festivals and events Archives - Tourism Research Centre Blog

Festivals Sustainability Symposium 29 June 2023

In late June 2023, 70 people gathered at Craiglockhart to discuss the thorny issue of Festival sustainability, writes Dr David Jarman, Lecturer.

There has long been an intricate relationship between festivals and the various ways that sustainability themes affects their actions, impacts, and the ways audiences and stakeholders relate to them. The Festival Sustainability Symposium was an opportunity to discuss a variety of these topics, with attendees from academia, government, the festival sector, and freelancers. It was particularly good to see a number of Edinburgh Napier graduates at the event.

The variety of papers presented at the event reflected the wide range of perspectives and areas of interest under the sustainability banner. Attendees heard about the Edinburgh Deaf Festival, and how it is enabling and supporting a community of eager participants and their audiences to engage with Edinburgh’s festival economy. Environmental sustainability was covered from a range of different angles, including case studies reflecting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Other work presented practical and tangible lessons for those applying environmental sustainability in a festival context. A number of contributors spoke about community in relation to festivals, whether that be supporting underrepresented groups within society, or reflecting on the relationship between seasonal festivals and the established communities in which they take place. Festivals are a representation of the contexts in which they are planned and delivered, and they carry meaning and symbolism that reflects this.

This was also an opportunity to reflect upon Edinburgh Napier’s interest in festival and event sustainability. Some modules on our programmes focus specifically on sustainability, while others highlight the importance of community, the environment and related themes. Our students and graduates are therefore equipped to consider the types of discussions that featured at the symposium. As such, we are playing our part in the ongoing development and evolution of the sector as it tries to grapple with a wide variety of challenges in relation to sustainability. Resources are used at festivals, people travel a long way to attend them, and often there is little of tangible evidence to demonstrate their having taken place. However, festivals are also a platform on which to discuss good practice and to demonstrate the potential value of these kinds of events. Ultimately, as was discussed by the closing keynote speaker, there are opportunities for festivals to play a positive and enhancing role in the sustainability of environments, places, and organisations.

Edinburgh Napier’s Tourism Research Centre, and everyone involved in our Festival, Event, Tourism and Hospitality programmes, continues our work into research, industry enhancement and policy development in sustainability. For more information about what we do, including future events, research opportunities and student projects, please get in touch.

#FestivalsConnect tackles diversity, equality, inclusion and social cohesion

A picture showing the #FestivalsConnect audience at event

Dr Afiya Holder – 25 April 2023

What do events, festivals and sports have in common? – the power to connect, celebrate and inspire change.

Last week Professor Jane Ali-Knight and I attended the launch of #FestivalsConnect- an initiative of USW’s Centre for Culture, Sports and Events. The hosts Professors David McGillvray, Gayle McPherson and Sandro Carnicelli curated a gathering space in the rich cultural and historic town of Paisley for key industry practitioners, policymakers, and academia to discuss the role of events, festivals and sports in DEI and social cohesion.

The golden thread (pun intended) running throughout the discussions: “there is much being done but more support, structure, empirical work and practical impact are still needed”.

Amy Finch – Spirit of 2012 showcased numerous practical case examples of #MomentstoConnect, the power of inclusivity and engaging traditionally excluded social groups such as the British Futures Windrush 75 Project aimed to acknowledge the significant cultural histories and contribution of the Windrush generation and Caribbean community.

Panelists Craig Burn – UCI Cycling World Championships, Marie Christie – EventScotland, Sodhi Deerha- Glasgow Mela also shared their roles in fostering DEI and social cohesion in #events, #festivals, and #sports.

Craig highlighted the local and national impacts of cycling events that changed the socio-economic landscape of remote towns, developed purpose-built facilities in communities, and inspired active lifestyles among youth. In a side chat with Dr Holder, he also shared the impact of their involvement in developing the popular Scotland cycling course for eSports, a popular option and favourite of disabled international players.

Marie offered a holistic take on Event Scotland’s approach to inclusion and actions to ensure equality based on setting the #PerfectStage for all regarding age, ethnicity, religion, gender, and disability. Key action points included examining and ensuring equity in event funding and support. Marie also called for all to be actively involved in the upcoming series of consultation workshops aimed to address some of the gaps in the state of Scotland’s event industry and future- DEI being a main item for discussion.

Sodhi presented a unique perspective speaking from a supplier’s perspective as Producer of Mela multicultural events that showcase Indian music, dance, as well as interactive arts and culture. Sodhi shared the significant and lasting impact these events had on Glasgow’s cultural fabric, artists’ cultural pride and sense of self-determination as well as community social cohesion and acceptance of multiculturality.

On the topic, it’s safe to say Festivals, Events and Sports in Scotland are in capable hands. Yet, as I reflect on my work in this contested space, careful consideration is needed to avoid virtue signalling and ‘DEI-washing’ which is unsupportive when creating an inclusive and equal environment. Therefore, in this multi-layered and complex space it is imperative:

To achieve a deeper understanding from multiple socio-cultural lenses to achieve a comprehensive outlook;
To foster more engagement and empirical work to examine DEI impacts and social cohesion outcomes from events, festivals, and sports; and,
To determine clear indicators of success and practical impact

As I noted in my research on socio-cultural aversions, socio-cultural and economic ramifications for individuals, businesses and communities can be considerable if left unaddressed.

