A case study for a transformational festival creation in Lourinhã, Portugal
, e | 31 dic 2022
Article Category: Research Article
Pubblicato online: 31 dic 2022
Pagine: 46 - 60
Ricevuto: 15 nov 2020
Accettato: 12 dic 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2022-0003
Parole chiave
© 2022 João Malho Ferreira Ribeiro de Carvalho et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In a touristic context of increasing globalisation, marked by growing competitiveness between destinations and diversification of tourism demand, the strategic differentiation of territories assumes particular relevance (Evans, 2020). In events, adequacy, viability, and acceptance criteria are used to evaluate strategic alternatives (Thompson & Martin, and Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, quoted by Bowdin, Allen, O’Toole, Harris, & McDonnell, 2006).
To fully understand and create knowledge about festivals it is also necessary to consider who produces them and why, how they are planned and managed, why people attend (or do not), their outcomes on multiple levels, and the dynamic forces shaping individual festivals and festival populations. (Getz, 2010, p.20)
The general objective of this research is to verify the possibility of producing a transformational, annual, and medium-scale festival in the municipality of Lourinhã, Portugal, by evaluating, selecting, and validating strategic alternatives to its concept.
The article summarises the literature review, presents the methodology rationale and the results, discusses them, and presents our conclusions.
For Getz (2010), there are three main discourses on festival studies in which the festival socio-cultural phenomenon and the individual and group experiences understanding must be rooted: 1) Roles, Meanings, and Impacts of Festivals in Society and Culture; 2) Festival Tourism and 3) Festival Management).
A festival is: [A] periodically recurrent, social occasion in which, through a multiplicity of forms and a series of coordinated events, participate directly or indirectly and to various degrees, all members of a whole community, united by ethnic, linguistic, religious, historical bonds, and sharing a worldview. (Falassi, 1987, p.2)
Although classical festival definitions, like this one, emphasise the community spirit, an essential function of transgression festivals that enable people to move to a realm of hedonistic fun is its antithetical behaviour, which is said to reinforce social convention by destroying it (Piette, quoted by Cudny, 2016). The festival experience and attached meanings which transcend individual experiences are its core phenomenon (Getz, 2010). We systematise the main theoretical contributions to this research, by festival studies discourses themes (or sub-themes), in Table 1.
Festival studies - researched works by theme (own elaboration)
Bottorff (2015) suggests a mutually beneficial and symbolic relationship between transmodernism and immersive psychosocial events. Feelings of unity improvement, connection, and integration with transcendent forces are reported both by transformational festival participants and by people undergoing transpersonal psychotherapy. Transformational festivals drive individuals to seek meaning in their lives. Symbols, rites, and myths based on spirituality are brought to life, as opposed to the stance taken by many traditional faith systems. Van Rysbergen’s thesis, antithesis, and synthesis perpetual renewing cycles, caused by the dialectic triad between modernism, postmodernism, and transmodernism, are accessed in transformational festivals through metaphors, giving a new universe perspective to the participant.
Mohr (2017, p.10) quotes Johner as follows: ‘Transformational festivals are not “new” but a modern-day incarnation of a long, rich history of celebratory carnivals and festivals […] where people rejoice ecstatically and find community with one another’. Various forms of celebrating ecstasy contributed to their genesis, including indigenous traditions as well as Dionysian rituals and mystery cults in Greece, ‘where everyday social boundaries were dissolved, revelers stepped into spaces outside of the norm, and experienced ecstasy as an important part of their lives’ (Mohr, 2017, p.10). The holidays of 15th-century France also participated in this paradigm, when events were felt as giving meaning to existence. Later, religious doctrines demonised commemorative rituals and rejected techniques of ecstasy, and Enlightenment thought inferiorised savagery and loss of control to the detriment of self-control, rationality, and reason, which contributed to a movement from rituals to the underground.
‘The 1960s saw the emergence of new and subversive forms of art, leisure, sexuality, and sociality. While “hippies” pursued radical immanence rooted […] in Romantic and Transcendentalist traditions, the “children of technique” were altering consciousness’ (St. John, 2011, pp.204). In fact, in the mid 60’s the music genre rock ‘was the rallying point of an alternative counterculture that reacted against alienating authoritarian structures of society and revived ancient Dionysian elements of carnival’ (Mohr, 2017, p.11).
