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Roles and functions of festivals

Events and festivals have always existed, ever since ancient Greek, over 2.700 years
ago, when the Olympics are believed to have started, where people from all around Greece
would gather at the same place and at the same time to watch the event (www.bbc.co.uk).
People celebrate birthdays, holidays, the New Year, go to concerts, meetings, sport events
and many more. All these different kind of events have different impacts on their host
communities, on the participants, surrounding areas, internationally or even globally.
Because of that reason, people started to assess these impacts and try to maximise the
positive ones and minimise the negative impacts. It is the managers task to predict and
identify the impacts and manage them in such a way to achieve the best outcomes for all the
parties, and at the end, the overall impact of the event to be a positive one. To do this, the
manager must develop and maximise all the positive outcomes and counter the negative
ones, which can be done through good planning.
Many authors left their own perception on events, giving different definitions. For
instance, Johnny Allen considered special events to be specific rituals, presentations,
performances or celebrations that are consciously planned and created to mark special
occasions or achieve particular social, cultural or corporate goals and objectives (2010,
p.11) and defined festivals as universal form of event that pre-date the contemporary event
industry and exist in most times and most societies (2010, p.15). Bowdin viewed special
events as specific rituals, presentations, performances or celebrations that are consciously
planned and created to mark special occasions and/or to achieve particular social, cultural or
corporate goals and objectives (2011, p.17). Goldblatt (2008, p.5, cited in Bowdin) defined
special events as a unique moment in time, celebrated with ceremony and ritual to satisfy
specific needs (2011, p.18). A special event is a one-time or infrequently occurring event
outside the normal program or activities of the sponsoring or organising body. To the
customer or guest, a special event is an opportunity for an experience outside the normal
range of choices or beyond everyday experience (Getz, 2005, p.16 cited in Bowdin). Bladen
(2012, p.3) has a more general approach: Events are temporary and purposive gatherings
of people. In his opinion, events have four important characteristics: they are temporary in
nature; there are gatherings of people; often displays of ritual; and in some sense, it is a
unique occurrence.
As Johnny Allen said, events do not take place in a vacuum (2010, pp. 60-61),
because events affect every part of our lives, and they have social, political, economic and
environmental impacts, which affect the people living in the host location of the event and
not only. These impacts had determined an increase in the importance given to events and
also research has been made on their impacts. Because of all the benefits events bring to
any community (social and cultural: shared experience, revitalisation of traditions, building
community pride, increased community participation, expansion of cultural perspectives;
political: international prestige, improved profile, social cohesion, promotion of investment;
environmental: showcasing the environment, increased environmental awareness,
infrastructure legacy, improved transport and communications; tourism and economic:
destination promotion and increased tourist visits, extended length of stay, higher yield,
increased tax revenue, job creation), led to an increased emphasis on an economic, social
cultural and environmental analysis of the impacts events have in a society.

