Festival Management: A Case Study Perspective WENDY FRISBY AND DONALD GETZ

A case study analysis offestival management ispresented to determine how the tourism potential of these events can be improved. The results highlight some of the unique management problems that festival organizers face which are often a reflection of the stage ofgrowth ofthe organization and stage in the product life cycle. Recommendations for festival organizers and tourism agencies are provided. Festivals generally are viewed by their organizers and host communities as being social or cultural celebrations. More and more, they are also being viewed as tourist attractions which have a considerable economic impact on the surrounding region. Undoubtedly, the ability of festivals to become successful tourist attractions depends in part on their goals and the way in which they are managed. Getz and Frisby( 1988) have shown that festival managers face a number of unique challenges. For example, the events do not operate on an on-going basis but are held only for a few days or weeks once a year. They also depend heavily on volunteer groups and individuals to stage the event. Although the volunteers often have a strong commitment and are willing to devote considerable time to a variety of activities, they may not have much training or expertise in their area of involvement. In addition, community members may view the festival not as a money-making tourist attraction but rather an enjoyable community-based event which is a reflection of their town's culture and history. In either instance, fund raising and staffing are major on-going concerns. Getz and Frisby (1988) also found that although the number offestivals is growing rapidly, many of them (at least in the Province of Ontario, Canada) are unsophisticated from a managerial standpoint. Strategies for understanding and exploiting the external environment are often not in place, very few of the festivals were engaged in goal setting, marketing, strategic planning, and organized fund-raising ventures and accurate measures of attendance and economic impacts often were not available. The question remains as to why so many festivals are unsophisticated from a managerial point of view. Is this a function of the stage of growth ofthe organization, are resources for development lacking, or is there outright resistence toward a more business-like approach to management? A more complete understanding of festival management clearly is needed if festivals' tourism potential is to be maximized. The purpose of this article is to report on three case studies of festivals which varied according to stage of growth and degree of managerial sophistication. These variables are important considerations since the management strategies

used and some of the problems encountered by festival organizers depend on these factors. Katz ( 1981) proposed a natural history of organizational growth based on five successive stages: (1) origin, (2) informal organization, (3) emergence of leadership, (4) formal organization, and (5) professionalization. However, he noted that not all types of volunteer-based organizations reach the last two stages of development. This may be the case for many festival organizations. Getz and Frisby (1988) found that managerial sophistication did not always increase as a festival's history lengthened. Some organizers may see festivals as recreational pursuits that should be managed on a somewhat loose and informal basis. Others may resist the trend toward professionalism because they fear that community involvement and control may diminish if a "business-like" approach develops. There may also be a concern that the event will become a "tourist trap" in which authenticity diminishes or disappears and problems of overcrowding and commercialism take over. On the other hand, the festival is not likely to survive and become financially more viable if it is marketed to visitors beyond the immediate local area. Another management concept to be taken into account when analyzing festivals is the notion of product life cycle. Organizations go through successive stages of growth, but their programs also must respond to changes in clientele demand. Managers face different challenges as programs move through the introduction, growth and development, maturity, saturation and decline stages of the product life cycle (Lovelock and Weinberg 1984). This is particularly true for those who are managing intangible goods and services. Getz (1988) has shown that special event products can be defined from several different perspectives, including tourism, organization, community development, and visitor benefits. An initial challenge facing festival managers is to decide what balance of goals from these different product orientations best suits their particular festival. Issues such as these were addressed in the case study analyses.

Wendy Frisby and Donald Getz are in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. The University of Waterloo. The authors gratefully acknowledge that this study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through the Strategic Management Seed Grant Program.