Still, many festivals ‘paraphrase the idealising discourses associated with the 1960s and ‘70s counterculture, inheriting those mixtures of activism and pleasure credited to the iconic Woodstock in the United States, and Glastonbury in the United Kingdom’ (Yeganegy, 2012, p.1). Woodstock symbolised ‘peace, love, and a desire’, for a different way of living and being in the world (Fornatale, quoted by Mohr, 2017, p.11). Glastonbury, inspired by the mythology surrounding the Woodstock Festival (Street, quoted by Flinn & Frew, 2013) continued to be associated with the paradigm of the late 60s generation, with a management focused on the mystical aura as the experiential identity of the brand (Flinn & Frew, 2013), strategically using symbolic mythology and pagan traditions to construct a mystical narrative (Jensen, quoted by Flinn & Frew, 2013). In this way Mohr (2017, p.11) stated that ‘the spirit, ideals, ethics, and aesthetics of the 60s and 70s ‘hippie’ rock counterculture evolved and seeded themselves into the rave and psychedelic festival culture of the 80s, 90s, and beyond’.
Transformational festivals, ‘are downstream from the confluence of various countercultural events models, including West Coast North American festival culture […]; UK Free Festivals […]; and Goa Trance/psytrance and psychedelic electronica’ (St. John, 2015, p.7).
‘Similar to raves in spirit and orientation, free underground parties were held in remote outdoor locations away from cities and represented a precursor to the contemporary transformational festival scene’ (Mohr, 2017, p.13). Raves, secret events usually freely accessible to all ages, were a creative form of resistance to the commodification of musical cultures (Van Veen, quoted by Mohr, 2017). They were felt as a transforming, revolutionary culture and a family, community, or tribe (Johner, quoted by Mohr, 2017). ‘Pagan, countercultural and eco-spiritual ideas within contemporary rave culture are clearly continuous with an older subculture’ (Partridge, quoted by Taylor, 2015, pp.13-14). Both the transformational festivals and the rave scene of the 1980s and 1990s are rooted in the ritual ecstasy of electronic music dance (Bloom Series, quoted by Mohr, 2017). These cultures resist the alienation and commodification of modern society while celebrating and enjoying music (St. John, quoted by Mohr, 2017). Examples are linked to the search for sharing experiences of unrestricted creativity, psychedelism, and radical spirituality, as well as connection with rhythms of ecstasy of community, nature and the cosmos; respect for the self, the other and the earth; and ritual dances of ecstasy as generators of collective consciousness (St. John, Ebner, & Johner, quoted by Mohr, 2017).
Continuously people are looking and seeking ‘places of freedom where they can challenge boundaries, experience with the alternative and the transpersonal, experience ecstatic music-dance rituals, and connect with like-minded communities’ (Mohr, 2017, p.13). ‘Transformational festivals and the conscious partying movement [are a sub-genre of raves and festival culture] which embody the ideas of community, eco-friendliness, spirituality, and self-development’ (Taylor, 2015, p.14). Transformational festivals are attended by hippie, bohemian, artistic (Gauthier, 2013), Generation X (Bottorff, 2015), ravers, carnivalesque, and new-agers (Yeganegy, 2012) (or spiritualists, as we propose for better understanding) segments. Hastings (2015, pp.9–10) knows that ‘transformation can be aided by carefully-designed ceremonies that orchestrate the three stages of ritual passage’, believing ‘entire communities can conspire to transformation through […] public celebration’, as understood by ancient civilisations, in resonance with cosmic, natural forces. Jaimangal-Jones, Pritchard, & Morgan, quoted by Mohr (2017, pp.13–14), view ‘the journey to festivals as a pilgrimage that touches liminal spaces, illuminates rites of passage, and acts as a source of spiritual fulfillment for the participants’. So, these events are recognised as hyperliminal ‘given the facilitation of multiple pathways and the maximisation of potential’ (St. John & Baldini, 2012, pp.530). There is a distinction between festivals based on the concert model and festivals based on a social experience model (Yeganegy, 2012).
‘In form and function, Burning Man is the quintessential transformational festival, and its popularity illustrates the steadily growing demand for meaning-making through exceptional intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritually transformative experiences’ (Bottorff, 2015, p.56). ‘Interactivity amongst its citizens is the highest form of entertainment and interpersonal spontaneous self-expression is performance’ (Clupper, 2007, p.224).
