FestivalsA Look at Perceived Social Impactsof Cultural Events by Saad Alzarooni

Festivals A Look at Perceived Social Impacts of Cultural Events

Submitted to: Professor Keith Sawyer DMGT 755 Idea Management in Business By: Saad Aqeel MFA-Candidate Design Management

Savannah College of Art and Design Winter 2010

Contents Introduction Network Theory Research Approach Case 1- International Festival-SCAD Case 2- Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association Case 3- Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD Analysis Discussion and Conclusion Learning Reflections References

1 2-3 4 5 6 7 8-9 10-11 12 13

List of Tables Table 1. Sustainability Measure result of International Festival-SCAD Table 2. Social Impact Perception Scale of International Festival-SCAD Table 3. Sustainability Measure result of Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association Table 4. Social Impact Perception Scale of Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association Table 5. Sustainability Measure result of Festival of Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD Table 6. Social Impact Perception Scale of Festival of Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD

14 15 16 17 18 19

Appendices Appendix 1. Interview Questions Appendix 2. Suitability Measure Appendix 3. Social Impact Perception Scale

20 21 22

Abstract This research investigates festival organizersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perceptions of the social impacts of their events on local communities. Information gathered from three festivals were used to capture these impacts. Findings showed that festivals provide a cultural opportunity not usually available in the community. These events also provide showcase for various local cultural groups and artists. Given the social and cultural impacts of many of these events along with its potential to serve as social platform for community engagement, it is evident that further research efforts are needed in this area.

Introduction Festivals take in a diverse range of themes from food and wine to multi-faceted celebrations, such as multicultural festivals. Typically, they originate within the community context in response to the need or desire to celebrate their unique identity 1. The increasing popularity of festivals together with their potential positive impacts in host communities, has led to a growing body of research on the impacts of festivals and events. The economic implications associated with festivals and special events are substantial, yet their social implications may be even more profound. Unfortunately, much research has focused on assessing the economic impact or success of festivals, with only limited attention to the social context of those events 2. The purpose of this research is to explore the festival organizersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perceptions of the social impacts of festivals, and seek insights for design management as regards to what community engagement means in terms of sustainable practice of planning and managing festivals and cultural events. 1.Douglas, N., Douglas, N., & Derrett, R. (Eds.). (2002). Special interest tourism: context and cases. Australia: John Wiley and Sons. 2. Crandall, L. (1987). The social impact of tourism on developing regions and its measurement. In Tomas D. and Tomas A. (1993). Native festivals as tourism attractions: a community challenge. Journal of Applied Recreation Research, 18(2):131-142.

Network Theory There are different theoretical approaches dealing with an organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contextual environment. This section focuses on network theory which views a phenomenon of festival, from the perspective of the whole network, focusing on network structure and relationship processes. Literature on festival management has acknowledged the role of relationships in event and festival production. One of the examples is the work of Mia Larson who develops a theoretical framework based on network theory. She views event and festival stakeholders from a political perspective and proposes a metaphor for the network â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the political market square model 1. In short, the political market square is a metaphor used to understand the organizing of a festival from a network perspective. The market square can be regarded as an image of a space where interaction takes place. Before any actions or interactions have happened, the market square is empty, which means that there is an opportunity waiting to be seized. The

1. Mia Larson (2002). Managing Festival Stakeholders. Tourism Research Centre (TOUREC). Available at: www.13thnordic.aau.dk/ocs/viewpaper.php 2. Mia Larson. et al, 2002.

decision or prospect of staging a festival creates a conception of a market square that actors can act upon. The purpose of their actions is to take advantage of the event and to further their interests in the event 2.

