The Future of Events & Festivals

Ian Yeoman, Martin Robertson, Una McMahon - Beattie, Elisa Backer, Karen A. Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781135939175
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

The growth of events and festivals has been significant over the last decade and a wide range of skills are essential to ensure those events are successful. This requirement has been instrumental in stimulating the creation of more tertiary education opportunities to develop events management knowledge. As the discipline develops, knowledge requires direction in order to understand the changing advances in society.

This is the first book to take a futures approach to understanding event management. A systematic and pattern-based understanding is used to determine the likelihood of future events and trends. Using blue skies scenarios to provide a vision of the future of events, not only capturing how the events industry is changing but also important issues that will affect events now as well as the future. Chapters include analysis of sustainability, security, impacts of social media, design at both mega event and community level and review a good range of different types of events from varying geographical regions. A final section captures the contributions of each chapter through the formation of a conceptual map for a future research agenda.

Written by leading academics in the field, this ground breaking book will be a valuable reference point for educators, researchers and industry professionals.

Part 1
Setting the scene

Past, present and future

1
An introduction to the future

Ian Yeoman, Martin Robertson, Una McMahon-Beattie, Elisa Backer and Karen A. Smith

Future points

• The first book to discuss the future of events and festivals.
• Each chapter begins with a series of points as indicators to the future.
• Each chapter concludes with a discussion on the implications of the future on the present.

What is the present state of events and festivals research?

The growth of the events industry and the provision of events, in all its many forms, is documented often, and by many. However, there has been far less said about the growth of its content, of its research base and the progress of this research in the future. Lockstone-Binney, Robertson and Junek (2013: 176) comment that core areas of event management knowledge will ‘need to be rebalanced with new knowledge areas to ensure that the events industry is ready to adapt to global competition, the rapidly changing business environment and possible global crisis’. For some time, Professor Don Getz has charted the evolution of events as an area of study and research, its capacity to progress in new directions, and the opportunity to create new discourses (Getz, 2007, 2008, 2012). He suggests events can be considered as an area of study, and that it can develop with – as well as go beyond – the management disciplines, and, accordingly, build interdisciplinary theory. Currently, while there are many researchers representing an array of disciplines involved in the discussion of festivals and events, they rarely work together.

Similarly, while there is some agreement that professionalisation of the events industry should go hand-in-hand with increased academic credibility for it as an area of studies (Robertson, Junek and Lockstone-Binney 2014), it is often inhibited in doing so. Hamstrung by the pragmatic approach of event organisers and the preponderance of research related to the economics of events (Davies, Coleman and Ramchandani 2013), there may now be a paradigm shift in research related to festivals and events. This is indicated in the diverse range of methodologies applied in current work (Mair and Whitford 2013). Nonetheless, at a time when there is great opportunity to surge forward, there continues to be much critical introspection by event (studies) researchers and educators (Baum, Lockstone-Binney and Robertson 2013). One vital area that has received remarkably little coverage – and may be indicative of that introspection – is future studies. It is for this reason that this book is an important one.

Making explanatory claims

Prediction is a statement about the way things will happen in the future (Bergman, Karlsson and Axelsson 2010), in which the outcome is expected from an ontological perspective. Therefore, the future is informed upon expertise as inductively valid. An inductively valid future is a premise of strong evidence: probable, explained and truthful; thus the arguments presented are based on what will happen rather than what could happen. Some would say in the field of future studies that prediction is a naive scientific activity in which a single view is too precise and narrow and cannot be achieved (Hojer and Mattsson 2006; Strand 1999). However, if a prediction is based upon causal layers (Slaughter 1996) in which arguments are captured, linked and analysed, a prediction does have a conclusion, which is important for business. What Blackman (1994) and Slaughter (1996) argue is not whether a prediction is right or wrong but whether it is robust enough, based upon a process of getting to the future and conclusions that are drawn in order to make a prediction.

