Event Title
Parallel Session 23, Event and Festival Design: The Future of Festival Design in an Emerging Happiness Economy
Location
Classroom 207
Start Date
14-12-2017 3:15 PM
End Date
14-12-2017 3:40 PM
Description
The design and production of events was concentrated on the delivery of quality products and services until it was expanded to include an experience paradigm (Berridge, 2006) following the identification of experience makers (Toffler, 1970) and the acknowledgement of experience industries (O'Sullivan & Spangler, 1998) and the experience economy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). With the emergence of a modernistic "Happiness Economy" (Gerritsen & Von Olderen, 2014, p. 20) the next challenge for festival managers will be to add the orchestration of happiness to the current event design equation.
Familiarity with the historical antecedents of festivity provides a gateway and starting place to understanding this undertaking. The earliest humans spontaneously engaged in turbulent festive activity. This form of highly physical, emotional, sensual, and collaborative play-like celebration (Biaett, 2017) gave rise to mankind's original thoughts of community and well-being (Huizinga, 1955). Progressing civilizations organized festivity, but retained much of its organic essence as church and state leaders allowed, and viewed as beneficial, the release of surplus physical energy and bottled-up emotions. With the Industrial Revolution the turbulent elements of organic festivity disappeared when leisure was restructured as a time to conserve energy for labor (Krause, 1971). The physical, emotional, and sensual turbulence of riotous holiday celebration was supplanted with the passivity and spectatorship of new social gatherings, concerts, circuses, sporting events, markets, and parades. Starting in the 1950's, objective business management approaches further influenced the design of festivity. Pseudo-events were developed to generate media coverage (Boorstin, 1961) and festivals were coveted as redevelopment tools for rural America (Wilson et al. 2001) and strategies for urban regeneration (Foley et al., 2012). Fueled by sponsorship, revenue generation, and social media, festivals were turned in to engines of economic impact (Jackson et al., 2005) and drivers of product and place branding (De Bres & Davis, 2001; Derrett, 2003). The transcendent festive experience, with its spirit of equality, solidarity, and contextual social structure (Turner, 1982), was superseded by mercantile and marketing activity intended to generate revenue and gain attention. Modern festivity became socially and psychologically removed from its turbulent and communal historic organic roots, key factors for the orchestration of happiness.
Well-being is described as something an individual recognizes through one's personal behavior (Campbell, 1981) and at the same time as a term best used for groups (Brummer & Sarot, 1996). Some feel well-being arises from long term life factors (Diener, 2000) while others believe well-being cannot surface only from life circumstances (Campbell, 1981). Diametric viewpoints about the delineation of well-being aside, there exists wide agreement surrounding the descriptions for happiness, satisfaction, and morale (Mannell & Kleiber, 1997). Happiness is that part of well-being represented by present temporary feelings, satisfaction a positive/negative life evaluation gleaned from past experiences, and morale the positive/negative predictions of one's future. Rhetorically connecting these templates to festivity, Cox (1969) shares a revelation that pure festivity occurs during times of fleeting celebration grounded in past memories and future dreams. Similar to the parallel relationship of events and experiences (Berridge, 2006) there is a direct correlation between festivity and happiness.
With these ideas in mind, event managers would be wise to embrace the philosophy of Roger Caillois (1961) who expressed festivity as a period of excess and chaos during which the inbred and boisterous modules of life are temporarily expressed. Happiness arises from organic turbulent festive activity, not spectatorship, not shopping, and not marketing activity. Happiness providing festive environments should be designs that inspire participants to engage in spontaneous physical and collaborative activities such as communal dancing, chanting, singing, clapping, pulling, jumping, or hugging with consequential outcomes of unexpected delight. These environments must concurrently infuse guest's senses. Festivals ought to simultaneously stimulate the brain's visual cortex and primate subdivision with light to make it appear to flicker and pulsate, include scents and smells to inaugurate and invoke strong memories, and vary the level and intensity of sound to arouse and initiate sonic overloads. Altering the modalities of vibration, balance, and temperature are also part of this sensory mix. Finally, designs elements should place visitor emotions on a rollercoaster ride of high peaks, low valleys, sharp turns, and erratic speeds. The choreographing of happiness necessitates adventures of surprise, fear, joy, vulnerability, hesitancy, romance, courage, thrill, mystery, and more to leave participants mentally fatigued.
It is envisioned that employing the organic turbulent factors of festivity in the design of festivals will result in a transformative, liminal, and communal sense of happiness. One not must create a specific experience or sense of happiness as much as foster these to happen. In conclusion, this is only the beginning of the deliberation, reflection, and research that must go into a complete understanding how the design of festivals might proceed in an emergent happiness economy.
References:
Berridge, G. (2007). Events Design and Experience. Burlington, MA: Elsevier.