Network Theory The model show the political market square (PSQ) in relation to the market and the wider network. The PSQ contains stakeholders that in some way contribute to the organizing and marketing the event. In producing the event they are influenced by the market and adapt accordingly. At the same time they create a market by introducing new concepts. The wider network applies to repetitive events and contains potential stakeholders. The more stakeholders in the wider network there is, the more tendency of producing successful events in the future 1. The diagram in the following page attempts to show the complexity and dynamics characterizing the context surrounding actors that organize a festival. Based on this model, all processes going on between the different actors affect both the construction of the market and the wider network. Some of the specific processes that affect the constructions are: negotiation, coalition building, trust building, gate keeping, commitment building, and legitimacy building. Figure 1. The Context and Process of the Marketing of Events (Larson, 2003). 1. Mia Larson. et al, 2002.

Research Approach Three festivals were selected as cases for this study – The International Festival organized by International Student Services Office (ISSO) at SCAD, Chinese New Year Festival organized by Chinese Student Club at SCAD, and Festival of the Arts organized by Tybee Arts Association. The research approach include exploration the literature on the subject, by conducting visits to festivals and observing event planning meeting organized by ISSO, and by conducting total of three face-to-face interviews with festival organizers. These interviews were intended to develop an overall understanding of the potential impacts of festivals on local community. The interviews were performed as a dialogue focused on festival activities, the challenges that often affect festivals and event management, and how the interviewees perceived social and cultural benefits of festivals to the community.

1.Getz, Donald. “Why Literary Festivals Fail.” Event Management 7.4, (2002 ) 209-219 2.Small, Katie. “Social Dimensions of Community Festivals” Event Management 11.1 (1 Jan. 2007): 45-55. In Anna M. et al, 2009.

Interviews consisted of introduction and a number of questions covering themes related to the research project. Each interview lasted approximately 45-60 minutes. In the introduction part of the interview, the interviewees were informed about the purpose of the interviews and the overall objective of the study. Issues of confidentiality were also introduced. Despite the structural nature of the interview, interviewees were encouraged to discuss in an open way about their experiences and views in organizing festivals. The second component of the interview is comprised of the sustainability measure, a set of factors compiled to assess festival sustainability, based upon relevant criteria set out by Getz 1. The third component of the survey uses a summative scale adapted from Small's Social Impact Perception (SIP Scale) 2. The criteria used to assess social impact and include supplementary statements that measure socio-cultural benefit factors drawn from related research.

International Festival Interview Summary In this section, I describe my interview with Jeffery B. Jones, Director-International Student Services Office at SCAD. The interview took place right after the planning meeting organized by ISSO for the 12th international festival that will take place in the month of April. Jeff Jones has been helping out with the event since 1999, when it first moved to Broughton Street in downtown Savannah. The community need for the International Festival as elaborated by the interviewee is to celebrate the diverse art community at SCAD. The event brings diverse communities together to have fun and experience the music, dance, foods, and arts of different cultures. The diversity of cultures in this event is represented by all the flags that symbolize different nations across the globe. In the interview, Jeff indicated that one of the main goals of this festival are to show case the diverse talents of SCAD students and also to create the opportunity for collaborations among different student clubs in the campus. According to Jeff, the festival has attracted nearly 3,000 attendees in previous years. During the event, there are different restaurants in the community offering a variety of food booths from different cultures. Additionally, the festival includes a fashion show where participants from different part of the world wear dressy clothes that reflect a cultural heritage.

This event enjoys a strong financial support from the top management, plus other corporate and business sponsors such as Coca Cola and Tommy Lord, the insurance company of SCAD that helps promote and publicize the festival. As part of the marketing strategy, the organizers of the event use different tools to promote the event like press releases, campus networks, and social media tools.

International Festival employs four ISSO staff who coordinates the event. The volunteer part of the work force for the event is important. Last year there were 15-20 recruited volunteers who helped organized the event. Jeff further explained that the event provide great opportunity for those volunteer to show case their artistic abilities and also to sell arts and crafts. With regard to the event evaluation, the interviewee indicated that there is event evaluation survey that mainly asks participants what aspect of the festival they have found most appealing from a cultural standpoint. And also if there are any comments they would like to share regarding the festival.

