Music festival motivation in China: free the mind

Abstract

This paper explores the extent to which music festival attendance is 'universally' motivated or determined by the Chinese cultural and socio-political context.A novel qualitative approach was employed comprising observation of social media conversations and 'chat room' interviews with members of a festival online community. Seven motivators were identified, some similar to those in Western studies but others more specific to festival-goers in mainland China.The culturally specific motivators were identified as 'spiritual escape' and 'spiritual pursuit' and the universal motivators as 'togetherness', 'love of the music', 'novel experience', 'music sharing', and 'educational enrichment'. This paper focuses on the two culturally embedded motivators only.The implications of the study are that, although, growing, there are still very few music festivals featuring 'pop' or 'western' style music and these few are relatively new to Chinese people. Their attendance at them is, therefore, motivated differently to attendees at similar festivals in western countries. These motivating factors are mediated by the particular social, political and cultural factors at work in this complex country. The findings indicate that although many of the motivational factors for attending a music festival appear to be universal there are clearly factors which are culturally bound and therefore unique to the cultural context. These differences appear to be created by the social constraints, rapidly changing economy and the many contradictions inherent in modern mainland China. These conditions create a greater contrast between everyday life in mainland China and the liminal hedonistic space provided by the Festival. Further research is needed to validate theses initial findings within China and to explore how rock music festival motivations differ in other non-western cultures.

EDM and Ecstasy: the lived experiences of electronic dance music festival attendees

“…Lastly, a recent investigation of Chinese music festivals attendees found togetherness, musical enjoyment, and event novelty to be attendance motivators (Li & Wood, 2014). Overall, the motivational themes of music festival attendees gravitate towards socialization, musical enjoyment, and engagement with the festival atmosphere.…”

Attendee Motivations at an International Wine Festival in China

“…Although there is a small but growing body of literature on festival attendee's motivations in China (e.g., Y-N. Li & Wood, 2016), researchers are still unsure as to whether instruments designed by Western researchers are adaptable to China and the extent to which festival attendance is "universally" motivated (Dewar, Meyer, & Li, 2001). Research at a Chinese music festival by Y-N. Li and Wood (2016) found that although attendees have some similar motivations to those in Western studies, certain dimensions were more specific to festival goers in Mainland China. However, Dewar et al (2001) found that the motivational scales developed for festival attendees in North America were readily transferred to the Harbin Ice Lantern and Snow Festival in China.…”

The complex cohort: a netnographic review of generation Y backpackers

“…The netnographic process outlined in this paper complements other recent leisure research (i.e. Jong & Murray, 2016;Li & Wood, 2016), and aims to apply a contemporary approach conscious of past criticisms of the methodology (Kozinets, 2016). This is ethnographic research conducted within and upon the new cultural coordinates mediated by contemporary networked communications, such as the internet, and the variety of devices that humans use to access it (Kozinets, 2015).…”

“…The approach has recently been extended to leisure studies (i.e. Jong & Drummond, 2016;Li & Wood, 2016), however remains underutilised and somewhat outside the mainstream (Mkono & Markwell, 2014). There is also growing critique of misuses of the method (Kozinets, 2015;.…”