Biaett, V. (2017). Festivity, Play, Well-Being … Historical and Rhetorical Relationships:Implications for Communities. In R. Phillips, C. Wong (Eds.) Handbook of Community Well-Being Research, pp. 189-198. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Boorstin, D. (1961). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America. New York: Harper and Row.
Brummer, V. & Sarot, M. (1996). Happiness, well-being, and the meaning of life: A dialog of social science and religion. Kampen, the Netherlands: Pharos Publishing House.
Caillois, R. (1961). Man, play, and games. Glencoe, IL: Free Press of Glencoe.
Campbell, A. (1981). The sense of well-being in America: Recent patterns and trends. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Coalter, F. (1990). Analyzing leisure policy. In: I.P. Henry (Ed.), Management and Planning in the Leisure Industries (pp. 149-178). Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan.
Cox, H. (1969). The feast of the fools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
De Bres, K., & Davis, J. (2001). Celebrating group and place identity: a case study of a new regional festival. Tourism Geographies, 3(3), 326-337.
Derrett, R. (2003). Making sense of how festivals demonstrate a community's sense of place. Event Management, 8(1), 49-58
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness, and a proposal for national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34-43.
Foley, M., McGillivray, D., & McPherson, G. (2012). Event policy: From theory to strategy. New York: Routledge.
Gerritsen, D. & Van Olderen, R. (2014). Events as a strategic marketing tool. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI.
Huzinga, J. (1955). Homo ludens: A study in the play element in culture. Boston: Beacon Press.
Jackson, J., Houghton, M., Russell, R., & Triandos, P. (2005). Innovations in measuring economic impacts of regional festivals: A do-it-yourself kit. Journal of Travel Research, 43(4), 360-367.
Krause, R. (1971). Recreation and leisure in modern society. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Mannell, R. & Kleiber, D. (1997). A social psychology of leisure. State College, PA: Venture Publishing Inc.
O'Sullivan, E.L., & Spangler, K.J. (1998). Experience marketing: Strategies for the new millennium. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.
Pine, B. & Gilmore, J. (1999). The experience economy: Work is theatre and every business is a stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Toffler, A. (1970). Future Shock. New York: Bantam Books.
Turner, V. (1982). Celebration: Studies in festivity and ritual. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Wilson, S., Fesenmaier, D.R., Fesenmaier, J., & Van Es, J.C. (2001). Factors for success in rural tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 40(2), 132.
Parallel Session 23, Event and Festival Design: The Future of Festival Design in an Emerging Happiness Economy
Classroom 207
The design and production of events was concentrated on the delivery of quality products and services until it was expanded to include an experience paradigm (Berridge, 2006) following the identification of experience makers (Toffler, 1970) and the acknowledgement of experience industries (O'Sullivan & Spangler, 1998) and the experience economy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). With the emergence of a modernistic "Happiness Economy" (Gerritsen & Von Olderen, 2014, p. 20) the next challenge for festival managers will be to add the orchestration of happiness to the current event design equation.
Familiarity with the historical antecedents of festivity provides a gateway and starting place to understanding this undertaking. The earliest humans spontaneously engaged in turbulent festive activity. This form of highly physical, emotional, sensual, and collaborative play-like celebration (Biaett, 2017) gave rise to mankind's original thoughts of community and well-being (Huizinga, 1955). Progressing civilizations organized festivity, but retained much of its organic essence as church and state leaders allowed, and viewed as beneficial, the release of surplus physical energy and bottled-up emotions. With the Industrial Revolution the turbulent elements of organic festivity disappeared when leisure was restructured as a time to conserve energy for labor (Krause, 1971). The physical, emotional, and sensual turbulence of riotous holiday celebration was supplanted with the passivity and spectatorship of new social gatherings, concerts, circuses, sporting events, markets, and parades. Starting in the 1950's, objective business management approaches further influenced the design of festivity. Pseudo-events were developed to generate media coverage (Boorstin, 1961) and festivals were coveted as redevelopment tools for rural America (Wilson et al. 2001) and strategies for urban regeneration (Foley et al., 2012). Fueled by sponsorship, revenue generation, and social media, festivals were turned in to engines of economic impact (Jackson et al., 2005) and drivers of product and place branding (De Bres & Davis, 2001; Derrett, 2003). The transcendent festive experience, with its spirit of equality, solidarity, and contextual social structure (Turner, 1982), was superseded by mercantile and marketing activity intended to generate revenue and gain attention. Modern festivity became socially and psychologically removed from its turbulent and communal historic organic roots, key factors for the orchestration of happiness.