Initially, it was thought that growth and life cycle stages could be determined by analyzing variables such as the number of years the festival had been in existence, attendance figures, size of operating budgets, board structures, and the degree of managerial sophistication (e.g., the existence of marketing plans, etc.). An analysis of Getz and Frisby's

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(1988) data set on Ontario festival management showed that the festivals could not easily be placed into neat categories. For example, some of the festivals which had been in existence the longest were held in small communities and had neither large operating budgets nor large attendance figures. Other festivals were kept going mainly by one or two key volunteers who did not keep formal records such as job descriptions, marketing plans, or financial documents. Therefore, a decision was made to select three case studies from this data set for further analysis. The selection was based on the number of years that the festival had been in existence and the degree of managerial sophistication (see Exhibit 1). Two of the festivals are considered to be quite old by Ontario standards as they have been in existence for more than 25 years. However, one is held in a larger city during the spring, has a substantial budget and large attendance and, although volunteers contribute substantially to the organization of the event, has paid professionals working year-round on festival business (Case # 1). In contrast, the other "old" event is held in the winter in a small community, is run on a low budget with far fewer visitors, and is managed exclusively by volunteers (Case #2). The final case is a very new festival which has been held for only three years. The event takes place in the autumn in a small community with a limited budget. This organization is in the early stages of growth; no attendance records are in existence, no financial records are kept and no decision-making board exists (Case #3). It was felt that these three cases would provide a good range of festivals for comparative purposes. A semi-focused interview schedule for key individuals in each festival organization was based on the conceptual framework for examining festival effectiveness developed by Getz and Frisby (1988). The framework uses systems theory and emphasizes the influence on the internal organization of the social, cultural, political, economic, and community environment in which the organization operates. In addition, respondents were asked how human, financial and material resources are transformed through various management processes into desired outcomes. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted, and a content analysis was performed on any existing written material such as program brochures, annual reports, or visitor surveys. The data were then analyzed under each of the headings in the conceptual framework.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The Environment The theme of each of the festivals was linked to cultural and historical characteristics of each host committee as well

as the season in which it was held. (Poor climatic conditions can seriously affect the staging of these one-time events.) The uncertainty ofthe organizational environment is evident in all cases as there have been many changes in sponsors as well as responsibility for hosting the event. At various times, boards of trade, chambers of commerce, bicentennial committees, convention and tourist bureaus or the municipalities themselves have been in charge of the events. An interesting finding was that Case # 1 and Case #3 now have their own festival committee, while Case # 2 operates through the local chamber of commerce. Regardless of the stage of growth, all three festivals relied heavily on community networks to stage their events. Examples of contributing groups included churches, minor sport associations, high schools, Kiwanis, Lions/Lionesses, horticultural societies, merchant associations, Boy Scouts/Girl Guides, firefighters, and Legions. While these groups assisted the festivals through sponsorship, by running venues during the event and by providing volunteers to decision-making committees, the groups often benefited directly through their participation. Festival participation provided an opportunity for these groups to enhance their profile within the community as well as to raise funds through their venue activity. However, while involvement of a wide range of community groups fosters community development, it greatly increases the complexity of managing the festival. Each of these groups has its own goals and self-serving interests which can pose decision-making difficulties.

Inputs As mentioned previously, volunteer representatives from a number of community groups are vital human resources. Interested individuals also playa prominent decision-making role. In Case #3 committee members had a wide range of occupations, while in the more established festivals (Case # 1 and Case #2), mostly merchants and business people were involved. Perhaps as a festival becomes more established, local businesspeople have more to gain by being involved in festival committees and boards. Case # I, which was the largest festival examined, had two other types of human resources: consultants, who were brought in to provide advice at times when the festival appeared to be experiencing a decline, and a full-time general manager and a full-time programmer, who were hired to cope with increased problems and a rising deficit. Acquiring financial resources appeared to be an on-going problem for all three cases. Each year a considerable amount of effort was spent on fund-raising activities such as acquiring sponsors, donations, and grants. Other fund-raising activities

