The Global Fusion Festival: An Examination of Learning-Motivated Guests and Satisfaction

Abstract

Cultural festivals are both attractions and destinations, which use cultural offerings as thematic elements to attract visitors. These festivals provide their patrons with both education and entertainment. This is further complicated by the large variety of motivations for festival attendees. One important motivation for festival patrons is learning, which can be linked to the construct of mindfulness. Mindful visitors are those who are receptive to educational experiences. When mindful visitors interact with certain setting factors, they exhibit greater satisfaction and greater learning outcomes. This study looks at learning motivated attendees of the Global Fusion Festival, an annual multicultural festival held in Philadelphia, to better understand the relationship between learning motivation and satisfaction and learning outcomes. Increased knowledge of this relationship can lead to better planning and marketing of event functions, particularly with regard to programming of activities.