‘Boom might well be the closest we have come in the last 2000 years to knowing what Eleusian initiation felt like’ (Boom Festival, 2018, p.15). Held in Ancient Greece, the Mysteries of Eleusis was ‘an event […] after which people went back home deeply transformed’ (Boom Festival, 2018, p.15). The Boom Festival origin is influenced by the psychedelic culture of Goa, with an ethos of Love, Freedom, and Sustainability (Boom Festival Official Page, 2018). Some of its humanitarian and ecologically motivated participants can be considered to respond to personal, cultural, and world crises (St. John, quoted by Bennett, Taylor & Woodward, 2016).
Boutique events ‘are defined via their distinction from concert-model festivals’ (Knight et al., quoted by Yeganegy, 2012, p.148). The boutique event differentiates itself by including musical acts and promoting extreme participation. Boutique festivals position themselves as superior and alternative to mass festivals due to an intimate-scale offer. Before their proliferation, Glastonbury mastered profile artists and multiple arts programming (Yeganegy, 2012). The term ‘boutique’ is sometimes interchangeable with the term ‘transformational’ (St. John, 2015). Based on transformational architecture, they are aimed at a middle-class market, ‘participatory […], involving “ethical living”, possessing no commercial sponsorship, offering diverse dance music genres and lifestyle workshops and often “upmarket amenities”’ (St. John, 2015, p.8), distinguishing themselves by offering countercultural authenticity in the experience design, for which it is critical to move away from programming based on the ‘main stage’ and an experience co-creation with the participants, through performance or dance. They should be considered places of identity creation through meetings with other participants, rather than characterised as major festivals in terms of audience numbers, artists’ popularity, or fireworks (Schmidt, 2015).
Transformational festivals researched theoretical contributions are resumed in Table 2.
Transformational festivals theoretical support – main works by theme (own elaboration)
The problem is to validate a transformational festival concept that considers its distinct classic festival themes and the strategic market evaluation in its design. We raised the following research questions related to the research scheme (Figure 1):
Figure 1:
Research scheme (own elaboration)
Q1:
Q2:
Q3:
Q4:
With this approach, we were able to address the general research aim of evaluating, selecting, and validating strategic alternatives for implementing a transformational festival. Relevant data were collected through literature review, questionnaires (H1–H6), and focus group (q2.1–q2.12). Additional interviews were done, both in the exploratory phase (q1.1–q1.4) and to validate the concept (q3–q6).
We first studied the classic and transformational festivals’ definition, origin, and researched themes. Second, by content analysing, in Nvivo, the semi-structured exploratory interview, we understood some festival indicators through frequency analysis, which guided the following literature review and framed our understanding of what transformational festivals are and what is crucial in their design. Third, a randomised inquiry to the population was made in the municipality on which market we intend to evaluate the festival implementation, during a weekend when two free entrance events were being produced: a community expo for families and a water sports competition. By selecting this place and date, we could inquire about a diversified sociodemographic sample that included locals and visitors. The data frequency analysis, crossed with market research and other studies (Aporfest, 2018; Aporfest, 2019), allows us to estimate the festival market potential.
Considering that the literature review points out that transformational festivals are a confluence of several countercultural events, such as the west coast North American festivals, UK free festivals, Goa Trance/psytrance, and psychedelic electronica, or boutique (with a superior positioning); that they are rooted in the ritual ecstasy of electronic music dance; are located outdoors in nature; resist alienation and commodification in modern society, rejecting sponsorship, logos, and VIPs; are attended by carnivalesque, spiritual, hippie, bohemian, artistic, boutique, and ravers segments; and are distinct from concert-model festivals, we defined the following specific research hypothesis for the questionnaire:
The questionnaire was composed of four sections: 1) Behavioural segmentation – benefits, purchase behaviour, usage patterns, attitude towards the product or service and media channels; 2) Behavioural segmentation – conceptual preferences; 3) Demographic, geographic, and psychographic segmentation; 4) Open question about critical success factors when choosing a festival over other. The demand profile was generated by frequency analysis. Due to the limited time usage of the SPSS software trial (15 days), and to maximise the outputs of this tool, we decided to run a battery of tests, followed by data analysis. Of all the tests made, the ones that are relevant to this article are the correlational and experimental between transformational festivals participation and other variables such as participation in festivals outside Portugal, their acceptance of brand advertising at the venue, their preferred location, their preferred music style, their identification with stereotypes and the critical success factors of the festivals that would influence their choice between competitors, among other variables such as sociodemographic segmentation. We ran the following statistical tests: biserial point, Chi-square, Pearson, Spearman, and Kruskal-Wallis, followed by Mann-Whitney, Mann-Whitney and T-student, followed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality tests and Levene’s homogeneity of variance tests, depending on the variables under study.
