey instrument was distributed among individuals identified by the creative director, acting as a key informant. These data generated information on connections between the respondents, as well as demographic and opinion-based attribute data. Network centrality measures were used to sample the respondents for four follow-up interviews with festival volunteers.
Findings
The resulting network revealed a core-periphery structure to the festival’s organising team. The influential core group members were more established volunteers, recognised for their value to the team. The festival was widely endorsed as contributing to local place-making, though not uncritically. Management implications were identified for the dual nature of the festival organisation: a formal hierarchy with clear functional departments, acting as a platform for an intangible yet vital social network.
Originality/value
Social relationships are shown to have profound implications for the management and identity of this volunteer festival, in relation to its host neighbourhood. Combining social network analysis with semi-structured interviews has demonstrated the value of this mixed methods approach.
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