Impacts of Festival & Events

This report discusses the positive and negative impacts of festivals and events on the local community and society. It includes a case study of the Notting Hill Carnival and its impact on London as an international tourist destination. The report provides recommendations for organisers to minimise negative impacts and maximise positive impacts. The impacts are analysed in terms of political, social, economic and environmental factors.

Impacts of festival and
events

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Findings and Analysis......................................................................................................................3
Main role of events in UK and purpose they serve in a local community and society..........3
Positive and negative impacts of political, social, economic and environmental factors of
Notting Hill Carnival on London as an international tourist destination...............................6
Recommendation to organisers regarding appropriate measures and techniques of planning for
minimising negative impacts and maximising positive impacts............................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Festivals and events are considered as an effective way for the businesses to develop
trust, build an emotional connection and at last have a possibility to stand out from crowd of its
large number of competitors within the market place. This report is based on a case study of
Notting Hill Carnival which is described as the largest street festival within Europe. This report
includes the main roles of the events in the United Kingdom along with the purpose they serve in
the local communities as well as society (Asero and Tomaselli, 2021). Addition to this, there will
be an identification and evaluation of the positive and negative impact of political, social,
economic and environmental factors on London as an international tourist destination.
Furthermore, there will be recommendations to the organisers regarding appropriate measures as
well as planning techniques which can be implemented for minimising negative impacts and
maximising positive impacts.
Findings and Analysis
Notting Hill Carnival is a Caribbean festival event held yearly in London, United
Kingdom since the year 1966 every August over two days on the streets of Notting Hill area of
Kensington. It is held in West London and has become one of the largest street festivals within
the Europe. This festival celebrates the community of British West Indian and also assists in
encouraging the unity of the culture (Dwyer, Forsyth and Spurr, 2005). The main purpose of
such festival is to address the community unrest along with improving racial relations. It is a way
of expressing strength as well as solidarity in growing communities of Caribbean and to
minimise the ongoing tensions.
Main role of events in UK and purpose they serve in a local community and society
Festival and events are considered as the stress relievers that provide assistance in
balancing the emotions. The events also facilitate through providing the opportunities regarding
minimising the friction and also brings relatives and friends altogether in a bond of love. Events
are an effective approach to celebrate glorious culture, heritage and traditions as well as are
meant to rejoice the particular emotions and moments in the lives of people with their loved ones
(Bachman, Feng and Hull, 2022). Events play a significant role in adding the structure to the
social lives of the people and interact them with the families and their backgrounds. Festivals and
events within the United Kingdom tend to focus on the musical talent and culture. Events impact

the local communities and society in a direct as well as indirect way as they offer opportunities
for taking participation in different activities, developing skills and abilities, volunteering along
with social, cultural economic as well as environmental developments. Community events within
the UK play a major role in attracting tourists and visitors at international, national and regional
level. Events in the respective country contribute vastly to the feelings of social cohesion and
concentrates on the ethnic or cultural aspects. They also play a key role in seeking to inform the
members of community about their traditions and also promotes community pride within the
country. Events allow every person to discover its history through dressing in traditional and
cultural attire (Choi, Kang and Kim, 2021). The purpose that is served by events to the local
communities and society is that the events within UK give an opportunity to celebrate the
traditions and to generate awareness among the people of the country regarding their traditions in
order to carry on the experience. Within this country, the event of The Notting Hill Carnival
which will start on August 27 and ends on 29th August this year will celebrate the community of
British West Indian and enhances the unity of culture. This event has introduced the superior
class of the sound system, mainstream blending of Caribbean beats as well as amazing dance
moves (Jackson and et.al., 2005). The carnival itself is a staple in the lives of most of the people
because cultural diversities blend with that of West London. Such types of events within the
country aimed at highlighting the cultural richness of the area. Besides being fun, well-managed
events also provide a host of social and economic advantages to the communities. They boost the
economy of the country as the events within the nation are attracted by the visitors and tourists
which spend money and boost the local economy both on and off the event site (Donaldson and
Duckitt, 2019). There are many other roles that are played by the events in the respective country
and one of them is that the events serve benefits to the local community and society through
developing social cohesion, giving a sense of place, offering goods beyond entertainment along
with delivering a socially acceptable area for the actions of the people. These are the major roles
of the events within UK and the purpose they serve in a local community and society.