Fourth, by content analysing, in Nvivo, the semi-structured focus group script and outputs, which counted on the participation of four local stakeholders, twelve sub-research questions were generated and evaluated through frequency analysis to evaluate strategic alternatives for the festival concept and design.
Lastly, a festival design was made that took into account the literature review, the results generated by the previous quantitative and qualitative tools, and the need to integrate adequacy, viability, and acceptance criteria, even though the first two criteria are directly connected to internal processes which remain confidential.
After defining the festival design, four semi-structured interviews were made and subject to content analysis in Nvivo with frequency analysis, to validate the festival concept. The first was made to a major national stakeholder to which the festival proposal was previously presented. This analysis was made from a business model perspective. The other three semi-structured interviews were done with specific local stakeholders, due to the particular knowledge needed to evaluate the specific matter at hand (local weather and acceptance of land usage, both of which were factors, with questions raised in previous qualitative analysis that would remain unanswered if these interviews were not done).
An exploratory interview was done with Dan Raffety, co-founder and managing director of Kambe Events, Shambala Festival producers (United Kingdom), in October 2017 in Katowice, Poland during WOMEX. Content analysis revealed that:
– Transformational festivals have their origins in ancestral festivities (q1.1)
– Sustainability has the strength to be a communicational pillar and the leading cause and motivation for a transformational festival production (q1.2)
– It is feasible to implement a festival whose key activities are electronic dance music and non-musical animations (q1.3)
– Destination resources are not valued to host a festival as, in terms of quality for the public and internal processes, no destination variables were addressed (q1.4).
The survey was held from 24–28 April 2019 in the Lourinhã municipality during EXPO Lourinhã and the World and European Freeride Championship events. A significant sample of the Portuguese population (
In a universe of 2,700,000 festivalgoers in Portugal annually (Aporfest, 2018), we estimate our potential market to be 670,000 attendees due to this being a festival with paid entrances. With five festivals competing on the selected date, the potential market, at a national level, reaches 111,658 participants. Nearly a quarter (22.62%) of respondents are willing to pay 50 euros or more for a daily ticket, which means a potential market of 29,717 participants, in line with the festival’s size of 30,000 participants. We consider that paying 51 euros per day will not be a deterrent for these potential customers. This value represents a potential market of 1,485,900 euros per day, 7,429,500 euros for a 5-day festival, in box office receipts alone. With an estimated average consumption of around 20.75 euros per participant per day, the potential market for sales inside the venue amounts to 3,083,218 euros. Therefore, the potential market for the Portuguese market is 10,512,718 euros.
Participation in transformational festivals (TF) is significantly associated with and correlated to participation in festivals outside Portugal (H1; Figures 2 and 3).
Figure 2:
H1 – Participation abroad by TF participation (own elaboration)
Figure 3:
H1 – TF participation by external participation (own elaboration)
Transformational festival participation is associated with and correlated to the rejection of trademarks (H2; Figures 4 and 5).
Figure 4:
H2 – Brand rejection by TF participation (own elaboration)
Figure 5:
H2 – Brand rejection by TF participation (own elaboration)
Transformational festivals are associated and correlated with their realisation in nature, outside urban centres (H3; Figures 6 and 7).
Figure 6:
H3 – Venue preference by TF participation (own elaboration)
Figure 7:
H3 – Venue preference by TF participation (own elaboration)
Transformational festivals are associated and correlated with electronic dance music (H4; Figure 8).
Figure 8:
H4 – Electronic music preference by TF participation (own elaboration)
Participation in transformational festivals is associated with and correlated to spiritualist, hippie, artistic, ravers, and Generation X segments. Carnivalesque reveals lower participation (H5; Figure 9).
Figure 9:
Participation in TF by stereotype identification (own elaboration)
Transformational festivals’ critical success factors are not associated with profile artists. Crossing the variables ‘participation in transformational festivals’ and ‘critical success factors’, a significant association was generated (H6; Figure 10).
