ABSTRACT
As the popularity of rock music festivals in the UK has increased over the years, it has become increasingly important to understand what festivalgoers want in their experience. This chapter explores the most important experiential aspects of the festivalgoer’s experience by first providing a conceptual background to music festivals and tourist experiences. Festival experiences can be conceptualized from a variety of approaches and perspectives; however, this chapter focuses in particular on the content- and context-specific attributes of the peri-festival experience. That is, what is most important to the festivalgoer whilst they are physically at the festival. Through qualitative, semi-structured interviews with festivalgoers, the festival atmosphere is revealed as the most important aspect. However, in gathering a deeper understanding of what the festival atmosphere consists of, three key attributes are proposed: the musixscape, socialscape and enjoyment. The musixscape comprises music-related features including performance, type and genre of music. Social aspects such as co-creation, spending time with friends and family, making new friends, the sense of community and sharing similar interests with others make up the socialscape of the festival atmosphere. Finally, the relationship between music and social networks at the festival creates enjoyable experiences through a sense of freedom, authenticity and witnessing unusual behaviour. Festival organizers may be able to manage some aspects of the festival atmosphere, but this research demonstrates that there are also many experiential attributes that cannot be controlled. It is recommended that managers consider how the atmosphere can be used to promote and stimulate preferred consumer behaviour.
