Sustainable Practices in Festival Management

This assignment delves into the crucial topic of sustainability within the context of festival management. It examines the multifaceted impacts of festivals – economic, social, and environmental – highlighting both positive and negative aspects. The assignment encourages critical analysis of best practices for promoting sustainable event planning and operation, considering various stakeholder perspectives and the long-term well-being of host communities and environments.

1.0
1.0 Introduction
The Songkran festival is the conventional Thai New Year’s Day, which is celebrated
on April 13th. The festival derives its name from “Songkran”, the Sanskrit name for
moving or passing into from one sign of the zodiac to the other (Songkran Water
Festival in Thailand 2018, 2017). The origin of this festival can be found in the ancient
Indian festival of Makar Sankranti. The Thai version of this event recognizes the passing
of an old year to a new one. It is similar to the Indian Holi festival, the Christian Easter
and the Chinese Ching Ming. The significance of this particular Songkran is because
the sun enters the sign of Aries the Ram and it is also very intimately associated with
the Vernal Equinox. The history of this festival goes back to the prayers and blessings
of the Buddhist Monks. The ancient Thai tradition asked for regular visits to the local
monasteries and offering food for the monks who reside there (Songkran Water Festival
in Thailand 2018, 2017). The Songkran Water Festival is celebrated across the country,
but the longest and largest of the celebrations can be seen at Chiang Mai City. This fun
and happy festival is the longest running one in the country, seen to last a duration of
six days. The 2011 version of the festival made it into the record books. The festival was
officially labelled as the "The Largest Water Gun Fight in the World" by the Guinness
World Records Authority. The event also offers people the chance of enjoying food and
desserts of the main five regions of Thailand. The visitors would get the experience of
tasting variety and vibrancy of the local cuisine. Attached to the meaning of the festival,
cultural programs and local edutainment activities get showcased, providing unique
local experiences (Songkran Water Festival in Thailand, 2017).
2.0Discussion
2.1 Festival satisfaction and behavioral intentions
Satisfaction is a form of psychological construct, considered by many as a form of
emotional response to human experiences (Xu & Zhang, 2016). It is believed as being
the judgment of consumers regarding goods and services, possessing an assumed
influence on their attitude based on the strength with which they are content with the

product (in this scenario, a festival) (Xu & Zhang, 2016). In the current context,
satisfaction is conceptualized as being the amalgamated assessment of individual
experiences with Songkran festival (Xu & Zhang, 2016). Behavioral intention described
as resident’s future intentions for celebrating Songkran is another vital dependent
variable. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Lazarus, it has been concluded by
researchers that people engage in different activities for achieving an outcome.
Emotional response gets triggered by their appraisal, which in turn generates a coping
response for maintaining or increasing their festival satisfaction levels (Xu & Zhang,
2016).
2.1 Festival authenticity
The idea of authenticity has an important role to play in the context of festival
consumption and production. Different perspectives related to authenticity could be
leading to changes in a festival’s cultural content, which would give rise to newer
meanings. Authenticity has the potential of being an important driver, motive, value or
interest for the locals for participating in cultural festivals (Pappas, 2016).
2.2 Festival motivation
Significant emphasis is placed on the relation between festival satisfaction and future
behavioral intentions in the context of festival motivation, with varied dimensions
displaying specific contexts of festivals (Kitterlin & Yoo, 2014). Motivational schemes
are vital for the formulation of effective marketing strategies. Festival consumption
contains different motives like external factors, socializing, relaxation, excitement, family
and cultural exploration. The push and pull motivation lines directly and indirectly affect
the intention and decision making of the participants of the event as a cultural
destination (Kitterlin & Yoo, 2014).
2.3 Place identity
Place identity is an important academic area in the literature of festivals and events. It is
referred as the cognitive connection that depicts the symbolic connection among a
person and a place (Davis, 2016). If people are visiting in local events the attributes of
the place might give rise to a stronger sense of identity that would involve not just the

definite, localized festival experiences, but even more exact memories regarding the
place. While cultural events and festival have the capacity of attracting the attention of
scholars for decades, very little have been covered regarding the relationship between
festivals and resident levels of place identity. Festivals build opportunities for the
development of communities by means of forging stronger and distinctive identities in
specific settings for asserting the local cultural values (Davis, 2016). Festivals do a good
job helping in the preservation of culture and traditions that have been passed on from
generation to generation. Festivals always offer integrated approach and promoting a
sense of identity, all the while providing a vision for the participants. People are often
seen making efforts and providing commitments for any festival for maximizing the
profits and fulfilling their needs. In this way, it would be promoting a sense of connection
among the residents, their spatial environment and their neighbors. It has been argued
by many researchers that place identity gets predicted with the help of overall
satisfaction level. On a contrasting note, some works have shown direct impact of
individual’s place identity on satisfaction. Place identity also has been planned as a
precursor of behavioral intentions (Wilson et al., 2017).
3.0 Experience and meaning attached to the event
Songkran is a festival in which people from all over the world come together for
celebrating different and infinite ways of living life and getting connected with each other
(Songkran Water Festival in Thailand 2018, 2017). At the festival, the tourists would be
getting the opportunity of appreciating the spiritual side of Songkran by getting the
blessing from the poured water on the buddha image on Mount Meru. Paying respect to
elders is also presented as an option for demonstration to the visitors, along with some
workshop activities related to Thai scented water, Thai pot pourri, and scented flour
bunch. The travelers would get to celebrate the festival in four regions, experiencing
different myths, cultures and traditions, related to the actual essence of Thailand. The
event would also offer the people the chance of enjoying food and desserts of the main
five regions of Thailand. The visitors would get the experience of tasting variety and
vibrancy of the local cuisine. Attached to the meaning of the festival, cultural programs