Figure 10:
H6 – Transformational festivals CSF (own elaboration)
As no significant associations were generated at the level of profile artists, and to understand what event quality means for the segments associated with transformational festivals, we researched the critical success factors associated with each segment. Chi-square tests excluded ‘don’t know’ answers to participation in transformational festivals. Mann-Whitney tests included them.
In the spiritualist segment (Table 3), significant and correlational associations were generated with the critical success factors ‘alternatives to new experiences/alternative activities’, ‘outdoor space (welcoming)’, ‘food conditions’, ‘party’, ‘personal taste’, ‘organisation image’, ‘informality’, ‘message that transmits’, ‘where one feels at home’, ‘temporal period’, ‘performers’, ‘being outside the box’, and ‘show type’. A significant association with ‘costs’ was also reported.
Spiritualists’ critical success factors (own elaboration)
| CSF | S - NS | Chi-square |
Mann-Whitney |
p | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternatives to new experiences/alternative activities | 4.3%–0.0% | 11.349 | 0.001 | 162.14–155.5 | 5962.5 | 0.001 |
| Outdoor space – welcoming | 4.3%–0.4% | 6.304 | 0.012 | 161.64–155.59 | 5986 | 0.012 |
| Food conditions | ||||||
| Party | ||||||
| Personal taste | ||||||
| Organisation image | ||||||
| Informality | ||||||
| Message that transmits | 2.1%–0.0% | 5.656 | 0.017 | 159.32–156 | 6095 | 0.018 |
| Where one feels at home | ||||||
| Temporal period | ||||||
| Performers | ||||||
| Being outside the box | ||||||
| Show type | ||||||
| Costs | 4.3%–0.8% | 3.865 | 0.049 | 161.14–155.68 | 6009.5 | 0.05 |
Note: S – Spiritualist; NS – Non-spiritualist
For a better understanding of Tables 3 to 7, and taking the first line of Table 3 as an example, when we report a significant association, it means that there is a significant association between a critical success factor (in this case, ‘alternatives to new experiences/alternative activities’), and the identification with a stereotype (in this case, spiritualist),
As for the hippie segment (Table 4), significant associations and correlations were generated with the critical success factors ‘food conditions’, ‘festival philosophy’, ‘festival ideology’, ‘rural location’, ‘choice of preference at the moment’, ‘local sustainability’, ‘accessibility’, ‘musicians’, ‘toilet conditions’, ‘music/musical offer’, and ‘conditions’.
Hippies’ critical success factors (own elaboration)
| CSF | H – NH | Chi-square |
Mann-Whitney |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food conditions | ||||||
| Festival philosophy | ||||||
| Festival ideology | ||||||
| Rural location | 7.1%–0.0% | 21.354 | 0.000 | 167.14–156.05 | 1937 | 0.000 |
| Option of preference at the moment | ||||||
| Local sustainability | ||||||
| Accessibility |
7.1%–0.3% | 9.729 | 0.002 | 166.64–156.02 | 1944 | 0.002 |
| Toilet conditions | 7.1%–0.7% | 5.881 | 0.015 | 166.14–156.05 | 1951 | 0.015 |
| Music/musical offer | 35.7%–14.8% | 4.433 | 0.035 | 187.71–155.03 | 1649 | 0.036 |
| Conditions | 7.1%–1.0% | 3.978 | 0.046 | 165.64–156.07 | 1958 | 0.046 |
Note: H – Hippie; NH – Non-hippie
For the artistic segment (Table 5), significant associations and correlations were generated with the critical success factors ‘alternatives to new experiences/activities’, ‘overnight stay/accommodation conditions’, ‘event quality’, ‘value’, ‘spirit’, ‘festival philosophy’, ‘festival ideology’, ‘environmental logistics’, ‘message that transmits’, ‘cultural offer’, ‘temporal period’, ‘beach’, and ‘noise’.
Artistics’ critical success factors (own elaboration)
| CSF | A - NA | Chi-square |
Mann-Whitney |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternatives to new experiences/alternative activities | ||||||
| Overnight stay/accommodation conditions | 3.4%–0.0% | 8.815 | 0.003 | 160.88–155.5 | 7112 | 0.003 |
| Event quality | ||||||
| Value | ||||||
| Spirit | ||||||
| Festival philosophy | ||||||
| Festival ideology | ||||||
| Environmental logistics | ||||||
| Message that transmits | 1.7%–0.0% | 4.393 | 0.036 | 158.69–156 | 7239 | 0.036 |
| Cultural offer | ||||||
| Temporal period | ||||||
| Beach | ||||||
| Noise |
Note: A – Artistic; NA – Non-artistic
Regarding the ravers’ segment (Table 6), associations and correlations were generated with the critical success factors ‘option of preference at the moment’ and ‘organisation’.