Events and festivals futures, as presented in this collection of writing, make explanatory claims about the future. Some are truthful, some less truthful and some are fantasy (or very uncertain). Explanatory claim presumes an argumentation of explanation which Habermas (1984) proposes as representatively (i.e. distinguishes between what is and what seems to be said), expressively (i.e. distinguishes between what the individual is and what he or she pretends to be) and to develop common values (i.e. distinguishes between what and what ought to be); thus the contributors explain the future phenomena of events and festivals. What the contributors do with different degree is truthfulness. Truthfulness in its absolute format is an exact and precise future – something that is clinical. Contributors in the volume who follow this high degree of certainty include Bajc in chapter fourteen looking at security and surveillance, and Wessblad, with a focus on sustainability in chapter ten.

From quite a different perspective, some other contributors speculate about the future and draw upon what might seem to be science fiction to demonstrate the future, using the important futures question, What if? This is evidenced in the work by Yeoman et al. (chapter four) and McLoughlin (chapter eighteen). Importantly, combined, the collection of all the contribution represents a spectrum of knowledge that draws from leading minds in events and festivals academia. This will assist industry, community and academia to make sense of the future – in recognition that this is, ultimately, the place where everyone will be.

Contributors

Setting the scene: past, present and future

Devine and Carruthers in chapter two, Back to the future: analysing history to plan for tomorrow, reflect upon the past as a representation of the future, thus allowing futurists to create a framework for response and preparedness. Getz leads the debate about the fundamental role of events from a social, symbolic and economic exchange perspective in chapter three. The forms and functions of planned events: past and future embroils readers in the drivers of change focused around present legitimacy and political discourse predicting that the future will have larger public events, citing that this is because of their capacity to meet multiple goals and to attract wide audiences for special-interest tourist segments. Yeoman and colleagues in chapter four, Scenarios for the future of events and festivals: Mick Jagger at 107 and Edinburgh Fringe, consider two scenarios as demonstrations of future possibilities. First, Heritage rock: Mick Jagger plays Woodstock at 107 portrays an ageing and ageless society from a music festival perspective. Second, Edinburgh Fringe 2050 demonstrates how technology is changing and could change the comedy festival experience. The chapter identifies a number of themes that are significant for the future of events and festivals including the contribution to life and well-being, liminal experiences, nostalgia and collection of cultural capital. Yeoman and colleagues make explanatory claims on the future, but leave readers pondering, What if this were to happen?

Contested issues, thoughts and solutions

In chapter five, Scotland in 2025: dependent or independent event nation?, Frew and colleagues discuss Scotland as example of a nation vexed by questions about independence and the role of events and culture while also defining distinction in an age of acceleration. Drawing upon two scenarios, they present Scotland as a nation where events and cultural policy are deployed in a dynamic discourse of identity. Events and culture are positioned as key players in a global game in which the formulaic demands of the corporate agenda clash with the vibrancy of local community culture. The chapter concludes that a power and policy shift is emerging as communities connect and digitally disrupt the neo-liberal approach to events. Jepson and Clarke in chapter six, The future of power decision making in community festivals, reveal the existence of a multitude of stakeholder relationships, connected and enforced in different ways. In chapter seven, Industry perceptions of events futures, Backer discusses the perceptions amongst event managers concerning the future of tourism events. She indicates a belief that in the future large events may be more professionally run, suggesting that technology will enable spectators to benefit from improved transit routes and virtual experiences. Improvements to health and an ageing population may also extend the age bracket of event staff and event attendees. In chapter eight, Economic evaluation of special events: challenges for the future, Dwyer and Jago demonstrate the importance of evaluating the economic contribution that special events make – but only as one contribution to communities. The chapter gives an overview of the techniques that have been used to assess the economic impact of special events, arguing that computable general equilibrium modelling is the most credible approach. However, economic impact assessments can give contradictory results to a cost-benefit analysis, highlighting the need to integrate the two methods to give more consistent outcomes. The chapter concludes that there is a need to broaden the base of special event evaluations. In so doing events will be more able to demonstrate their true potential and secure a more sustainable future.

