Attendees’ attitudes towards supporting green practices at two Afrikaans arts festivals.

Abstract

The growth of arts festivals and the extensive number of attendees they attract have resulted in a greater environmental impact on these festival terrains and surrounding host communities. Festival organisers should implement practices that promote greener and more sustainable alternatives such as environmentally friendly transport systems and creative substitutes to reduce waste, water and energy. Implementing green practices is a process that requires a change in the mindsets and habits of both festival organisers and attendees. However, this is easier said than done. The involvement of festival attendees in the greening of festivals, or more specifically, their attitude towards supporting green practices, is crucial. It is therefore important to investigate the inclination of these festival attendees to support the implementation of green practices at South African Afrikaans arts festivals. Understanding which green practices these attendees are inclined to support will provide festival organisers with greater insight into which green initiatives should be implemented. Surveys were conducted at the Clover Aardklop National Arts Festival during October 2015 and the Innibos Lowveld National Arts Festival during June/July 2016. Four hundred and forty-three (443) and four hundred (400) questionnaires respectively were completed and used for analyses. A confirmatory factor analysis was done on each of the festivals’ datasets. The five factors for each dataset were labelled as Greener transport, Waste management, Water management, Energy management and Green commitment. T-test analyses revealed a significant difference between the two festivals with respect to waste management as a factor.

Keywords

• Afrikaans arts festivals
• festival attendees
• green practices
• green attitude and behaviour