Ravers’ critical success factors (own elaboration)
| CSF | R - NR | Chi-square ( |
Mann-Whitney ( |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The option of preference at the moment | 7.1%–0.0% | 21.354 | 0.000 | 167.14–156 | 1937 | 0.000 |
| Organisation | 7.1%–0.7% | 5.881 | 0.015 | 166.14–156.05 | 1951 | 0.015 |
Note: R – Ravers; NR – Non-ravers
As for the Generation X segment (Table 7), associations and correlations were generated with the critical success factors ‘venue commodities’, ‘fewer people than big festivals’, ‘offer’, ‘possibility to see all artists and not simultaneously’, ‘show type’, ‘availability’, ‘landscape’, ‘musicians’, and ‘organisation’.
Generation X’s critical success factors (own elaboration)
| CSF | X - NX | Chi-square |
Mann-Whitney |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue commodities | ||||||
| Fewer people than big festivals | ||||||
| Offer | 5.9%–0.0% | 17.409 | 0.000 | 165.18–156 | 2360 | 0.000 |
| Possibility to see all the artists and not simultaneously | ||||||
| Show type | ||||||
| Availability | ||||||
| Landscape | 5.9%–0.3% | 7.755 | 0.005 | 164.68–156.03 | 2368.5 | 0.005 |
| Musicians | ||||||
| Organisation | 5.9%–0.7% | 4.572 | 0.033 | 164.18–156.06 | 2377 | 0.033 |
Note: X – Generation X; NX – Non-Generation X
Focus group (
It is necessary to work the logistics strongly to hold a festival in the municipality; the venue is primary in this regard. Despite the positive global equipment evaluation, due to contingencies related to Praia da Areia Branca, which raised questions about venue selection, the resources were valued with a low positive value (duality between coast attractiveness and potential resources inland). Accessibility is average. The local attraction was evaluated negatively due to the municipality’s lack of investment and capability and the extreme positions of geographical and capital investment (q2.2).
Sustainability must be a vital cause and a communication component, rather than electronic music. Social and environmental sustainability cause dimensions were the most addressed (q2.3).
Potential locations for a transformational festival exist, despite accommodation limitations and depending on attendance. Location choice depends on typology, date, and customer segments. Its production along the coast is conditioned by accommodation and sanitation capacities and territorial planning. Locations away from the coast are conditioned by Sun and Sea demand (main touristic attraction). Praia da Areia Branca and Areal are the best festival locations. The best evaluations for an electronic music festival were Moledo / Planalto das Cesaredas, Santuário da Misericórdia, and Dino Parque (q2.4).
The feasibility of holding a transformational festival without brand sponsorship is unlikely (strong cause or high return to raise sponsors is needed). Patronage financing was rejected. Despite brands saturate the festival space, it is difficult not to have them. Sponsors should be of national level (q2.5).
Support services implementation for users of psychoactive substances, at the prevention level, is feasible, as long as it is accompanied by authorities’ control, at the protection level. Substances’ existence and usage must not be ignored, and a hearty, serious, and positive collaboration with competent authorities should be established. The prevention dimension was unanimous, mainly through prevention support departments. The protection
Regarding musical programming, the demand for music, a unique musical experience, and differentiation were acknowledged. Diversification and profile artists are important for success. There is a need to filter the right people to create the ambiance through music and unity. Profile artists are important but not fundamental: the experienced ambiance is fundamental. Regional competition has many concerts and bands, with good artists, promoted by municipal promotional machines to promote identity at a low-cost offer that does not pay the structure and does not create impact, which is a problem to the supply. The exclusive use of electronic music was rejected (due to its difficulty to be entertaining during the day). Non-musical animation is essential and adds value. The animation between the concerts is essential to create ambiance (joy). The learning program counters the distance for the scientific component, being possible to target workshops at electronic festivals. Experience contextualisation is essential, through music or education, for learning. Creating various points for people to move around makes sense, adding value for the participant (q2.7).