Well-being is described as something an individual recognizes through one's personal behavior (Campbell, 1981) and at the same time as a term best used for groups (Brummer & Sarot, 1996). Some feel well-being arises from long term life factors (Diener, 2000) while others believe well-being cannot surface only from life circumstances (Campbell, 1981). Diametric viewpoints about the delineation of well-being aside, there exists wide agreement surrounding the descriptions for happiness, satisfaction, and morale (Mannell & Kleiber, 1997). Happiness is that part of well-being represented by present temporary feelings, satisfaction a positive/negative life evaluation gleaned from past experiences, and morale the positive/negative predictions of one's future. Rhetorically connecting these templates to festivity, Cox (1969) shares a revelation that pure festivity occurs during times of fleeting celebration grounded in past memories and future dreams. Similar to the parallel relationship of events and experiences (Berridge, 2006) there is a direct correlation between festivity and happiness.
With these ideas in mind, event managers would be wise to embrace the philosophy of Roger Caillois (1961) who expressed festivity as a period of excess and chaos during which the inbred and boisterous modules of life are temporarily expressed. Happiness arises from organic turbulent festive activity, not spectatorship, not shopping, and not marketing activity. Happiness providing festive environments should be designs that inspire participants to engage in spontaneous physical and collaborative activities such as communal dancing, chanting, singing, clapping, pulling, jumping, or hugging with consequential outcomes of unexpected delight. These environments must concurrently infuse guest's senses. Festivals ought to simultaneously stimulate the brain's visual cortex and primate subdivision with light to make it appear to flicker and pulsate, include scents and smells to inaugurate and invoke strong memories, and vary the level and intensity of sound to arouse and initiate sonic overloads. Altering the modalities of vibration, balance, and temperature are also part of this sensory mix. Finally, designs elements should place visitor emotions on a rollercoaster ride of high peaks, low valleys, sharp turns, and erratic speeds. The choreographing of happiness necessitates adventures of surprise, fear, joy, vulnerability, hesitancy, romance, courage, thrill, mystery, and more to leave participants mentally fatigued.
It is envisioned that employing the organic turbulent factors of festivity in the design of festivals will result in a transformative, liminal, and communal sense of happiness. One not must create a specific experience or sense of happiness as much as foster these to happen. In conclusion, this is only the beginning of the deliberation, reflection, and research that must go into a complete understanding how the design of festivals might proceed in an emergent happiness economy.
References:
Berridge, G. (2007). Events Design and Experience. Burlington, MA: Elsevier.
Biaett, V. (2017). Festivity, Play, Well-Being … Historical and Rhetorical Relationships:Implications for Communities. In R. Phillips, C. Wong (Eds.) Handbook of Community Well-Being Research, pp. 189-198. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Boorstin, D. (1961). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America. New York: Harper and Row.
Brummer, V. & Sarot, M. (1996). Happiness, well-being, and the meaning of life: A dialog of social science and religion. Kampen, the Netherlands: Pharos Publishing House.
Caillois, R. (1961). Man, play, and games. Glencoe, IL: Free Press of Glencoe.
Campbell, A. (1981). The sense of well-being in America: Recent patterns and trends. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Coalter, F. (1990). Analyzing leisure policy. In: I.P. Henry (Ed.), Management and Planning in the Leisure Industries (pp. 149-178). Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan.
Cox, H. (1969). The feast of the fools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
De Bres, K., & Davis, J. (2001). Celebrating group and place identity: a case study of a new regional festival. Tourism Geographies, 3(3), 326-337.
Derrett, R. (2003). Making sense of how festivals demonstrate a community's sense of place. Event Management, 8(1), 49-58
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness, and a proposal for national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34-43.
Foley, M., McGillivray, D., & McPherson, G. (2012). Event policy: From theory to strategy. New York: Routledge.
Gerritsen, D. & Van Olderen, R. (2014). Events as a strategic marketing tool. Oxfordshire, UK: CABI.
Huzinga, J. (1955). Homo ludens: A study in the play element in culture. Boston: Beacon Press.
Jackson, J., Houghton, M., Russell, R., & Triandos, P. (2005). Innovations in measuring economic impacts of regional festivals: A do-it-yourself kit. Journal of Travel Research, 43(4), 360-367.
Krause, R. (1971). Recreation and leisure in modern society. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Mannell, R. & Kleiber, D. (1997). A social psychology of leisure. State College, PA: Venture Publishing Inc.
O'Sullivan, E.L., & Spangler, K.J. (1998). Experience marketing: Strategies for the new millennium. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.
Pine, B. & Gilmore, J. (1999). The experience economy: Work is theatre and every business is a stage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Toffler, A. (1970). Future Shock. New York: Bantam Books.
Turner, V. (1982). Celebration: Studies in festivity and ritual. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Wilson, S., Fesenmaier, D.R., Fesenmaier, J., & Van Es, J.C. (2001). Factors for success in rural tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 40(2), 132.