EXHIBIT 1 DESCRIPTION OF CASE STUDY SAMPLE Criterion

Case #1

Case #2

Case #3

Age

Began 1953 Spring

Began 1948 Winter

Autumn

Setting Activities

Large city Parade, races, ethnic events, sales, dances, entertainment

Small town Parade, games, crafts, food

Organizational structure

Incorporated

Small town Parade, ice sculptures, sports, dances, races, sales Not incorporated One part-time employee of chamber of commerce $5,000 5,000

Volunteer president, organizing committees

Season

Operating budget

Paid staff, board of directors, operating committees $500,000

Attendance

300,000+

8

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Began 1984

Not incorporated

$500 800

included selling souvenirs and special events such as casinos. Interviews with key individuals in all cases revealed that sponsors change constantly, and raising funds from community groups, local businesses and the municipality becomes increasingly difficult. Most donations are very small so a wide number of contacts must be made. Festivals sometimes find it easier to get donations related to facilities and material resources. Typically the municipalities do not charge for on-site locations, and free publicity is often available from the local media. Community groups often provide any equipment and materials that are needed to operate a booth or stage a special event such as a parade, contest, dancing, or entertainment.

Intraorganizational Processes The planning function of festival management includes such activities as goal setting, decision making and marketing. Case # 1 is the most advanced organization with respect to this area. Goals which relate primarily to attendance, profit making and marketing tend to be defined clearly and shared by board members. The board is made up of influential people from the business community and has the constitutional power to make all policy, financial and staffing decisions. Day-to-day operational decisions are handled by a full-time general manager. Marketing is also becoming an integral part of management; recently, the city's recreation department commissioned a major market study to assess the festival's markets and the economic impact of the festival, as well as compile visitor profiles. Using this information, the board can set more accurate attendance targets (both local and tourist) and can devise more effective advertising strategies. This festival organization spends about four months ofthe year in three planning stages: evaluation and idea generation, planning the next event and implementation. In contrast, Case #2 (which has existed as long as Case # 1) and the newly established Case # 3 are very unsophisticated with respect to planning. Neither has formal goals or constitutions and marketing plans are nonexistent. Ad hoc decision-making committees depend on the availability of volunteers and the urgency of the situation. Key individuals in these festivals can provide rough estimates of their target markets, but these claims have not been substantiated through visitor surveys. Advertising tends to be haphazard and both festivals attempt to get as much free publicity as possible. The explanation for the differences in planning can be traced to the second managerial function of "influencing." The leadership provided in Case # 1 is much more professional and business-like, reflecting the education, experience and attitudes of those who hold key decision-making positions. The coordinator of the festival in Case # 2 works for the local chamber of commerce, while the chairperson in Case # 3 is an enthusiastic volunteer. Both of these individuals have other responsibilities and are unable to provide full-time leadership to the festival. Cases # 2 and # 3 also seem to have more volunteer turnover and fewer business people on boards and committees. It should be pointed out, however, that these two festivals may be getting wider representation from their community than the more business-like festival in Case # 1. As might be expected, Case # 1 (which is legally incorporated) was more organized than the other two festivals. The 1O-member board does not operate the festival but sets policy and helps acquire resources and publicity. The general manager usually hand picks the working committee members, who often have a vested interest in a successfully run event. Job and committee responsibilities are clearly defined and volunteer turnover is not a big problem. The separation of the

