An exploration into local resident attendance and nonattendance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Motivations and constraints

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore local resident attendance and non attendance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (EFF) in order to determine motivations and constraining factors. While it has been identified in the literature that research is lacking on constraints on attendance at events and festivals, research on festival motivation is well established. Moreover, the studies surrounding festival motivation have largely focused on the tourist visitor as opposed to the host community. Therefore, this study focuses on the residents of Edinburgh. The methodological approach taken for this study was quantitative and an online survey was employed as it enabled a larger sample size to be attained from both groups of resident attendees and non-attendees. The online survey was distributed on social networking sites and a total of 228 responses were collected. The results of this study confirmed links with previous literature of festival motivations and constraints on resident’s attendance at festivals. Results indicate that overall, the sample of residents overwhelmingly do attend the EFF. Additionally, results confirmed that common motives were evident as the motivation dimensions for attending the festival were event novelty, cultural exploration and family togetherness. Results indicated that residents are constrained to attend the festival by external factors including finance and transportation. The study concludes by offering recommendations for future research and examining whether the research achieved the objectives. Although this study has assisted with providing an understanding of motivations and constraints to local resident attendance at festivals, further research needs to be done to compare these factors with demographic characteristics. This would offer greater insight.