Interpretation:
The Notting Hill Carnival festivalscape consists of six different frames. The power as
well as politics have proven transformational for the respective event within the London
Illustration 1: Notting Hill Carnival Safety Considerations 2018
Illustration 2: The making of the London Notting Hill Carnival festivalscape:
Politics and power and the Notting Hill Carnival, 2022

festivalscape (Richards and Palmer, 2010). The asymmetric power of the political actors has
challenged the organisers of this event. In context to Notting Hill Carnival, the pivot events as
well as dissenting actors were used to trigger the festivalscape changes of respective event.

Positive and negative impacts of political, social, economic and environmental factors of Notting
Hill Carnival on London as an international tourist destination
Events such as Notting Hill Carnival held in London, UK creates a large number of
impacts on the host community in terms of creating employment opportunities and living
standard of people, raises expenditure and public finances, generating awareness among people
about the area and traditions of country. London, as an international tourist destination, has
greatly impacted by this event and the factors that are affecting the respective destination include
Political, economic, social and environmental factors. Notting Hill Carnival has both positive as
well as negative impact on London which is a tourist destination. These positive and negative
impacts of the carnival on the city are discussed as below:
Political Impact of Notting Hill Carnival
 Positive Impact: The government of UK wants to maintain the position of country as a
leading European nation for hosting the events and festivals. The political system of UK
is stable and this stability brings positive impact on the London as in context to Notting
Hill Carnival, the government of the country has granted the permission to organise such
kinds of events within the London city (Getz, 2019). This positively impacts the city as it
is hosting this type of carnival within the city. The government of the country should also
support the respective event financially through providing funds, sponsorship and many
other things. This will boost the efficiency of the event and brings positive impact on the
city in which it is organising.
 Negative Impact: Notting Hill Carnival is one of the biggest cultural events within the
United Kingdom however, the pandemic situation of COVID-19 has impacted the
London City in a great way as the political system of the country has made certain
guidelines regarding the pandemic such as maintaining two-meter social distancing,
proper sanitising, wearing mask and many others (Daniels and Norman, 2003). For the
first time in its history of 54 years that this carnival has been cancelled as the organise
had said that the health of people has to come first. The cancellation of such event has
adversely impacted the international tourist destination because at that time, no tourists
were able to come to London and spend their money in the carnival.
Economic Impact of Notting Hill Carnival

 Positive Impact: Notting Hill Carnival is a significant cultural event in the West London
and is considered as a precious constituent of the London image. Such type of event has a
vast economic impact on the economy of the respective city as well (Gursoy, Nunkoo
and Yolal, 2020). This city has promoted 93m income per year to the economy of the city
and also maintains an equivalent of 3000 jobs of full-time. As many of the jobs will be
part-time, the respective carnival gives some sort of employment for larger numbers in
comparison to this. Another positive impact that this kind of carnival has on London is
that consumption by the tourists injected a large amount of money into the regional
economy and this has a multiplier impact in the local economy as the funds provided by
the consumption are spent as well as re-spent by the organisers. Hence, if more and more
money circulates within the economy of the country, then the effect of multiplier will be
large. This carnival has also generated business opportunities for the song writers,
singers, costume builders and designers, make up artists as well as musicians. Notting
Hill Carnival has contributed up to £93 million per year to the economy of the London
(Jani and Mwakyusa, 2021). In such way, this carnival has bring positive impact on the
city.
 Negative Impact: The impact of COVID-19 has greatly affected the economy of London
in such a way that measures of social distancing and other aspects of this pandemic
situation have been considered by the organiser within the country and taken into
consideration these kinds of factors, the organiser was not able to organise the event of
Notting Hill Carnival. At that time when this event was not held within the city, a wide
number of visitors and tourists had not come to the city and not spent any of the amount
within the carnival. This has lead to reduce the funds of the carnival due to which the
supply of money within the economy of the country also got disturbed. This has
negatively impacted the international tourist destination in terms of finance.
Social Impact of Notting Hill Carnival
 Positive Impact: The event of Notting Hill Carnival has positively impacted the society
as well as community in a great way. As the respective event is considered as one of the
biggest street festivals within the Europe, it has contributed to the society and community
in such a way that it celebrates the British West Indian community and encourages the
unity of the culture. Another positive impact on London of this type of carnival is that it