Several times the festival typology was questioned: the people it attracts and if these people were the desired target. The difference between Generation X and Millennial opportunities was addressed. There is a need to attract external audiences and filter them to create ambiance through music and union. Niches are big markets, and everyone is welcome. Transformational festivals and municipality touristic segments are not perceived as aligned. Program and communication need to consider the locals’ attendance (q2.8).
The climate is a severe threat outside the high season. Competition analysis is mandatory for date selection (avoid major festivals; national competition is concentrated in August). The date depends on age. Mass festivals are in summer when youths move more. During the high season, there is a high offer (from July 15 to August 15) when it would be necessary to ‘stick the festival’ there. During the off-season, a regular festival could be inland. The average season (June 15–July 15) may be ideal. From August 15 on is a possibility: demand decreases until October. June and July would be good to attract people if the festival is differentiated. September was not out of the question (q2.9).
Opening hours must be 24 hours/day, with more or less noise, including non-musical animation (q2.10).
There is potential for a big festival of 3,000 to 50,000 people. These numbers shift to between 1,000 to 5,000 people if only electronic music is offered, but this is not advised with 10,000 people (q2.11).
Pricing demands evaluation of several variables. Values varied between 40 to 75 euros daily and 100 to 250 euros for the pass (q2.12).
Further on, Maria Magalhães, Diana Cross’s partner, was interviewed.
The value proposition was considered, as it can work in terms of product (is ‘an excellent and super ambitious initiative’). An international positioning was advised, as internally, it is a paradox, as 20% reject trademarks in events. The advantage is to be in the movement where the alternative is becoming mainstream. The association with drug use is difficult; nonetheless, the proposed festival is more sophisticated and international, outside the commercial circuit (q3.1).
Regarding key activities, necessary staff are a team of two people working in marketing (executive production, sponsors) and communication, a graphic designer, an organigram, a team with know-how, and a senior structure (q3.2).
All brands must be aligned with the event’s mission and positioning. A co-production with a foreign producer is decisive to leverage the project. The municipality can provide support for the venue. Brands are vain and want to shine, associating themselves with things that have notoriety. Musa Festival had a difficult time fundraising due to the behaviour associated with reggae, retracting brands (q3.3).
Concerning revenue streams, the sponsorship strategy has to be international, not national, to support 50% of the business model. The brands contacted may not be consumer brands but business-to-business. It is difficult to attract mainstream brands as they also compete for transformation. Besides contacting 30,000 people, some other things may be necessary for the brands to ‘take home’. It makes sense to sell naming rights for 5 or 10 years. In the internal market, mainstream brands are the ones that have investment power. There is the need to be sensitive to political themes; there is nothing worse than negative publicity. A price of up to 50 euros daily is not bad but depends on the investment (q3.4).
An event of this size is made for an international target. ‘Do something hippie-chic’ (q3.5).
It is essential to consider how communication will be made to the main target concerning customer relationships. One of the suppliers was considered the best in the market. It is a paradox: a big event and investment for a niche (q3.6).
Regarding other business model dimensions such as key resources, channels, and cost structure, no relevant indicators were raised besides the need for a good website, a communication strategy, and a budget cost structure (q3.7; q3.8; q3.9).
Three additional and shorter interviews were done with owners of a beach concessionaire in Praia da Areia Branca and two landowners of critical properties in Moledo, one for the main stage and the other for the main pedestrian access and a good camping site. Results of the former (q4.1) included the evidence that September had better weather conditions than August during the previous years, despite the touristic demand getting lower, while results of the latter (q5.1; q6.1) included the availability to lend the lands for free after the harvest, in September.
The literature review and the exploratory interview were clear regarding the connection between transformational festivals and ancestral festivities (Mohr, 2017; Johner quoted by Mohr, 2017; Partridge quoted by Taylor, 2015).
The questionnaire results suggest market potential and that transformational festival participants are more informed than nonparticipants due to their participation outside Portugal. The trademark rejection by these participants (Gauthier, 2013; Ruane, 2017) confirmed their preference for venues in nature and their preference for electronic dance music (TEDxTalks, 2011). From all the segments identified in the literature as attending transformational festivals (Gauthier, 2013; Yeganegy, 2012; Bottorff, 2015), bohemians and carnivalesque were not confirmed, the latter of which we believe is connected with the fact that one of the biggest carnivals in Portugal takes place in a nearby municipality, with high community participation. The research confirmed that profile artists are not transformational festival critical success factors (as we can understand from Yeganegy, 2012; Schmidt, 2015; Mohr, 2017), namely, when analysing each segment related to transformational festivals participation.