Chapter nine, The greening of events: exploring future trends and issues, by Frost and colleagues, considers the growing trend towards environmentally sustainable or green events – with a high degree of truth claim. Using a scenario planning approach focused on 2050 they highlight eight key drivers, which in the future are likely to affect future levels of sustainability. These are economic and demographic inequities; increasing urbanisation; existential authenticity; levels of environmental consciousness; the regulatory paradigm; green communities; the growth in corporate social responsibility; and technological developments. Four scenarios are developed, which each represent alternative possible futures, based on analysis of the impacts of the identified drivers. Continuing the theme of sustainability, in chapter ten, The future is green: a case study of Malmoe, Sweden, Wessbald offers a visionary future in which Malmoe has an ambition of becoming more sustainable – environmentally and socially. This chapter describes the launching of a sustainable ‘hospitality and events’ city project and identifies the developing process into essential ‘pieces’ for progress. The Malmoe case indicates that patience and persistence in changing people’s minds is the road to a sustainable hospitality and event city.

In chapter eleven, The future of local community festivals and meanings of place in an increasingly mobile world, McClinchey and Carmichael focus on the implications of increasing cultural mobilities, uneven power struggles and the lack of connection with place for the future of festivals. They suggest the future of urban festivals lies in their ability to conceptualise space differently and ground place and its meaning through locals’ conceptualisations of culture, place and identity. Todd in chapter twelve, Developing brand relationships theory for festivals, illustrates the significance of the interpersonal relationship paradigm to consumers and brands in a future festivalscape scenario. Here, primary generators of change are technological advancement, channel fragmentation, and a power shift from brand owners to consumers. Further shaping the future festivalscape are provision and consumption modes; consumers; and increased substitutability fuelled by digital connectivity. To survive, future festivals must develop positive, reciprocal and enduring consumer brand relationships. In chapter fourteen, The future of surveillance and security in global events, Bajc ponders over a security meta-ritual framework as advice to understand surveillance and security, thus providing readers with a prognosis of likely future outcomes. In chapter thirteen, Exploring future forms of event volunteering, Lockstone-Binney and colleagues conceptualize a typology of future forms of event volunteers based upon the trends and reasons, thus providing event organizers and human resource professionals with future profiles. Bolan, in chapter fifteen, A perspective on the near future: mobilizing events and social media, examines how digital media is influencing and impacting upon events and the field of event management. Bolan focuses on the application and importance of social media and the evolving nature of mobile apps to the event industry, identifying a number of key areas and themes that warrant attention.

In chapter sixteen, The future is virtual, Sadd critically discusses the how technology has shaped event production and attempts to provide future prediction, as to what events in the next few years may become. Sadd proposes that a virtual world of events based on innovative concepts and designs could take the event experience into new realms, yet the need for physical belonging and togetherness are aspects that can never be replicated. In chapter seventeen, Leadership and visionary futures: future proofing festivals, Robertson and Brown state that an event’s audience is the primary factor in the success of the event, now and in the future. Proposing a rise of the practitioner academic will, they suggest, have significant implications for the direction of future event research. Co-creativity and the demand for bespoke experiences will increase, while the impact of new technologies will, controversially, decrease.

In chapter eighteen, The future of event design and experience, McLoughlin approaches the topic of event design from a futuristic perspective – delivering into the space between an operational and experiential perspective, which considers the mutuality of co-creation and the importance of the event practitioner. Robertson and Lees in chapter nineteen, eScaping in the city: retailvents in socio-spacially managed futures, use an exploratory trend impact analysis to explain the core drivers associated with retail and events futures with shaped city spaces, immigration, ageing and generational gaps intertwined with technological consumption.

What does this all mean?

In conclusion, in chapter twenty, Yeoman and colleagues present Cognitive map(s) of events and festivals futures. These draw on three viewpoints as where the debate and change will be focused on using the process of cognitive mapping that brings together the collective contributions of this book. Those viewpoints – new consum...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Routledge Advances in Event Research Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Editors
• Notes on contributors
• Foreword
• Part 1 Setting the scene Past, present and future
• Part 2 Contested issues, thoughts and solutions
• Part 3 What does this all mean?
• Endnote: Delivering for Scotland post-2014
• Index