and local edutainment activities get showcased, providing unique local experiences
(Tsai & Sakulsinlapakorn, 2016).
4.0 Principles of sustainability
Sustainable development happened from continuous economic growth which believed
in creating a sustainable environment without polluting the environment. These ideas
were formulated by the environmentalists and were discussed in the World
conservational strategy. However, in order to achieve sustainable development four
pillars are important. They are economic, cultural, biological and technological.
Sustainable development of Songkran has aimed to achieve economic growth by
increasing the productivity but keeping the consumption of the natural resources as
minimum as possible. Therefore, the technological aspect of Songkran is very important
in this aspect and technology is the only way that this change can be brought about.
The main challenges that the sustainable development of Songkran had faced is
development of new processes and technologies. However, the most essential goal was
the conservation of the environment and keeping a balance between the environment
and the economic growth. Thus, the sustainability of the ecology is described in terms of
carrying capacity which inspects the amount of species than be supported by a
particular resource. This will also investigate whether the resources of Songkran are
renewable, partially renewable or nonrenewable. However, the culture has a lot of effect
on the sustainability of the environment because of the fact that the needs of the people
are increasing day by day which means that the consumption of the resources per
person is increasing every year. However, in this technological advancement is a factor
which will help to fulfill the carrying capacity of the individuals. Technology can be used
to change the type and the amount of resources that are being used to provide the
population with a desired standard of living (Ahmad & Mahmood, 2015).
5.0 Impact and outcome of the event
In terms of the event, the impact it has is in two formations. Both the impacts are built
up after the occurrence of the event. These impacts took place before the occurrence of
the event, in mid-way or even after the event happened. Majorly the hosting community

faced legacy impact, often theorized as the positive impact due to the physical benefits.
Legacy impact also had contribution in the growth of the physical infrastructure.
Leverage impact is included of the efforts that are aimed at the acquisition of the
maximum benefits that is brought via holding any event. Leverage process provided
with such advantages. Leveraging is connected with long term benefits. Events like this
have a development of large social benefits and creation of the civic pride. It is
developed with the help of cultural interactions in which several people from different
cultures share their culture. Among social costs and disturbances, noise is of the most
significance. The event generated a lot of noise, with large number of spectators
disturbing the peace. The event also created congestion and overcrowding. Social costs
are inclusive of property damage, increase in theft cases and vandalism (Ahmad &
Mahmood, 2015). Economic benefits and economic costs are created at events at the
same time. Event promotion for a long time displayed significant benefits towards the
economy of the country. Business people and government are triggered for investing in
additional expansion of trade and businesses in the holding community (Yolal et al.,
2016; Diedering & Kwiatkowski, 2015).
5.1 Impact on stakeholders
Events can be defined as an occasion which is planned socially and is used for various
purposes such as celebrations, product marketing, business event and sports events.
These events will have an impact on the stakeholders and can be both positive and
negative. These may happen before the commencement of the event, during the event
or may be after the event. The stakeholders that are affected by Songkran are business
people, hosting community and the participants. The most common impacts of
Songkran on the stakeholders are social, economic, political, physical and
environmental. The impact that is faced by the hosting community of Songkran is the
impact that is perceived by legacy. This includes the employment, availability of new
jobs and growth in the physical infrastructure. Leverage impact is another kind of
impact which will try to acquire the maximum benefit for hosting a particular event. The
process of levering facilitates in maximizing the benefits of the events. This may include
long term benefits such as image of the community that is hosting the event – good

revenue generation, more awareness about the event and so on. Some negative image
also is seen, like extreme water crisis few days after the event, too much
commercialization of a social event, loss in authenticity of the actual reason of the
event. The major environmental impact of Songkran is including air pollution, water
pollution, flora and fauna, depletion of natural resources and other geological factors.
There are social benefits attached to these events like Songkran as it helps to bring the
community together. People from various communities interact with each other in such
event like Songkran which helps to share their own culture among each other. There
are economic benefits attached to these events as it includes as it generates revenue
for the stakeholder. The expenditure from local residents cannot be considered as
additional as the funds get shifted from one destination to another. The local authorities
are engaged in providing of justification regarding public money spending. However,
there are negative impacts to these events such as noise and disturbance for the
neighboring people. It also causes unnecessary crowding at places such as banks,
supermarkets and hotels. Vandalism is a big issue in this context where there is
damage of property and antisocial activities due to various social events (MacLeod &
Ogier, 2014).
6.0 Conclusion
The Songkran festival is the conventional Thai New Year’s Day, and it derives its
name from “Songkran”, the Sanskrit name for moving or passing into from one sign of
the zodiac to the other. The origin of this festival can be found in the ancient Indian
festival of Makar Sankranti. The Thai version of this event recognizes the passing of an
old year to a new one. Judging from the experience and meaning of the event, the
impact it has on the different aspects and its sustainability traits have been discussed.
The impact of Songkran has been understood with the help of the discussed theoretical
concepts like authenticity, motivation and place identity.

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