Purpose This study explores the multi-phasic experience of festivals to understand the nature, purpose and degree of social media (SM) use before, during and after festival occurrence and how this may inform better engagement of attendees. Design/methodology/approach A census of tweets and posts from four festivals’ Twitter handles and Facebook accounts were coded and analyzed across three time points: one week prior, during and one week after the festival. They were coded on nature (e.g. conversational, promotional, informational), purpose (e.g. information-seeking, friendship/relationship) and presence of links, photos, etc. Tests for platform influences on usage were conducted. Findings In total, 1,169 tweets and 483 posts were captured. Two-thirds of SM activity occurred during the festivals, one-third pre-festival and minimal activity post festival. Temporal analyses found that while the purpose and nature of the message content varied across festival time points, this was often dependent on SM platform. Research limitations/implications Festivals are not taking advantage of the multi-phase experience model and the utility of SM to maintain contact and encourage visitors to continue processing their experience after the festival. This lost opportunity has implications for re-patronizing behaviour and sponsor relationships. Originality value Leung et al. (2013a) call for sector specific research to elucidate SM use in tourism. Festivals provide a unique environment of co-created experience. Findings suggest differential usage of SM across festival time frames and platforms that can be used to guide festival organizations’ SM communication to better engage its patrons.

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Festivals provide some of the best unscripted encounters between residents and visitors in a destination. Within this article, the theoretical framework of emotional solidarity is applied and expanded in an effort to explain the complex relationship that exists between community residents of and festival visitors to Caldwell, Texas. Results confirm the factor structure of the emotional solidarity scale (ESS), exhibiting sound psychometric properties in the way of numerous reliability and validity measures. Length of residence and number of years attending the festival were considered in explaining the variance in the three factors (i.e., welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding) of the ESS. Three of the six regression models were significant. Implications, limitations, and future research opportunities are discussed.

This study examined visitor mindfulness at a cultural festival. Mindfulness is considered a state of being that requires individuals to engage in active information processing, enabling them to be adaptive and responsive to information in their surroundings. Mindfulness is believed to result in more learning, high satisfaction, greater understanding, and greater feeling of control over behavior. Event managers must find ways to enhance visitor satisfaction as well as minimize negative impacts that result from events, and encouraging visitor mindfulness could contribute to these outcomes. This study took place over a 2-week period in July 2005 at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Results presented demonstrate that the more interested visitors were in the festival the higher they scored on the mindfulness scale. Visitor level of mindfulness was positively related to their satisfaction with the event and their feelings of control over their own contribution to impacts. Implications for event managers are discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between psychological sense of community (SOC) and perceived social impacts of festival events. Design/methodology/approach – SOC was measured using the four-dimensional Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) and the Festival Social Impact Attitudes Scale (FSIAS) was used to measure perceived impacts. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires provided to residents of Caldwell, Texas following the annual Kolache Festival. Findings – Results revealed a relation between two dimensions of the BSCS, needs fulfillment and influence, and the way in which impacts are perceived. Specifically, needs fulfillment was positively related to social benefits and individual benefits. Needs fulfillment was negatively related to social costs. Influence related to impacts in the same manner. Research limitations/implications – This research provides support for a four-dimensional conceptualization of SOC and highlights the importance of examining the relation between psycho-social variables and perceptions of impact. Further research in additional settings is recommended. Practical implications – Results suggest that individuals with greater SOC are better able to perceive festival impacts and could be mobilized by festival administrators to address festival issues. Further research in additional settings is recommended. Originality/value – Empirical explorations of psychological SOC have been common in a range of community settings but have not received much attention with in the festival literature. Exploring how SOC is related to festival experiences can enhance theory development within this field of study as well as provide needed insight for festival administrators.