While music festivals can indeed attract tourists and create a vibrant atmosphere, hosting large-scale music festivals requires heavy seasonal dependency, significant financial investment, crowd management challenges, perception of disruption, and risk of overcommercialization.

Evolving Thesis: While music festivals can indeed attract tourists and create a vibrant atmosphere, hosting large-scale music festivals requires heavy seasonal dependency, significant financial investment, crowd management challenges, perception of disruption, and risk of overcommercialization.

Citation: Pavluković, Vanja, Tanja Armenski, and Juan Miguel Alcántara-Pilar. “Social impacts of music festivals: Does culture impact locals’ attitude toward events in Serbia and Hungary?” Tourism Management 63 (2017): 42-53.

Author Info: Vanja Pavlukovic is a professor at the “Department of Geography” in the “Faculty of Sciences” of the “University of Novi Sad”, Serbia.

Tanja Armenski is an assistant professor at the “Department of Geography” in the “Faculty of Sciences” of the “University of Novi Sad”, Serbia where her research areas are consumer behaviour, cross-cultural studies, and destination competitiveness.

Juan Miguel Alcántara-Pilar is a professor at the “University of Granada” in Spain. Juan serves at the “Faculty of Education” in the Marketing and Markets Research Department to research the economy and technology of Ceuta, Spain.

Summary: The article explores the effects of “large-scale music festivals” on host communications in Hungary and Serbia. The research applies the “Festival Social Impact Attitude Scale” (FSIAS) to Sziget in Hungary and Exit in Serbia, the two major music festivals, in order to measure locals’ attitudes and behaviors toward the impact festivals have on their communities. The research identifies a six-factorial substructure that sheds light on how national culture influences local perceptions and how cultural dimensions play a significant role in shaping how locals view the positive as well as negative effects of festivals on host communities. The source also investigates how “Hofstede’s national cultural” dimensions can inform locals’ perceptions of the festivals’ impacts and how cultural contexts shape locals’ attitudes towards these events. The implications of this research inform practical strategies related to community management and festival engagement contributing to one’s understanding of how music festivals impact host communities and the large-scale positive and negative impacts. Moreover, the research provides theoretical and practical implications for both understanding the effects of the festivals and suggesting future research directions. The findings of the study reveal a six-factorial substructure contributing to both theory and practice to explore the moderating effect of positive and negative impacts of “large-scale music festivals” through “Hofstede’s national cultural” dimensions.

Quotation Analysis: “Dwyer, Mellor, Mistilis, and Mules (2000) highlight that the success of a festival is not only measured in terms of economic contributions, but also in terms of the positive and negative impacts of the festival’s physical, political, and social environment. While the economic impact is undisputed, the social repercussions may have an even more profound effect upon local communities.” (Pavluković et al.). Music festivals are often seasonal events that rely heavily on specific time frames which lead to a seasonal dependency. These festivals are then expected to generate enough revenue during the on-peak time and if they fail to attract a substantial audience, the destination may face severe financial losses. Large crowds at festivals require expenses such as security, infrastructure development, and marketing that can strain resources at the local level leaving the destination vulnerable during off-peak time. This negatively impacts the quality of life for locals challenging the situations for them while balancing the needs of the tourists. Due to this, local culture and authenticity may take a backseat as hosting music festivals in sensitive areas may harm the environment because businesses and companies cater primarily to the needs of the festival-goers and not the needs of residents. In sum, while music festivals can enhance a destination’s appeal by creating a vibrant atmosphere, locals or residents may perceive such festivals as disruptive due to factors including noise, increased traffic, road closures, crowd management, and late-night disturbances. The article highlights that a balanced approach that integrates festivals with other local interactions and creates harmony between tourists and local residents through substantial practices is essential for long-term success.

Synthesis: “Residents’ perception toward the impacts and the amount of perceived control a community has over them play a crucial role in community acceptance or rejection. Therefore, it is vital for the destination practitioners and festival managers to acknowledge the host community’s attitude toward these impacts in an attempt to maximize the benefits and minimize negative sentiments.” (Pavluković et al.). The quote highlights the multifaceted relationship between the impact of events, residents’ perception, and the community’s acceptance and rejection of the music festivals. While event organizers and local governments primarily focus on economic benefits, social impacts affect the quality of life for the local community because acknowledging residents’ opinions about the festival is crucial for festival management and local authorities. In this regard, residents’ perceptions play a pivotal role in determining whether a community embraces or rejects such festivals. Moreover, acknowledging locals’ attitudes can foster support for such events and positive community engagement because residents’ opinions regarding festival impacts influence overall sustainability. “Due to the pressure events pose on local resources and their potential negative effects on (at least a part of) residents’ well-being and overall quality of life, it can be assumed that events can lead to “overtourism”, especially when they have proved to be successful along the years. By attracting a large number of participants from outside local communities, events can make destinations suffer the strain of tourism, the number of visitors being above the carrying capacity of the destination for the duration of the events.” (Moisescu et al.). By actively involving the local community and addressing concerns related to the quality of life of residents, the community hinges on a delicate balance between the overall quality of life for locals and their perceived benefits while minimizing negative sentiments. Overtourism may also pose complex challenges as it puts stress on a destination’s infrastructure causing cultural disruption and overshadowing mass tourism while affecting the essence of a destination for the event. In addition, cultural values also play a significant role in shaping attitudes about how residents perceive music festivals and such events as well as their impact on daily life. In conclusion, fostering community acceptance towards music festivals and such events involves a delicate balance between minimizing negative sentiments regarding music festivals among residents and maximizing positive sentiments regarding festival benefits to create harmonious festival experiences for all involved.

Overall Evaluation of Source: Overall, the source sheds light on the interplay between festival impacts and cultural context offering valuable insight for residents, policymakers of the event, and the event organizers. The research identifies the two important music festivals in the cultural context of Hungary and Serbia relating to locals’ views on festival impacts. The study chosen to counter argue the evolving thesis statement regarding the music festivals, destinations, and the relationship between social cohesion and cultural events is a valuable contribution to understanding festival impacts. In summary, while music festivals offer positive and potential benefits to the community, they also have negative impacts on host communities and the way festivals influence residents’ attitudes.

Works Cited

Moisescu, Ovidiu Ioan, et al. “The UNTOLD Story: Event Tourism’s Negative Impact on Residents’ Community Life and Well-Being.” Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 11, no. 5, 2019, pp. 492–505.

Pavluković, Vanja, et al. “Social Impacts of Music Festivals: Does Culture Impact Locals’ Attitude toward Events in Serbia and Hungary?” Tourism Management, vol. 63, 2017, pp. 42–53.