board of directors from operating committees (e.g., fund raising, marketing, programing, hospitality, personnel, special events) was unique compared to smaller communitybased festivals and represented a more sophisticated business approach to management. Case # 2 has not adopted a more professional approach to management. Because it is managed by a subcommittee of the local chamber of commerce it does not have a powerful board of directors. The festival is not legally incorporated and the committees are organized around program activities (e.g., special events and promotional gimmicks), not managerial functions. Volunteers are not trained but the subcommittee attempts to reward volunteer efforts. The general lack of specialization or formalization usually requires a small number of volunteers to take on enormous responsibilities, which eventually causes many volunteers to drop out. Human resource development then becomes a major problem, compounded by the small number of newcomers from which to recruit in this small town. According to the coordinator, this festival rises and falls with the volunteer base. In Case #3, a board does not exist and the festival is not legally incorporated. The organizing committee of more than 20 people is rather unwieldly because of its size. Each community group is responsible for one ofthe activities and has a representative on the organizing committee. The president of the committee feels that a major problem is that a small number of people do the majority of the work. She realizes that as the festival gains in popularity, changes will have to be made in the organizational structure. However, just coordinating the events takes a lot of time and therefore less emphasis is placed on long-range planning. The coordinator feels that, because of lack of funding, a paid staff person probably will not be hired in the near future, even though this is desirable. The two older festivals (Cases #1 and #2) have more sophisticated methods of organizational control than does the new festival (Case #3). Detailed accounts of revenues and expenses are kept in the two former instances while no financial records have been kept in the latter. However, even with revenues of just over $500,000 Case # 1 operated at a small deficit, resulting in a change in philosophy from providing free public events to a strong emphasis on revenue generation. This festival has operated at a deficit at several points during its history, and because of this problem a more professional management style was adopted. In fact, pursuing corporate sponsorships and donations and other fund-raising opportunities is now a prime responsibility of the board and general manager. Case #2 operated on a much smaller operating budget (approximately $5,000) which was controlled by the chamber of commerce. The festival operated on a small profit basis and surpluses were put back into the hosting of the next year's event. Money was raised by selling souvenirs and through sponsorships, dances, and food sales. Participating groups kept revenue that they made. As an additional way of inereasing revenues, admission into events is now being charged. Case # 3 also operated on a small budget but control was extremely loose as no financial records were kept. No estimates could be given as to how much revenue the various community groups make through their venues. At the time of the study, this festival had returned a very small profit for the first time and the proceeds were to be reinvested in prizes and promotions in the subsequent year. Although the volunteer president hoped that future events will be bigger and better, no formal plans were in place to improve methods of organizational control, and at this stage of development, the focus is almost totally on the organization of specific events. JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH

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Effectiveness and Stage of Growth The issue of organizational effectiveness remains complex. Even if the organization manipulates the environment well and secures desired inputs, the desired results cannot be guaranteed. Similarly, organizations that have become effective internally may not be effective when outcome indicators are examined. For example, in Case # 1 a financial deficit occurred even though this organization operates on a professional basis. Furthermore, the operative goals pursued by these organizations differ depending on the stage of growth and position in the product life cycle. For Case # 1 (which is professionally managed and has a saturated product due to increased competition), attendance targets and increases in tourism and revenue would be appropriate output measures. ForCase #2, making profits is much less of a concern as the focus is more on a community celebration. Output measures in this instance could include attracting repeat local visitors and assessing the degree of visitor satisfaction. ForCase #3, which is at the introductory stage of development, the emphasis is more on getting the activities off the ground. These case studies make apparent that a variety of effectiveness measures must be considered when examining festival management. However, many ofthese measures may be in conflict with one another. F or example, an improvement in management may occur if decision making is centralized with experienced business people, but this centralization may not contribute to community development if a wide range of representation is sought. The results of this case study analysis revealed that festivals do not necessarily move through the introduction, growth and development, maturity, saturation, and decline stages of the product life cycle in sequence. In fact, Case # 1 has moved through the last four stages several times. When a decline has seemed imminent, decisions were made to return to a growth and development stage. In contrast, Case # 2 appears to have remained at the maturation stage in which attendance stabilizes for a considerable amount of time. Similarly, Case # I has adopted many of the characteristics of the professional stage (Katz 1981) while Case #2 has not moved beyond the emergence ofleadership stage. Case # 3 is at the origin stage. Longitudinal research could provide valuable insight into how festival management evolves over time.

