What motivates stakeholders’ engagement with music festivals?

Abstract

This research focuses on what motivates stakeholders to engage in music festivals. Camden Rocks Festival and Camden Lock Live, amongst other music festivals have been used as case studies. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative research methods on a marketing manager of a venue in Camden, an events and marketing assistant of Camden Market and attendees of music festivals. Two electronic questionnaires were produced, one for residents of Camden who had attended Camden Rocks, and the other for general attendees of other music festivals. Two semi-structured interviews were also carried out. They both contained questions about their motivations for attending and impacts the event had on them. After the data had been collected the results were analysed and conclusions were made. The study found that there were many motivational factors influencing an individual to attend a music festival, including 'socialisation', 'uniqueness ' and 'entertainment'. There was a clear difference in primary motivations between males and females. Males preferred to attend the music festival to experience something new and different, whereas the females attended because they knew and liked the artists that were playing. There was also a clear distinction between secondary motivations and age groups. Younger people found food and drink to be their secondary motivators, whereas the older age groups found workshops, exhibitions, comedy and spoken word acts to be their secondary motivators. The study also found that event tourism is important for a destination as it benefits stakeholders through increased revenue, destination promotion and building a sense of community.