Festival of the Arts Interview Summary In this section, I present my interview with Barry Finch, Artistic Director and board member of Tybee Arts Association. The Festival of Arts takes place every fall. This festival is part of the Tybee culture and continues to establish higher standards for participation. According to the interviewee, the main goal of this festival is to support the local art community in Tybee Island. The festival also supports the community by creating the space for selling arts. The festival includes painting, jewelry showcase, pottering, woodworks, and photography. Many artists take advantage of this event to demonstrate their booths. The festival is free of charge, aims to offer something for everyone in the general public. Profits from this event go to Tybee Arts Youth Scholarship fund. According to Barry, volunteer is critical component to the operation of the festival. He indicated that the recruitment of volunteers is usually drawn within the membership of the association. He was skeptical about whether the volunteers can maintain the level of interest and passion as it usually drops down by the end of the event.

The festival receives business sponsorships from different restaurants within Tybee community. As far as marketing the event, the organizers use different tools such as Internet, radio, local TV channels, posters, word of mouth. The organizers also take advantage of advertising banner provided by the municipality to publicize the event. As far as the event evaluation is concerned, the interviewee mentioned that the organizers make sure to conduct after festival review day and discuss what worked and what didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work.

Chinese New Year Festival Interview Summary This section provides a summary of my interview with Yushi Wang, President of Chinese Student Club at SCAD. My interview with Yushi provided insights on how Chinese New Year is considered as the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. The interviewee emphasized on how deeply this event is rooted in the culture. He also indicated that the origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Yushi feels that it is part of his moral obligation as Chinese to make sure that he organize this very special festival. According to Yushi, the original goal of the festival is to provide an opportunity for Chinese community in Savannah to celebrate the New Year together and create a sense of unity. The goal has evolved as it expands to target people from other culture. One of the biggest challenges affecting organizing this event is the limited budget. Yushi elaborated on this issue by indicating that the “budget is never enough”. It basically relies on donations from the Chinese community. Other source of funding comes from SCAD sponsoring the event and proving space for hosing the festival.

Volunteer is considered the main source for organizing this event. He indicated that it gets difficult to only depend on volunteers given the fact that Chinese are usually hard to be motivated without having an incentive in return. However, Yushi indicated that using personal connections and word of mouth can be the best way to recruit volunteers for the event. Concerning the marketing strategy used in the event, it was indicated that social media tool as the most effective way to publicize the event; this is in addition to the traditional tools such as posters. According to Yushi, the festival has attracted more than 250 attendees in previous event mostly SCAD students and their friends. After the event is over, the organizers of the event do not usually discuss or talk about the event as they view it as “not an ideal celebration” compare to the “true celebration” in China. This might be one the reason that we don’t pay enough attention to evaluate the event, Yushi added.

Analysis During the interview session I introduced two research instruments to festivals organizers: the first is related to how they perceive the social benefits of the event, and the second addresses the challenges that usually affect festivals.

•

International Festival-SCAD Table 1 presents the interviewee’s ratings for sustainability measure. Interviewee was asked to rate each item using a 5point Likert Scale based upon agreement. The sixteen items that follow included such elements as “Inadequate advance planning” and “Competition from other events for attendees.” Response choices ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. According to the table, lack of strong leadership, inadequate cash flow and lacking of advance planning are the least challenges face the organization of the International Festival (Refer to Table 1. Sustainability Measure result of International Festival-SCAD)

•

The data collected during the interview indicates that the most important impacts of the event include providing cultural opportunity not usually available in the community. Another important social impact of this festival is providing the space for local cultural groups and artists to showcase their cultural products. And finally the enthusiastic response to the festival as one the perceived social benefits can actually increase sense of collective identity among the audience. ( Refer to Table 2. Social Impact Perception Scale of International Festival-SCAD).

Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association Table 3 presents the list challenges affected the festivals as indicated in my interview with Barry. It shows that the lack of cooperation from local institutions and the lack of coordination are the most challenges which this festival encounters, whereas the competition from other events for resources is the least problem challenging the organization of the event (Refer to Table 3. Sustainability Measure result of Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association).