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Events have both positive and negative impacts (social and cultural: community
alienation, manipulation of community, bad behaviour, substance abuse, loss of amenity;
political: risk of event failure, misallocation of funds, propaganda, legitimation of ideology;
environmental: environment damage, pollution, destruction of heritage, noise disturbance,
traffic congestion; tourism and economic: loss of authenticity, damage to reputation,
exploitation, inflated prices, opportunity costs, financial loss) on their host communities and
stakeholders (J. Allen), or can have a positive impact on one element (e.g. economic) and a
negative impact on another element (e.g. social) (F. Langen, B. Garcia). As Picard and
Robertson (2006, quoted in P. Stone and R. Sharpley, 2011) said: festivals, while containing
worlds, also open out and spill over into outside worlds and their multiple dimensions can
only be understood by taking into consideration the different realties of these outside
worlds.
First of all, it is important to measure the economic impacts of the events because it
is a good way to demonstrate the financial benefits that a major event can bring in its host
community. But at the same time, events also have negative impacts and Johnny Allen
(2010, p.61) offers a few examples of both that events have on their host communities, such
as higher yield, increased tax revenue, business opportunities, commercial activity and job
creation for the positive ones. Some negative impacts may be increased prices, opportunity
costs, financial mismanagement and financial loss.
Morgan and Condliffe (2006, cited in Bladen, 2012, pp. 360-361) set out three steps
to develop a methodology for assessing the economic impacts of an event. First, define the
geographical are under study (town/ city/country where an event takes place). Second,
identify the industries from which to collect data to assess direct impacts. And lastly, collect
data or estimate the direct impacts of the event on the industrial sectors that have been
identified. It is important to have baseline data of economic activity so that changes can be
measured.
Tohmo (2005) measured the economic impacts of the cultural event named
Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in Finland, using the input-output analysis, with a before and
after perspective. Using surveys of event attendees, measuring demographic information,
length of stay and expenditure on a range of good and services, and also using the multiplier
effect, the results were that in a small municipality with a population of 4308, the festival
brought an additional 1.35 million euros of spending into the regional economy and this
generated direct and indirect economic impacts of 1.67 million euros. (Bladen, p.363)
Economic impacts have been assessed in order to justify government expenditure in
this industry, and calculate if it is profitable or losses are occurring. For example, the Walter
E. Washington Convention Centre costs $800 million to build, funded by a bond issue
backed by the District of Columbia. The district government justified the expenditure by
looking at the benefits and profits that will be made once the venue had been built. It has
been estimated that the convention centre generated 17000 jobs and annually adds $1.4
billion to the economies of Washington and the District of Columbia. (Morgan and Condliffe
2006; DC Convention 2007, cited in Bladen, pp. 360-361)
Australias Sustainable Cooperative Research Centre surveyed the response to
Melbournes community to Australian Open Tennis Tournament in 2003 through telephone
interviews of the participants. They were asked to answer a few questions regarding the

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impacts of the event and rate it. The results were that 94.0% of the people asked said that
the event had a positive social impact, giving them a chance to have fun and socialise with
new people, while only 3.3% disagreed and 2.7% answered dont know. With regards to
the disruption to local residents, 20.6% agreed and 66.9 disagreed that the event caused
traffic congestion and parking problems. 11.4% agreed that the Australian Open Tennis
Tournament caused bad behaviour, such as excessive drinking and drug abuse, while 78.3%
disagreed (Fredline, Deery and Jago, 2005, cited in Bowdin, 2011, pp.103-105). In this case,
the event had more positive reactions from the public than negative. This is one way of
measuring the success of the event and with more positive feedback from the public, the
event can be categorised as effective.
Secondly, events have a direct social and cultural impact on their participants and
sometimes on their wider host communities (Getz, 2005 cited in Allen, 2010). Events create
the feeling of belonging in a community and bring the feel good sensation in any
participant. For example, in Australia, in 2000 took place the national Sorry Day initiative,
where a series of reconciliation marches expressed community support for settlement with
Aboriginal Australians. Furthermore, the Weipa Crocodile Australian Festival in northern
Queensland is an event where Aboriginal and Australian youths come together in order to
diminish the existing barriers between the two nationalities. Another example is the 2010
Sydney Festival, a special concert in Parramatta Park by A.H.Rahman, in an attempt to ease
the tensions between Australia and India, due to the recent attacks and murders of Indians in
Australia, expressed his belief that music can heal tensions: This concert is about
reaffirming the friendship and interest of both people, and I hope this concert brings that
(Rahman 2010 cited in Allen 2010).
Because people value the feel good sentiment events bring into their lives, they can
put aside the temporary discomfort and inconvenience that happens sometimes, as seen at
the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Adelaide. Citizens claimed that it brought the city
to life. Community pride was sensed by the people of China in hosting the Beijing Olympic
Games in 2008.
At the same time, events bring negative social impacts as well. Taking into
consideration the Australian Formula One Grand Prix presented earlier, while people were
excited, the number of car accidents increased by 34 per cent, out of which 15% were
unexplained, and suggested that these casualties could be due to the peoples off-track
replication of Grand Prix race driving.
A case study showed that in 1995 a British promoter started staging dance music in
the Ayia Napa, Cyprus and the development of the city began. It started to attract half a
million visitors each year and this had a number of social impacts on the town. In 2001, a
BBC reporter investigated the residents view of the new event tourism in the resort. Many of
them said that the resort developed too fast. From the peaceful, relaxed life, many
youngsters started clubbing, making noise, with bad behaviours and made many families
move out of the resort. Even though the economic impacts were positive for the island,
attracting visitors and making profit, the social impacts were negative for the locals, which
found the development fast and disturbing. (Goldblatt, p.370-372)
Thirdly, an event is a great opportunity to promote the unique characteristics of the
host environment, but at the same time, being extremely delicate, it can damage it. That is