The focus group analysis suggests that the choice of holding a transformational festival in the municipality, given its lower acceptability and suitability than other typologies, will have to prevail by its feasibility. It may require combinatory, exploratory, and transformational creativity by adopting a hybrid model.
Based upon the market research done through the above-quoted instruments, as well as by the usage of several strategic marketing analyses, a transformational festival concept was created with a hybrid model, using aspects of the concert model and the boutique model, based upon the Glastonbury Festival example. Glastonbury strategically uses symbolic mythology and pagan traditions to construct the mystical narrative (Jensen, quoted by Flinn & Frew, 2013). Based upon the other studied transformational festivals as examples, allowing the customers to choose their hyperliminal path throughout the venue without compromising their experience avoids excess commercial exposure. On the other hand, customers who are not sensitive to this matter can be exposed to design concepts they are not usually aware of by careful and integrated programming between areas and stages, working the audience’s acceptance in the medium-long term by encouraging a move from spectatorship to participation. This concept will not be revealed in this paper due to confidentiality matters. This transformational festival hybrid concept was validated, and it was possible to create a hybrid product without losing the transformational festival’s main characteristics.
This research indicates that transformational festival participants’ behaviour perception may condition their acceptability and financing, despite its personal, social, environmental, and economic paradigmatic importance. Since the beginning of mankind, the role of ritual celebration, facilitating a socialisation time-space that stimulates consciousness evolution, must be acknowledged. These research results reiterate some variables related to the transformational festivals studies and provide a framework for festival producers to design a concept that can contribute to a sustainable transformation of society while keeping the authenticity of the experience and addressing the demand needs.
The research was limited by the stakeholders’ acceptance of participation in the qualitative research. Many interviewees and focus group participants did not answer the challenge or did not show up at the time and place scheduled, especially in the public sector. Applying the questionnaire in a transformational festival context could give more accurate insights into the indicators. The sample was collected conveniently, without any specific criteria that would approximate the data collection to market universe conditions. Despite this, the market potential was adjusted accordingly, considering studies that indicated the festival attendance in Portugal (Aporfest, 2018; Aporfest, 2019).
The interview to validate the concept was done when the business model was not completely closed, which made it impossible to evaluate other variables besides its concept.
Tra nsformational festivals have features that resemble the more classical festival definitions (Mohr, 2017). Transformational festivals are based on rites and rituals, spirituality, pilgrimage, myths, and symbols, also through spectacle (Bottorff, 2015; Hastings, 2015; Jaimangal-Jones, Pritchard, & Morgan quoted by Mohr, 2017). They are festivals centred on love, take place in nature, and their pillars are electronic dance music, learning, spirituality, and social transformation (Taylor, 2015; Bloom Series quoted by Mohr, 2017). Other essential aspects are the focus on participation as opposed to passivity, its occurrence in hyperliminal time-space, and mysticism (Yeganegy, 2012; Jensen quoted by Flinn & Frew, 2013; St. John & Baldini, 2012).
Market data collection suggests market feasibility, with a potential annual market of 29,717 participants and 10,512,718 euros in direct revenue.
Transformational festivals’ participation is associated and correlated to outside-Portugal participation, the rejection of trademarks, a preference for a venue in the countryside/forest, the preference for electronic dance music, the spiritualist, hippie, artistic, ravers, and Generation X segments, and certain critical success factors for each segment.
Generated results pointed to low stakeholder acceptability of holding transformational festivals in the Lourinhã municipality. Simultaneously, it responded to the problem of brand rejection by participants in transformational festivals. Thus, implementing a transformational festival is limited to a hybrid model that will gain more external acceptance and the need to escape the practices commonly used in the communication of brands in events. This model must consider the demand for profile artists by stakeholders and some segments, although it is not a critical success factor in the segments associated and correlated to transformational festivals. The transformational festival hybrid model concept that takes into account the strategic evaluation defined by stakeholders was validated.
The research was limited by the main stakeholders’ rejection to participate, the questionnaire generalist sample, and the uncertainty of some business model variables before the concept validation interview. Future investigation lines may include applying the same methodology or data collection with minimal interference from the researchers in a transformational festival context.