GTTP Research Award
2011 Winning Case Studies
2011 Case Study Winner (Brazil) - In Sao Paulo, the student team’s hometown, the festival of Carnaval revolves around 95 Samba “Schools” or teams which between them enter over 400,000 dancers, flag carriers, drummers, float riders to perform in the event. Then there are the hundreds of thousands volunteers who help each School with their time, effort and money. The Schools also function as self-help organizations, reported the students, and offer after-school activities and classes, all of which help maintain volunteers’ involvement in their School.
2011 Case Study Winner (Canada) - The Province of Manitoba is home to more than 200 festivals each year. The festivals are made possible by the efforts of some 30,000 volunteers from the province’s population of 1.2 million. One, called Folklorama, lasts two weeks, occupies venues across the city of Winnipeg and needs 20,000 volunteers to make it work. The students examined the challenges facing festival organizers and have assembled an excellent and practical checklist for recruiting volunteers and keeping them involved. They also have recommendations for working around “toxic volunteers” who are impediments to a festival’s success.
2011 Case Study Winner (China) - The research team examined China’s experience of festival tourism by exploring local versions of the Dragon Boat Festival, a nationwide holiday. Interest in local versions of the festival - and others - is accelerating in China as more Chinese citizens go on vacation and explore their country and its cultures. This interest is leading local governments to take steps to encourage festival-based tourism in their areas with more advertising and improved facilities to accommodate the growing numbers of visitors.
2011 Case Study Winner (Hong Kong, China) - Hong Kong celebrates its own special festivals; it also celebrates festivals that it shares with the rest of China, as well as festivals imported from Britain when Hong Kong was a British colony. Team members reviewed all three varieties and then focused on the Good Luck Festival as it is celebrated in Sha Tin, their neighborhood, and its Che Kung Temple. The team made suggestions to make visiting the Temple and the Festival easier and more rewarding for visitors.
2011 Case Study Winner (Hungary) - The Nadasdy Historical Festival in Sarvar was established in 2009 by a group of friends who made up for their lack of experience with hard work and lots of enthusiasm. The Festival has been successful but is still a work in progress, according to the team, one of whose members helped start the Festival. The team tells the story of how the Festival was created, and how it is evolving with new events, new supporters, new ideas, and how the organizers are dealing with the inevitable challenges.
2011 Case Study Winner (Ireland) - The team reviewed a sampling of 19 festivals that range from ones that started as national in scope but have become international celebrations (think St. Patrick’s Day) or are very local such The Puck Fair, which celebrates an historical event. While providing a useful guide to anyone planning a trip to the island, the team also shows us how festivals have become a mighty engine of growth for Irish tourism, and describe the strategic steps being taken to encourage the festival industry.
2011 Case Study Winner (Jamaica) - Jamaica’s Calabash Literary Festival was an ornament of the country’s cultural scene for 10 years, bringing in writers from around the world until it ran out of funding. The team used SWOT analysis (“Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats”) to examine the Festival and its demise. The team recommended charging at least a minimal fee to help resolve the funding problem and using social media to publicize the event. Threats to reviving Calabash, which may or may not return, include a new literary festival in Jamaica.
2011 Case Study Winner (Kenya) - The team focused on ceremonies that help define the lives of the Kikuyu, one of Kenya’s 42 ethnic groups. The team would like to see efforts made to educate people on the need to preserve festivals as an important part of Africa’s heritage and culture. The team suggested more efforts be made to publicize festivals locally so local residents can appreciate them and also to attract visitors. The team also recommends that infrastructure be improved in order to make festivals more accessible to visitors.
2011 Case Study Winner (Russia) - The annual Spasskaya Tower Festival is a rapidly evolving five-day international musical festival held in Moscow’s Red Square and named after a massive Kremlin entry way, the Spasskaya Tower. The initial format was established in 2007, before the festival was expanded and moved to Red Square in 2009. It has attracted military bands from 15 countries, including the U.S, Britain, France, and Australia. Musical offerings include military, classical, pop, and jazz. Performers range from singers to a Swiss drummers corps to dancers from Mexico. The team interviewed attendees, analyzed the festival’s potential and offered suggestions.
2011 Case Study Winner (South Africa) - Limpopo Province’s Marula tree fruit, a cousin of the cashew nut, is used to make cooking oil, skin conditioner, fruit juice, jelly condiments, relishes, snacks, beer and even an after-dinner drink. Marula fruit is the traditional centerpiece of some of the celebrations and festivals of the Tsonga, Venda, Northern Sotho and Zulu peoples. The versatile fruit is now the star of the Province’s Marula Festival, which offers golf, youth rugby and soccer, ethnic games and dances, music, a marathon, cooking competitions, and a fashion show. The team tells us how it all works.