Analysis Table 4 summarizes the interviewee’s response when asked to decide whether or not a particular issue had affected the festival. The table indicates that the event had no social impact on the community when it comes to demonstrating a sense of ownership of the festival. This could be related to the lack of cooperation from local institutions and also lack of strong leadership. Other benefits of the event include providing cultural opportunities and increasing tendency of community members to participate in the arts and cultural activities. Other positive impacts include involving businesses not normally affiliated with the community, which in return can increase attractiveness of the area to tourists and investment (Refer to Table 4. Social Impact Perception Scale of Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association).

•

Chinese New Year The challenging problem facing the organizers of this event is the insufficient financial support and the inadequate cash flow. This is true as the event is heavily relies on donations from the Chinese community. Poor attendance represents the least problem facing the festival. This indicates the popularity of the Chinese festivals within the community of SCAD (Refer to Table 5. Sustainability Measure result of Festival of Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD).

Table 6 summarizes the interviewee’s response to the social impact perception scale. The interviewee’s responses indicate that the most important impacts of the event include the benefit of providing cultural opportunity not usually available in the community. The event celebrates Chinese tradition in Savannah and creates the condition for people, especially Asian populations, to come together and collectively celebrate the event. The festival also provides an opportunity for the Chinese community to demonstrate a sense of ownership. Another social impact of this festival is providing the space for Chinese artists to showcase their cultural products and express the community’s identity and culture (Refer to Table 6. Social Impact Perception Scale of Festival of Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD). .

Discussion and Conclusion The three cases described in this research provided some insight into the festival organizersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perceptions of the impacts of festivals and special events on local communities

Perceived Social Impacts Data analysis indicated that there is a potential for festivals to contribute to community engagement of art forms through their support for new art work and its exposure to new audiences. The respondents in this research study agreed that their festivals have the potential to build community identity and leads to positive community norms, such as diversity. Festivals also contribute to social benefits and community development through the enhancement of cultural pride and the encouragement of collaboration and voluntary activity 1. The case of Chinese New Year Festival reveled that the event was an excellent way of demonstrating such activity.

1.Molloy, Janine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Regional festivals: a look at community support, the isolation factor and funding resourcesâ&#x20AC;?. The journal of Tourism Studies Vol. 13, No.2 (2002).

The following captures the trend of the perceived social impacts of festivals among the three event organizers: Both organizers of International Festivals and Chinese New Year agreed that their events provided a cultural opportunity not usually available in their community. Also, both believed that the event provided a showcase for various local cultural groups and artists. When asked how enthusiastic they think the audiences responded to their festivals, both organizers of International Festivals and Chinese New Year, ranked the potential impact as vey large. In the case of Festival of the Arts organized by Tybee Arts Association, the largest perceived impact was that the festival involved businesses not normally affiliated with the community. This show the business agenda for organizing the cultural event in Tybee Island as one way to attractive tourist and stimulate the local economy.

Discussion and Conclusion Unlike Tybee Arts Association who thought that the festival event had no impact when it comes to communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sense of ownership of the festival, the organizer of Chinese New Year strongly felt that the Chinese community demonstrated a sense of ownership. This result was expected as the festival served like opportunity for minor group in a foreign country to celebrate a significant and deeply rooted cultural event in their home country.

Challenges There are number of issues and challenges for festival organizers. The research found out a number of challenges such as the lack of strong leadership and lack of cooperation and coordination among institutions in the local community as described in the case of Festival of the Arts. Another challenge affects the organization of festivals is the insufficient financial support and inadequate cash flow as recognized in the case of Chinese New Year Festival where the only financial resource comes from donation. And finally, issues related to internal divisions over goals and responsibilities within the organizers and also the challenge of competition with other events for resources were identified as critical challenges in the case of International Festival managed by ISSO at SCAD.

