Untitled Document

The Power of Celebration: The Globalization and Impact of the Festivals & Events Industry

Building Legacies

For as long as anyone can remember, people have celebrated. Celebration itself is perhaps the most common denominator that we have, with the unique ability to cross all barriers of race, religion, ethnicity, age, politics, economics, education and geography.

From small, localized celebrations to mega-events with global outreach, festivals and events bring hope and joy that burns bright in the unlikeliest of locations, such as Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Afghan children were allowed to enjoy a traveling holiday festival, a treat forbidden under the Taliban; to the Olympics, which share a vision beyond just being a great sporting competition, and as a result, have succeeded in bringing the world together, for a few brief weeks, to celebrate our differences. In fact, events have brought more people together, peacefully, than any other world entity or profession and that may be the greatest legacy that we leave.

The Changing Migration Patterns of Events & Culture

Building legacies, however, takes time. Sometimes it takes a very long time, when we consider where those legacies and traditions began and how they have shaped our identities and our world.

The National Geographic Society has undertaken an ongoing program called the "Genographic Project". Using DNA and a world-wide team of experts, they have tracked human ancestry - all the variously shaped and shaded people of earth - back to African hunter-gatherers, some 150,000 years ago. Which means, for better or worse, that we are all related!

Using further DNA research, these experts have been able to determine the patterns of human migration as we slowly populated the Earth; leaving the African cradle some 70,000 years ago, into Australia 50,000 years ago, Europe and Asia a short 40,000 years ago, and populating the Americas only 15 to 20,000 years ago, which is practically yesterday in world history terms!

This migration, researchers believe, came about through some kind of neurological mutation that led to spoken language by some and a calling/need to colonize the world. With that migration, slowly, came not only new languages, but religious beliefs, political systems, and cultural identifiers. One would imagine that when these wanderers reached their new homes, especially given the challenges that they must have faced along the way, the first thing they would have done is to celebrate. Before governments were formed, before cities were built, before laws were established, they celebrated. And we continue that pattern today, celebrating traditions, victories, life, death, birthdays, anniversaries, love, remembrance, achievements, war, peace, belief systems, change, agricultural products, education, patriotism and the list goes on. The need to celebrate seems inherent in everything we do. Governments celebrate; scientists celebrate; institutions and corporations celebrate; communities and countries celebrate; and, on occasion, the world celebrates.

Over time, those celebrations became the roots of our culture and heritage. Through music, clothing, dance, food, and storytelling we created our identities, our comfort zones, our brands and images. The things that told others who we were and what was important to us; what we were proud of; and what our accomplishments were. Internally, these elements bonded us together. Externally, they became our cultural markers, much like the genetic markers on our DNA.

As migration patterns continued (and they continue today), many of these traditions were carried to other places and evolved into their own legacies, holding on to some components, adding new ones, and quickly distancing with others.

As time moved forward and people were able to travel more easily, many of these traditions were noted and taken back to be translated or shared with others. The carnivals of Nice, France and Viareggio, Italy found the seeds of their events growing in the Mardi Gras of New Orleans, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses in Los Angeles and the Carnivals of Brazil. Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany spawned countless worldwide imitators. Chinese New Year is now celebrated in many places outside of Asia and each March 17th many of our global citizens became Irish, if only for a day, as we celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Interestingly, you may be more likely to find an authentic, historical version of cultural traditions and celebrations taking place in those locations where ethnic populations have immigrated to, rather than in their original homelands. The reason being, that those who immigrated continue celebrating and holding fast to what they remember, while those who remained now celebrate who they are and who they have become today. In either case, it is that which we perceive to be our identities that we celebrate.

Today, the world is flat. What took our ancestors 150,000 years, we can do in seconds. With the speed and capabilities available today via travel, technology, the internet and the media, the speed at which ideas, images and information travel have reconfigured the world as we know it. Investors in one part of the world work with manufacturers in another; educators in the west exchange with counterparts in the east; trade routes for all industries crisscross like global spider webs; and the 'middle of nowhere' no longer is. Virtually every continent on our planet is becoming a melting pot of international diversity and the new moniker of businesses and events, worldwide, is "international".