For more interest on this topic connect with Dr Afiya Holder, Prof Jane Ali-Knight or Tourism Research Centre for research, collaborative or PhD opportunities.

PhD student, Benedetta Piccio: My experience at the THE INC 2022 conference

by Benedetta Piccio

The tourism, hospitality and event industries have been majorly impacted by the Covid19 pandemic over the past two years. Lockdowns, social distancing, and restrictions have had serious consequences on events; resulting in cancellations or being moved online.

In Edinburgh, the summer festivals released a statement in April 2020 announcing that festivals would not go ahead as planned for the first time in 73 years. They are only just returning this summer in full swing.

THE INC 2022 conference’s topic: Tourism, Hospitality and Events Innovation and Resilience during Uncertainty, was well situated with the current environment. The conference took place at the end of June at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) in Limassol.

As my PhD looks at Women, festival leadership and social transformation: the case of Edinburgh, the world’s leading festival city, presenting part of my research at the INC2022 conference was an incredible opportunity. My research focuses on understanding gender inequalities and obstacles women face during their career progression within the festival industry.

I had recently finished my data collection that consisted of 33 interviews, with one of the questions investigating the effects of the past two years on female festival organisers’ roles and positions. And my presentation at THE INC2022 conference was about an initial analysis of my data.

The results show that female festival leaders have strongly demonstrated innovation and resilience during the past years. One of my participants commented:

“For me the last two years have probably been a test of any leadership and probably the biggest test has been a test of resilience (…) it was about how can I now move into a mode of leadership that is about survival and that is about supporting my team, my colleagues and holding this together.”

The past two years have also improved the working conditions in terms of flexibility and the possibility of working from home, which was something that never existed before:

“Our policy of like pretty flexible, a lot of flexibility in terms of working. So we can kind of work around pick up times and drop off times if we need to.”

My research is still in progress, so the conference was a great opportunity for me to share my initial findings with fellow researchers and academics, and to discuss my work with them and gain valuable feedback.

The conference had great keynote speakers on the resilience and innovation of the event, tourism and hospitality industries: Professor Jane Ali-Knight, from Edinburgh Napier University, Professor Cathy Hsu, from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), and Professor Scott McCabe, University of Nottingham.

Get in touch: benedetta.piccio@napier.ac.uk

New report offers guidance to events industry partners on managing risk in the time of unexpected crisis: COVID & Innovation within Edinburgh’s Festivals

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed significant social and economic losses on festivals globally. Government imposed lockdowns prevented socialising and meant that events were cancelled, paused, or redeveloped into a virtual format. Event organisers turned to creative problem-solving and accelerated innovation to manage the crisis.

Edinburgh Napier academics – Prof. Jane Ali-Knight, Dr Gary Kerr, and Hannah Stewart MSc – have created a report in collaboration with Prof. Kirsten Holmes from Curtin University (Perth, Australia) examining the impacts of COVID-19 on festivals in eventful destinations and the response of festival managers to the ongoing pandemic, using the case study of Edinburgh’s Festivals.

First, the team reviewed policies and practices relevant to the safe opening of festivals and events up to the Autumn of 2021. Second, they used a mixed methods approach to collect a range of data between June 2021 to November 2021, including participant observation of events, and in-depth interviews with key Edinburgh Festival Directors, managers and city stakeholders to identify how they initially responded and continue to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The fieldwork data are supported by content analysis of key media narratives focusing on festival and event cancellation and post COVID-19 recovery.

Key Findings revealed that since March 2020, 10 out of 11 of Edinburgh’s major festivals have successfully delivered programming in a live or digital format; all participants reported having to restructure their organisations’ business and delivery models in response to COVID-19; festivals were forced to shift their primary funding avenues from a ticket sales and revenue-based focus to securing funding from sponsorship, donations and COVID-19 recovery support with several organisations trialled a digital ‘pay what you can’ model for access to online events, championing and maintaining financial accessibility in an economic crisis.

The research team used the data to develop a new framework (please see below) for industry partners to approach risk management within festivals and events. This new model provides a tactical response to unexpected crisis events, such as a global pandemic, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other unique disruptive scenarios beyond the sector’s control.

The framework consists of three components. The first one, response, refers to organisers first assessing the situation, then reacting to evolving customer needs and behaviours by offering new types of experiences, products, and services, and lastly, strategically planning the next steps to cope with high levels of uncertainty.

The model’s second element, resilience, describes the critical importance of business model innovation that can be done through establishing new partnerships, as well as adjusting and adapting business and delivery models and supply chains to manage risk in the long term.

Lastly, the reimaging component touches on dynamic recovery through the reviewing of organisational successes and areas for opportunity, the development of potential future scenarios and how they can be prepared for, as well as the building of flexible and dynamic strategies that are stress-tested against various scenarios.

The importance of effective communication and support between festival stakeholders in times of crisis is emphasised by the researchers, and it appears in the centre of the framework interlinking all elements.

To download the full report please click here.