Future Research A key recommendation of this project is that further research is needed. Proposed questions for future research exploration of the community context of festivals can include for instance, how festival organizers relate its goals to the broader community; how they design and implement their strategies with regards to community outreach and engagement; how to maximize the interaction with the broader community; and how to measure their impacts in terms of social benefits and social costs.

Limitations One of the challenges I encountered in conducting this research was the limitation by its small sample size, which consequently confines the richness of the data. The study was also limited by its dependence on respondents from the â&#x20AC;&#x153;topâ&#x20AC;? of the festival organization which can result in introducing bias. Other limitations are concerned with time constraints for this project and the difficulty of constructing samples of groups other than festival organizers.

Learning Reflections This project was a learning opportunity to deepen my understanding of how arts impact society. Basically, in my research I wanted to explore the potential social impacts of cultural activities on local communities. At the early stage of preparing a concept development for the project, my direction was going toward exploring the social impacts of participation in cultural events from audience perspective. The original research plan was eventually modified toward focusing on the event management perspective. An important underlying theme emerged from the study is the concerned with community engagement of festivals. Considering festival as social platform for interaction and networking can be supported by the concept of “Meta design” developed by Richard Farson who argues how important is for designer to look at the larger context of the situation in order to recognize what really needs to be designed 1. In seeking to develop a sustainable engagement with the community, it is important that festival organizers encourage a culture of collaboration.

1.Richard Farson (2008). The Power of Design: A Force for Transforming Everything. Green-way Communications. Norcross, GA. 2.Victor Yu. “Framework for a Community Participation Initiative: The Singapore Perspective”. European Journal of Social Sciences –Volume 7, Number 4 (2009) 3.Sawyer, Keith (2007), Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration. Basic Books, New York. 4.Sawyer, Keith. et al, 2007.

From social design standpoint, a community festival can be viewed as tools that can contribute to building networks and trust in the community. It serves as a community builder in that it is a system of relationships that creates capacity for other activities 2. Keeping this in mind, design managers can help festival organizers to create strategic and long-term vision and planning that enable festivals organizers to provide socially inclusive platform for community engagement. From idea management perspective, successful innovations are always a combination of many good ideas. Keeping this into perspective, communication becomes very critical to manage those ideas. As explained in Group Genius, the author, Keith Sawyer, considers communication as one the essential conditions for creativity to follow naturally 3. In the context of community festival, organizers and event managers can create collaborative webs consisting of artists, designers, volunteers, audience, local businesses, and others as part of communicating their strategy for community engagement. Collaborative web, according to Sawyer, should be built in which it would bring customers, suppliers and other key business partners into the loop 4. By using collaboration, festival organizers can also generate more creative ideas as how to strategically use art and culture to address social issues and community concerns.

References AEGIS (2005): Social impacts of participation in the arts and cultural activities: Evidence, issues and recommendations, [online]. Available at: www.culturaldata.gov.au/data/assets/pdf Crandall, L. (1987). The social impact of tourism on developing regions and its measurement. In Tomas D. and Tomas A. (1993). Native festivals as tourism attractions: a community challenge. Journal of Applied Recreation Research, 18(2):131-142. Douglas, N., Douglas, N., & Derrett, R. (Eds.). (2002). Special interest tourism: context and cases. Australia: John Wiley and Sons. Getz, Donald. “Why Literary Festivals Fail.” Event Management 7.4, (2002 ): 209-219. In Anna M (2009). Branscome. Sustainability and Social Impact Perception. Available at: http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/3471.pdf Guetzkow, Joshua. (2002), How the arts impacts communities. Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies. Princeton University. Mia Larson (2002). Managing Festival www.13thnordic.aau.dk/ocs/viewpaper.php

Stakeholders.

Tourism

Research

Centre

(TOUREC).

