Festival Planning

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Festival Planning Community InvolvementThe
Case of Lisdoonvarna

• Fiona Tobin
• John Herlihy
• Institute of Technology, Tralee

AOIFE Conference 2003 Friday, November 7th
Brandon Hotel, Tralee
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Presentation Structure

• Todays Tourism Industry
• National Tourism Policy
• Irelands Planning Policy
• Sustainable Tourism Planning
• Festival Planning
• Role of the Community in Festival Planning
• Case Study Lisdoonvarna
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

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Todays Tourism Industry? Tourism analysis and
prognosis ? WTO Tourism 2020 Vision Statement
? 1.56 billion international arrivals? Europe
as largest receiving region (717m)? 5.9m
arrivals to Ireland in 2002 ( 2003) National
Tourism Policy? National Policy Review Group?
Arrivals could reach 10m by 2012 ? Festival and
Cultural Events Initiative ? Funding for
overseas marketing initiatives
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Irelands Planning Policy Regional Tourism
Policy? Shannon Development? Special Interest
focus? Rural ProofingCounty Clare Tourism
Policy? ITIC County Clare Report Findings
(2001) ? High tourism profile Clare County
Tourism Development Strategy? High Quality
Tourism Product ? Niche Products? Tradition
of festivals and events
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County Clare Festivals

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Sustainable Tourism Planning

• ? Subtle Relationship
• ? The importance of convergence
• ? Tourist / Host / Environment
• ? Regenerating the rural area

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natural or man-made attractions amenities
and facilities, marketing and information
services and transport are all tangible elements
of the rural tourism product, yet the intrinsic
qualities of the rural environment, such as a
sense of space, peace and tranquillity, or a
place to escape are also vital ingredients
... Sharpley Sharpley (1997) 
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Festival Planning? Evolution of planning
process ? Plans should be modified to fit
destination? Need for formalised
processCommunity Involvement? Academic
support, Getz/Jamal, Mitchell? WTO, Osaka
Milennium Declaration (2001)? Wilcoxs 5
Stances
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Wilcoxs 5 Stances
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Is Community Best Practice possible? ?
Glastonbury? Level 5 of Wilcox achieved? High
levels of consultation and consensus? 35 m
local economy ? 130 local business stalls ? 25
of all staff were local? 600,000 donated to
local charities? Volunteer administered
recycling centre
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Lisdoonvarna 1978-1983? Irelands first 3 day
outdoor music event? Excess demand year on
year? Cumulative organisational problems? 1981
peak, ten fold growth? Change in festival
orientation over time
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Emerging Problems?

• hundreds of the large foreign attendance
  described the facilities as the worst they had
  ever experienced.
• Like many Irish there, I had nothing to compare
  them with
• Tomás Mac Ruairi, Journalist (1978)

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Loss of Control?

• festival organisers had warned ticket buyers
  in advance about the dangers of overcharging but
  could only suggest that they complain to the
  National Prices Commission when they returned
  home
• (Irish Independent, 1980)

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1983 Festival ? Festival ambiance had changed?
Ill conceived contingency security plan?
Drowning incident Outcomes ? Profile boost for
area ? Economic benefits? New relevance to
modern day music fans? Highlighted new tourist
product? Need for more professionalism ?
Community Involvement
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Lisdoonvarna 2003? One day event, 4 stages,
same location? National promoters and event
organisers? Original promoters acting as local
consultants? Few public meetings? Doolin
Community Partnership formed ? Local authorities
express concern? County Council dissatisfied
with proposal
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no mention is given to the potential damage
to our tourist trade built up over the years by
the people of Doolin (Doolin BB owner,
2003) the fears, pain and anxiety
experienced 20 years ago are very much alive
(Elderly Doolin resident, 2003)
Lisdoonvarna Planning File
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Festival Licence Refused ? Site deemed
suitable? Surrounding region and infrastructure
not ? Relocation to RDS ? Regional loss of 3-4
million? Was this move essential?
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Revisiting Wilcox
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Conclusions 1. To 2020, record growth levels
for global, regional and national tourism are
forecast.2. Moving forward, festival and event
activity will contribute significantly to this
growth.3. Planning policy advocates
consideration of local environment restrictions
and all potential impacts, particularly in rural
areas.4. Involvement of local community at all
stages of the festival planning process is
key.5. Lisdoonvarna and Doolin held 2
conflicting views of the festival. Clear goal
incompatibility, poor application of festival
planning procedure.
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Recommendations 1. At rural level, local
knowledge is key and a pre-requisite to planning
success.2. Comprehensive local consultation
must also form part of this process. 3. There
needs to be a fit between host stakeholder and
events organiser objectives.4. Selling an event
purely on economic merit is not enough. Conflict
will develop if communities fail to see evidence
of organiser evaluation of the wider impacts.
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Recommendations 5. The capacity of the local
area and its service infrastructure should
dictate the scale of the planned event.6. The
festival planning process should be set in motion
well in advance of the statutory 16 week licence
application procedure timeframe. 7. The
festival planning process should be a continual
learning experience for all stakeholders. 8.
The 3 Cs approach should apply COMMITMENT
COMPROMISE CONSENSUS