An Investigation of Festival Motivations: A Case Study of Celtic Connections

Abstract

The aim of the research is to investigate attendee motivations at the Celtic Connections music festival. Motivation has been studied extensively across various disciplinary contexts, particularly within festival research, generating a plethora of studies aiming to understand festival motivations. This extensive research has formed the rhetoric that festival motivations are generic. However, most studies focus on quantitative approaches, contesting its measurement. Additionally, the concept of authenticity as a festival motivation is explored, and an overview of the synthesised literature reveals a gap in knowledge of authenticity as a festival motivation. In response to these disparities, the objectives of the research aimed to; examine attendee motivations to attend Celtic Connections, investigate whether authenticity is identified as an attendance motivation, and to investigate whether motivations identified at Celtic Connections reflect those common to other festivals. The methodological approach used within this study is qualitative. This method was appropriate for this research due to the lack of qualitative approaches used within festival research, and in response to calls more qualitative work. Additionally, this approach was selected to facilitate unique and detailed responses that would contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of festival motivations. Interviews were the chosen research method, and the data collected was based on six semi-structured interviews with eight research participants. A mixture of common motivations and emergent themes are identified within the research which appear to be related to the specific theme and nature of the festival. Furthermore, the research findings demonstrate that the motivations identified at Celtic Connections of "music", "atmosphere" and "escapism" appear to be common to other festivals. On the other hand, the research revealed two new motivations of "festival location" and "authenticity". This study is significant in contributing an understanding of festival motivations more broadly, and providing a rationale for further research into festival location, authenticity, and the need for more qualitative approaches.