MUSIC FESTIVAL MANAGEMENT: AN EXPLORATION OF SUSTAINABLE EVENTS AND BUSINESS MODELS

The festival has become a popular vehicle to deliver arts experiences to the public while also offering the audience a sense of discovery and meaningful engagement on a personal or social level. Despite data that demonstrates audiences' desire to receive arts experiences via the festival format, nonprofits struggle with fundraising or other aspects of management to sustain the event. The proliferation of festivals nationwide, coupled with a variety of programmatic concepts, scale and management models provides a rich environment to further examine the dynamics of festival production. A comparative analysis of the impact of constituencies, programming, organizational culture and planning, financial strategies and branding in the for-profit versus nonprofit realms will aid arts managers in using a broader perspective from which to build sustainable events.