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why event managers need to take into account every aspect of the event that may cause
harm in the environment it takes place. A major event can require an environmental impact
assessment before council permission is granted for it to proceed. Events that take place in
a suitable purpose-built revenue, such as a stadium, showground or entertainment centre
have a lower chance of damaging the environment, while those held in a public space that
was not necessarily built for an event to take place, such as parks, town square or street
have a higher possibility in doing so.
In order to minimise the negative impacts on the environment, managers need to
plan accordingly. For example, many food and wine events have reduced their impact on the
environment by using bio-degradable containers and utensils instead of plastic and also by
selling tine-tasting souvenir glasses for patrons to take home.
At the same time, governments are using public education programs to increase the
awareness between people, to promote the recycling of waste materials and to reduce the
amount of waste going into the landfill. The NSW Department of Environment and Climate
Change promotes a fully integrated event waste management and recycling program, with
detailed instructions on what to do before, during and after an event. (J. Allen, 2010, pp.6667)
For sustainable event management, managers have to plan how to procure the
materials needed, how to use them in an ecological way and what to do afterwards with the
waste. The best way would be to use recycled or recyclable materials, re-using equipment
and materials and repurposing rather than discarding, choosing organic, buying locally and
using products with low carbon footprints. (J. Allen, p. 361)
The Bonnaroo Festival is one of the largest music festivals in the US. It takes place in
Tennessee and with over 70.000 spectators it has attracted significant attention for its green
policies, becoming one of only two US winners of the Greener Festival Award in 2008 and
2009. The Bonnaroo Festivals environmental principles are put into practice in three ways:
educational activities for volunteers and festival-goers, by sending a greening handbook via
email which includes a list of festival purchasing policies and tips, information on what to
purchase while in Manchester and also how to treat the actual site and even signs about
water conservation at every watering station. It has dedicated green spaces, and it is
embedding environmental concerns into the core values of the event. The festival has
partnered with the Carbon Shredders organisation to encourage festival-goers to reduce
their carbon footprint by 10% within the year. (Bladen, p.366-368)
In conclusion, events date back thousands of years and people always have always
celebrated, are celebrating and will continue to celebrate because it is a part of peoples
lives. Events impact on all aspects of the lives of the population, including social, economic,
cultural, political and environmental and they have positive as well as negative impacts.
Minimising the negative and maximising the positive impacts is a result that every event
manager needs to aim for in order to have a successful, profitable and enjoyable event and
in order to do so every impact needs to be assessed before the event takes place.

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REFERENCES:
Ancient Greeks: The Olympic Games. Available
at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/the_olympic_games/.
Allen, J., Harris, R. and O'Toole, W. (2010) Festival and Special Event Management. 5th ed.
Milton: John Wiley and Sons.
Bladen, C. (2012) Events Management : An Introduction. London: Routledge.
Bowdin, G. A. J. and Books24x7, I. (2011) Events Management, Third Edition. 3rd ed.
Burlington, Mass; Oxford, U.K: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
FLORIS LANGEN, B.G., 2009. Measuring the Impacts of Large Scale Cultural Events: A
Literature Review. Liverpool: Impacts 08.
Goldblatt, J. (2010) Special Events; a New Generation and the Next Frontier. Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley & Sons.
P. Stone, R. S. (2011) 'Socio-cultural impacts of events: meanings, authorised transgression
and social capital' in P. Stone R. S. Socio-cultural impacts of events: meanings, authorised
transgression and social capital. London: Routledge,