Expanding the Domain of Festival Research: A Review and Research Agenda

• Author: Eleanor Shaw,Norin Arshed,Juliette Wilson,Tobias Pret
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12093
• Published date: 01 April 2017
• Date: 01 April 2017

International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 19, 195–213 (2017)

DOI: 10.1111/ijmr.12093

Expanding the Domain of Festival

Research: A Review and Research Agenda

Juliette Wilson, Norin Arshed,1Eleanor Shaw and Tobias Pret

University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Business School, Cathedral Street, GlasgowG4 0QU, Scotland, UK, and

1Heriot-Watt University, Schoolof Management and Languages, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, Scotland, UK

Corresponding author email: juliette.wilson@strath.ac.uk

Festivals arean important sub-field within event studies which, until recently, have not

been studied as separate experiences. A systematic review of the emerging literature

on festivals revealsseveral key characteristics. While festivals are diversein nature and

geographical location, scholarly interest focuses on five main themes: the motivations

for organizing, funding and attending festivals; the experiences of festival attendees;

the relationship between festivalsand their local environments; the economic and socio-

cultural impacts of festivals; and the management of festivals.Despite growing interest

in festivals as research sites, little attention has been afforded to investigating festival

processes. In particular, considerations of how festivals are established, and which in-

dividuals are involved in their initiation and regular staging, offer opportunities for

research. This paper highlights the significant rolefestivals play within their local com-

munities, including their facilitation of social cohesion and regional identity.Our study

revealsthat the literature rarely discusses the development of festivals overtime and the

wider networks in which festivalsare embedded. This critical review of festival research

identifies various researchgaps and directions for future research to developtheory and

practical understanding of festivals.

Introduction

Festivals can have a significant impact on local com-

munities by providing value-added activities and

spending outlets for locals and visitors, and by en-

hancing the image of a destination (Getz et al. 2006;

Grunwell and Ha 2007; Quinn 2006). The develop-

ment of festivals is thus increasingly regarded as a

strategy for local economic development (Getz et al.

2010) and greater place attachment. As a result, fes-

tivals are becoming an important target of economic

policies and, at regional and local levels,regeneration

initiatives (Boo and Busser 2006; Waterman 1998).

The authors would like to express their sincere appreci-

ation to Aviel Dodge-Cogan for her research assistance.

The authors are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers

and Editor Oswald Jones for their valuable feedback and

constructive comments. Financial support from the British

Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants is gratefully

acknowledged.

To date, festival research has concentrated on eco-

nomic impacts (Litvin et al. 2013; Rao 2001); analysis

and profiling of attendees and audiences (Prentice and

Andersen 2003; Song et al. 2014); and investigations

of operational and managerial aspects (Frisby and

Getz 1989; Frost and Laing 2015). Less research has

investigated those involved in staging festivals or the

factors and processes contributing to their outcomes

(Gursoy et al. 2004). This paper seeks to broaden

understanding of festivals and to highlight research

avenues, with a particular emphasis on the actors and

processes that support festivals.

There is a well-established domain of literature

attesting to the significant benefits generated by

festivals across economic, political and sociocul-

tural domains (Andersson and Getz 2009; Quinn

2005). Furthermore, prior research on festivals has

demonstrated the positive impact that festivals can

have by increasing tourism, providing spending

opportunities, attracting additional funding for local

communities and regions, and creating employment

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196 J. Wilson et al.

(Crompton and McKay 1997; Kim et al. 1998;

Thrane 2002). Such research has also observed the

wider social effects that local, community-based fes-

tivals can have, for example, on perceptions of place

and locale (Getz and Frisby 1988), on generating

revenues, and in supporting existing ventures and

encouraging business start-up (Gursoy et al. 2004).

In this paper, we present a systematic literature

review (SLR) of festival research. By providing an

overview of the diverse and disjointed literature on

festivals, we advance knowledge of this important

sub-field of event studies and encourage further ded-

icated research. This review reveals that five key

themes are of particular interest to festival scholars:

motivation, experience, place, impact and manage-

ment. This paper also highlights under-explored ar-

eas. Accordingly, we develop a research agenda and

propose that future studies investigate (1) where the

ideas for festivals originate and which individuals are

involved, (2) how these actors interact and collab-

orate, (3) which resources festivals require and (4)

how the networks of relationships needed to organize

festivals evolve over time.

This paper is structured as follows. First, we define

festivalsand outline their fundamental characteristics,

before detailing our methodological approach. Dom-

inant themes in existing research are then discussed

before research gaps are identified and recommenda-

tions are made to inform future scholarship in this

field.

Defining festivals

A large number of conceptualizations of festivals are

used in the literature. While the scope of festivals

is varied, including agriculture, arts, cultural and lo-

cal community themes, common characteristics can

be identified. Festivals are events held at a particular

point in time; they are repeated and open to the public.

Uysal and Gitleson (1994) define festivals as ‘tradi-

tional events staged to increase the tourism appeal to

potential visitors’ (p. 3), while Saleh and Ryan (1993)

state that, ‘by their nature, festivals are of short du-

ration, and generally based around a theme’ (p. 290).

More recently, Getz et al. (2010) proposed that ‘fes-

tivals celebrate community values, ideologies, iden-

tity and continuity’ (p. 30). Festivals enhance their

communities’ economies and landscapes, but their

success often depends on whether volunteers can be

encouraged to dedicate their time to these events

(Getz and Frisby 1988; Gursoy et al. 2004). Festivals

also ‘create a sense of belonging and pride among

local residents, thus fostering the sharing of local re-

sources and local purchases’ (Julien 2007. p. 246).

Furthermore, festivals are highly dependent on the

driving forces of key individuals acting within festi-

val networks, who support their emergence and oc-

currence on a regular basis (Gursoy et al. 2004).

The challenge in defining festivals lies in differen-

tiating festivals from events and special events. Fes-

tival research originated as part of event studies and

has only recently emerged as a distinct field of study.

Consequently, prior research has not always made a

clear distinction between festivals and events. It has

been argued that the key differences betweenfestivals

and other events are festivals’ central focus on cele-

bration of cultural and social dimensions, and the in-

volvement of multiple stakeholders (Getz et al. 2010).

Festivals differ from special events as they occur on

a regular basis, whereas ‘a special event is a onetime

or infrequently occurring event outside the normal

range/programme or activities of the sponsoring or

organising body’ (Getz 1997, p. 44).

Building on these prior conceptualizations, we

broadly define festivals as ‘public, themed celebra-

tions that are held regularly’. This definition and

the distinctions between festivals, events and special

events informed the methodology undertaken to per-

form a systematic review of the festival literature.

The implications on the data collection are discussed

in the next section.

Methods

To examine the depth and breadth of published

research on festivals, we conducted an SLR as

advocated by Tranfield et al. (2003) and Macpherson

and Jones (2010). As discussed by Wang and Chugh

(2014), adopting this systematic process increased

the rigour, validity and generalizability of the

review, compared with traditional, ad hoc literature

review approaches. Appendix S1 (in the Supporting

Information) provides a summary of the SLR process

employed in this study.

Conceptual boundaries

The first step in the SLR process involved setting

research objectives and defining conceptual bound-

aries (Denyer and Tranfield 2008). The primary goal

of our review was to analyse and critique festival

research with a view to developing a research agenda

for further study. Accordingly, we sought to evaluate

themes and trends in the extant literature. Tofacilitate

the advancement of festival research, we chose to

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