CONCLUSIONS Regardless of the case examined, the management of all three festivals is highly embedded in their respective community context. Little difference exists in the number and type of community involvements, and networks with community groups are an integral part of festival management. The environment can be described as being highly complex owing to the diverse range of community groups involved. Although each of the festivals has been held continuously since its inception, all three operate in a highly uncertain environment. Continual changes in sponsors, responsibility for management and unpredictable climatic conditions contribute to instability. Acquiring human and financial resources is the biggest problems that plague these organizations. Even the festivals which have been in existence for a long period of time and have full-time paid professionals have difficulty raising money and getting enough volunteers to run the event. Because the festivals do not rely on one predictable source of funding, they must work very hard to raise small amounts from numer10

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ous sources that often change from year to year. While each festival has a small group of volunteers that it can depend on, it often must struggle to get on-going commitments from a wide range of community groups to serve on boards and committees and to actually stage the event. In terms of planning, influencing, organizing, and controlling, Case # 1 has adopted the most professional approach to management. This evolution appears to be a response to product life cycle factors. Each time the festival has been close to decline and budget deficits have been mounting, improvements have been apparent in all four functional areas. In contrast, Case #2-which also has been in existence for over 25 years-has resisted the transition to a more professional style of management. This organization has no fulltime staff, no formal constitution, no marketing plans, and no planned strategy for dealing with volunteers. The emphasis seems to be more on offering an event that the community can enjoy (either as volunteers or participants) than on the more business-like objectives of profit making and increasing the number of tourists. With the fledgling Case #3, the managerial emphasis is clearly on trying to stage events that fit the festival theme rather than on adopting a professional approach to management. Thus far, the festival has just survived from one year to the next. It will be interesting to chart the growth of this festival over time to determine its developmental pattern.

Recommendations for Festival Managers (1) The festival theme and name should capitalize on environmental trends and the sociocultural history ofthe host community to facilitate marketing efforts. (2) A strategy should be developed to identify key organizations and individuals within the community and how they can contribute to the festival on an on-going basis. Festivals will need to examine the involvement of these groups to identify the benefits these groups contribute. (3) Realistic short- and long-range goals should reflect the stage of organizational growth and product life cycle. The development of strategic marketing plans based on visitor surveys would be particularly useful. (4) Festival managers should also (a) devise a human resource development strategy for recruiting, training, and rewarding volunteers, board members and paid staff; (b) set realistic budgets and financial goals (establishing accounting systems is also crucial); and (c) set realistic output goals which reflect the festival's stage of organizational growth and product life cycle. For evaluation to occur, the output goals must be written in a measurable fashion.

Recommendations for Tourism Agencies ( 1) Although not all community festivals have high potential for attracting tourists, there is probably no way to determine this potential in advance. Consequently, all festivals deserve attention and some support. (2) Key areas of support by tourist agencies should be (a) seed money during the critical early years and periodic downturns to stimulate effective management and marketing; (b) advice and technical support for conducting visitor surveys and preparing marketing plans; and (c) advice and leadership to help festivals develop networks and develop their event as a package of community offerings. (3) Tourism agencies should not focus on turning all festivals into tourist attractions; rather, they should foster high quality event management and products. Overemphasizing

tourism could cause serious problems for volunteer managers who have a primary responsibility to the community. Well run and authentic community celebrations will automatically have appeal to tourists. REFERENCES Getz, D. and W. Frisby (1988), "Evaluating Management Effectiveness in Community-Run Festivals," Journal ofTravelResearch, Summer, 22-27.

Getz, D. (1988), "Special Events: Refining the Product," Tourism Management (forthcoming). Howard, D. R. and J. L. Crompton (1980), Financing, Managing and Marketing Recreation and Park Resources, Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown. Katz, A. H. (1981), "Self Help and Mutual Aid: An Emerging Social Movement," Annual Review ofSociology, 129-155. Lovelock, C. H. and C. B. Weinberg (1984), Marketing for Public and Nonprofit Managers, Toronto: John Wiley and Sons.

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