Available

at:

Molloy, Janine. “Regional festivals: a look at community support, the isolation factor and funding resources”. The journal of Tourism Studies Vol 13, No.2 (2002). Richard Farson (2008). The Power of Design: A Force for Transforming Everything. Green-way Communications. Norcross, GA. Sawyer, Keith (2007), Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration. Basic Books, New York. Small, Katie. “Social Dimensions of Community Festivals: An Application of Factor Analysis in the Development of the Social Impact Perception (SIP) Scale.” Event Management 11.1 (1 Jan. 2007): 45-55. In Anna M. et al, 2009. The State of Queensland-Department of Communities (2007) Managing Community Engagement. [online] www.communities.qld.gov.au/

Victor Yu. “Framework for a Community Participation Initiative: The Singapore Perspective”. European Journal of Social Sciences –Volume 7, Number 4 (2009).

List of Tables and Appendixes

List of Challenges

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Undecided

Agree

Strongly Agree

1. Lack of cooperation from local institutions and government 2. Insufficient financial support from corporate sponsorship 3. Inadequate advance planning

4. Lack of strong leadership at any level

5. Coordinators with too many competing responsibilities 6. Institutional staff burnout

7. Internal divisions over goals, strategies, responsibilities, etc. 8. Problems finding or maintaining venue(s)

9. Inadequate cash flow

10. Fiscal mismanagement

11. Competition from other events for resources 12. Competition with other events for attendees 13. Difficulty getting media involvement

14. Lack of coordination

15. Inadequate marketing

16. Poor attendance

Table 1. Sustainability Measure result of International Festival-SCAD

Impact Statement

Level of Impact Very Very Small Small Moderate Large Large

Impact

1. This event enhanced community pride and identity.

No Don’t Know

2. The community demonstrated a sense of ownership of the festival.

No Don’t Know

3. New community networks were created by this event.

No Don’t Know

Don’t Know

5. The event provided a cultural opportunity not usually available in this community.

No Don’t Know

6. Audiences responded to the festival enthusiastically

No Don’t Know

Don’t Know

8. Diverse members of the community participated in this event.

No Don’t Know

9. This occasion provided a showcase for various local cultural groups and artists.

No Don’t Know

4. This festival involved businesses not normally affiliated with the community.

7. Local government was closely involved in supporting this event.

Yes

Table 2. Social Impact Perception Scale of International Festival-SCAD

+5 +5

List of Challenges

Strongly Disagree 1

Disagree

Undecided

Agree

Strongly Agree 5

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

9. Inadequate cash flow 10. Fiscal mismanagement 11. Competition from other events for resources 12. Competition with other events for attendees 13. Difficulty getting media involvement

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

14. Lack of coordination 15. Inadequate marketing 16. Poor attendance

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

1. Lack of cooperation from local institutions and government 2. Insufficient financial support from corporate sponsorship 3. Inadequate advance planning 4. Lack of strong leadership at any level

Table 3. Sustainability Measure result of Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association

Impact Statement

Level of Impact Very Very Small Small Moderate Large Large

Impact

1. This event enhanced community pride and identity.

No Don’t Know

Don’t Know

3. New community networks were created by this event.

No Don’t Know

4. This festival involved businesses not normally affiliated with the community.

No Don’t Know

5. The event provided a cultural opportunity not usually available in this community.

No Don’t Know

6. Audiences responded to the festival enthusiastically

No Don’t Know

7. Local government was closely involved in supporting this event.

No Don’t Know

8. Diverse members of the community participated in this event.

No Don’t Know

9. This occasion provided a showcase for various local cultural groups and artists.

No Don’t Know

2. The community demonstrated a sense of ownership of the festival.

Yes

Table 4. Social Impact Perception Scale of Festival of the Arts-Tybee Arts Association

+5 +5

List of Challenges

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Undecided

Agree

Strongly Agree

1. Lack of cooperation from local institutions and government

2. Insufficient financial support from corporate sponsorship

3. Inadequate advance planning 4. Lack of strong leadership at any level

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

5. Coordinators with too many competing responsibilities

6. Institutional staff burnout 7. Internal divisions over goals, strategies, responsibilities, etc.

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

8. Problems finding or maintaining venue(s)

9. Inadequate cash flow 10. Fiscal mismanagement 11. Competition from other events for resources

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

12. Competition with other events for attendees

13. Difficulty getting media involvement

14. Lack of coordination 15. Inadequate marketing 16. Poor attendance

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

Table 5. Sustainability Measure result of Festival of Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD

Impact Statement 1. This event enhanced community pride and identity. 2. The community demonstrated a sense of ownership of the festival. 3. New community networks were created by this event. 4. This festival involved businesses not normally affiliated with the community. 5. The event provided a cultural opportunity not usually available in this community. 6. Audiences responded to the festival enthusiastically 7. Local government was closely involved in supporting this event. 8. Diverse members of the community participated in this event. 9. This occasion provided a showcase for various local cultural groups and artists.

Level of Impact Very Very Small Small Moderate Large Large

Impact

No Don’t Know

Don’t Know

No Don’t Know

Yes No Yes

Don’t Know

Yes No

Yes

Table 6. Social Impact Perception Scale of Festival of Chinese New Year Festival-SCAD

+5 +5

Appendix 1. Interview Questions These questions are intended to develop an overall understanding of your festival—its organization, operation, community support, challenges and successes. Information will be used in summary form only and specific information provided will be confidential unless prior permission is requested. Please describe briefly the history of your festival? Why did your “community” decide to be part of this effort? • What were the original goals of this festival and how have they evolved? • What was the budget for your one-time event? Was it adequate? • How difficult was it to obtain financial backing for your event? Did you experience strong competition for available resources from other events or community/institutional demands? Please explain. • Did you receive corporate/business sponsorships for your festival? If so, who were your sponsors and what is the rough percentage of your budget they provided? • Did your festival have permanent or dedicated staff? If not, who were the principal organizers and how were they selected? • How important were volunteers to this festival? How were they recruited? How difficult was the recruitment? What sort of jobs did they do? • How would you describe the level of enthusiasm for this event among each of the following groups: sponsors, authors, organizers, volunteers, attendees? • What was the estimated number of festival attendees? • How was your festival marketed? • If there was any type of evaluation for this festival, would you please share the results to use for the purposes o this research?

Appendix 2. Sustainability Measure Below is a list of challenges that often affect festivals. Being as candid as possible, please circle on the agreement scale the degree to which your festival encountered each of these problems. List of Challenges

Strongly Disagree 1

Disagree

Undecided

Agree

Strongly Agree 5

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

5. Coordinators with too many competing responsibilities 6. Institutional staff burnout 7. Internal divisions over goals, strategies, responsibilities, etc. 8. Problems finding or maintaining venue(s) 9. Inadequate cash flow 10. Fiscal mismanagement 11. Competition from other events for resources 12. Competition with other events for attendees 13. Difficulty getting media involvement

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

14. Lack of coordination 15. Inadequate marketing 16. Poor attendance

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

1. Lack of cooperation from local institutions and government 2. Insufficient financial support from corporate sponsorship 3. Inadequate advance planning 4. Lack of strong leadership at any level

Appendix 3. Social Impact Perception Scale The following scale includes statements designed to measure cultural and social benefits of cultural festivals to the community. Please indicate in your opinion (by circling either “Yes,” “No,” or “Don’t Know”) whether or not the stated impact occurred. If your answer is “No” or “Don’t Know,” please move to the next question. If your answer is “Yes,” please indicate the level of impact you perceived by circling one numerical response on the scale provided. Impact Statement

Impact

Level of Impact Very Very Small Small Moderate Large Large

1. This event enhanced community pride and identity. Yes No Don’t Know

Yes No Don’t Know

2. The community demonstrated a sense of ownership of the festival. 3. New community networks were created by this event. 4. This festival involved businesses not normally affiliated with the community. 6. The event provided a cultural opportunity not usually available in this community.

7. Audiences responded to the festival enthusiastically 8. Local government was closely involved in supporting this event. 9. Diverse members of the community participated in this event. 10. This occasion provided a showcase for various local cultural groups and artists.