has also helped in addressing the community unrest as well as improved the racial
relations within the city (Jenkins, 2019). This kind of event has also give the
opportunities to the people for their participation in various aspects, development of their
skills and abilities. It has also promotes the culture of the country through highlighting
cultural richness of the area.
 Negative Impact: The biggest negative impact of the event of Notting Hill Carnival is
that it has experienced a trouble over the years regarding crime and violence within the
event that there was a riot in the year 1976 and five deaths between the year 1987 and
2004. Within the event of the last year, the police has made 454 arrests- the greatest for
10 years- with 90 being for the possession of an offensive weapon, 17 for the assaults and
169 for the drugs. Within the event, two people has also suffered serious injuries after
being stabbed. In such way, the respective carnival has negative impacts on the society as
well as community of London city.
Environmental Impact of Notting Hill Carnival
 Positive Impact: In the last few years, the waste generated from the respective carnival
do not ended up in the landfill and instead of that, it is being used to supply green energy
within the London (Jeon, 2020). The 200 tonnes of waste collected last year has
generated electricity approximately of 97,200 Kwh which was sufficient to power 80000
hot showers. The respective event has swapped the streets of West London as at the end
of the carnival, revellers started to drift home and 170 waste operatives facilitated by 60
machines to clear the streets through working throughout the night for ensuring that the
streets of London are clear. This has positively impact the city as whole area got cleaned
as per the standards laid out in the Environmental Protection Act. In order to clear the
gutters and high-pressure jets, mechanical sweepers got deployed which have been used
to clean the pavements of stains. Street cleaners had also worked to eliminate excess
grease as well as oil stains from the area as fast as possible.
 Negative Impact: The impact of Notting Hill Carnival on London is in such a way that
the people who get collected within the festival throw the waste of eatables and
disposables which creates pollution to the environment as they are dumped into the rivers
and incur water pollution that hampers the environment of the London City (Nghiêm-
Phú, Kiều and Hoàng, 2021). Another negative impact of Notting Hill Carnival is that the

event uses speakers having heavy and loud sound which creates noise pollution to the
environment.
Recommendation to organisers regarding appropriate measures and techniques of planning for
minimising negative impacts and maximising positive impacts
From above discussion of the positive as well as negative impacts of Notting Hill
Carnival, it is recommended to the organiser of the respective event that it should consider all the
political, social, economic and environmental factors at the time of organising the event. In order
to minimise the negative impact of COVID-19, the organiser must consider the appropriate
measures set by the government of the country such as maintaining social distancing, proper
sanitising and wearing masks at the time of event (Sisson and Alcorn, 2022). These measures of
this infectious disease would help the organiser in successful ending of the event. The organiser
is also recommended to make plans before holding of the event in such a way that it should
establish a budget and confirm the sponsors, speakers and exhibitors. The respective personnel is
also recommended to have effective sound system which should not be so much loud that create
noise pollution. The organiser should advertise a lot its event of Notting Hill Carnival in
international countries in order to capture a large number of people across the world (Woosnam
and Aleshinloye, 2018). This would enhance the productivity as well as efficiency of the event as
when more and more tourists and visitors would come to the carnival, the more money would be
flow within the economy in terms of their contribution. The event organiser is also recommended
to manage the waste and disposable garbage through recycling measure as it would help in
creating less pollution to the environment.
CONCLUSION
From above explanation of the report, it has been colluded that before organising a
festival or an event, an organisation is required to be prepared and should know its audience first.
It has also concluded that the event industry within the country has contributed the economy in a
great way as it has created a wide number of job opportunities for the people. This report has
been based on the case study of Notting Hill Carnival and in relation to the respective event,
various aspects have been covered in this report. The major roles of events in the country have
been discussed along with the ways in which they have served to the local community as well as
society. Moreover, this report has also been included the positive and negative impacts of

political, social, economic and environmental factors by the event on London. Furthermore, in
order address the negative impacts and maximising the positive impacts, recommendations have
been given to the organiser regarding use of appropriate measures and planning techniques that
will help in making the event successful.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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