The effect of this globalization process can be found throughout today's festivals and events industry as professional peers, worldwide, continuously share and learn from each other every day. Whether it is the large scale spectacle and pageantry of Chinese events; the iconic holiday parades of North America; the envelope-pushing artistic creativity of European festivals; the color and energy of Latin America's carnivals; the culturally rich tourism driven events of the Middle East; or the 'downunder' cutting-edge ambiance created by Australian events; every region, country, province, state, and city provides a new window and view to unlimited creativity.

The Growth and Changing Face of Our Industry

But as far back as celebration and events can be traced, it is only in relatively recent history that we left behind the days of 'spare time' event marketing and management.

Over time, celebrations themselves began to change; from often informal affairs to spectacular productions, requiring new sets of skills, experience, creativity, financing, planning and leadership. As a result, celebration evolved into a business as well as a growing and vital global industry, with new demands, needs and challenges every day.

Festivals and events have proven to be among the most successful tools available to communities, states, regions, and even countries to

increase tourism

create powerful and memorable branding and imaging opportunities

bond people together

encourage positive media coverage

enhance economic impact, and

add to the quality of life for those who live there.

Extrapolating from recent IFEA industry surveys, the special events industry today, worldwide, is estimated to include some four to five million regularly re-occurring festivals and events large enough to require municipal support services. Add to that figure those one-time or less-than-annual major events such as the millennium celebrations, the Olympics and world's fairs, and the incalculatable number of smaller, more informal events, such as corporate celebrations, weddings, religious gatherings, school carnivals and others, and you start to understand the huge outreach of our industry. The festivals and events industry is estimated to have a combined economic impact in the trillions of dollars and combined attendances that touch virtually every life on the planet several times over.

Over time, as our industry began to take shape and recognize itself as an industry, professional associations like the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) naturally emerged out of the process to respond to and support the many changing needs of this dynamic industry.

The IFEA reached the 50 year milestone in 2005. From small beginnings to simply share ideas, the IFEA today represents a true global industry and professional network, including IFEA Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America. Today's industry professionals and events understand, as did IFEA's founders 50 years ago, the enormous value and power created through an international network of professional peers, for the purpose of sharing ideas, successes, and creative new solutions.

On a parallel track, educational programs have grown and prospered to support both experienced professionals and those new to this quickly developing industry. From professional certification programs, such as the CFEE (Certified Festivals & Events Executive) program offered through the IFEA; to formalized college and university programs - there are now more than 300 institutions of higher learning offering courses, certificates or degrees in events education worldwide - supported by an ever-growing library of resources and research.

As we move forward a natural and expanding alliance between these two tracks will grow, forged by the increased needs of the professional industry itself and the research capabilities that the academic world brings to the table.

The flattening of the world will open up many new opportunities in the years ahead. New possibilities for exchanging ideas, entertainment, traditions and experiences, worldwide, will be reflected in how we think and operate; in the events that we produce; in where we seek funding and support; in how and where we market and promote our events; and in the relationships that we establish and enjoy.

As we continue our evolution as an industry, so too will the professional credibility and public awareness of our field evolve, enabling us to create a strong and positive brand identity for our industry.

A Globally United Industry

Our first and most important challenge as we look to the future will be our ability to unite our industry globally, something many others have struggled to do throughout history. We must form a global partnership of cooperation and communication in all directions that crosses all barriers, assumptions, beliefs and tendencies that we may have about the world around us. This partnership must allow us to see each other as a true global network of our peers and an unlimited source of creativity and support.

Further, we must commit to our own personal use of and ongoing support of this global network, to ensure its success. All of us freely talk about the power of our events and industry to bring people together; now we must show that we are capable of doing that among ourselves.

At the IFEA fiftieth anniversary world convention we featured a global panel session that looked ahead at the next 50 years for our industry. On that panel were professional representatives from Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. There were no egos, no discussions about what shape the table should be or who could sit beside whom, and no hesitations about sharing viewpoints that would benefit us all. It was a shining example of what we can build, a reminder of the many lives that we can touch as a result, and the catalyst for a new "IFEA World Forum" conference that will be held annually beginning in 2008, in tandem with the Olympic games in China, further underlining the important role of festivals and events in bringing the world closer together.

The Power of Celebration

From the earliest migrations out of Africa to today and continuing well into the changing future ahead of us, we are part of a dynamic global industry that will ensure that the world does not lose touch with itself.

The same analogy can be made for the use of festivals and events as they bond together communities, cities, countries and peoples. Such is the power of spirit and celebration and such can be the power that we create by working together as a common industry.