CEPEL

So Fest (The Social and Regional Impact of Festivals)

SOFEST Research!

While the artistic and cultural impact of festivals is becoming widely recognized, their social value and regional impact have not yet been the subject of a comprehensive analysis.Against the backdrop of a restructuring of cultural policies—including changes in territorial scales (regions, metropolitan areas, and new boundaries for public intermunicipal cooperation agencies, etc.)—this study aims to shed light on the various contributions festivals make to local communities.At a time when the Ministry of Culture is examining not only the contribution of festivals to the arts and culture but also their capacity to contribute to regional development, this study aims to provide concrete insights into the social and regional impact of festivals. The study comprised five components, and the current status is as follows (the four published reports are freely available on the France Festivals website):

  • https://www.francefestivals.com/)
  • Festival Audiences: 26,000 questionnaires analyzed, a report published
  • Socioeconomic indicators for festivals: 184 organizations, a report published
  • volunteers, 3,500 questionnaires processed, one booklet published
  • Festivals’ public-interest partnerships, qualitative interviews, and questionnaire analysis; report in progress
  • Social Media Communication at Festivals: 200 Events Analyzed; report currently being drafted

In addition to these areas, the SOFEST team sought to estimate the economic, social, and artistic losses resulting from event cancellations in 2020. This resulted in a special report, published on the France Festivals website— “Cancelled Festivals: Estimating Economic and Social Losses.” By the end of 2021, the SOFEST team will publish all of the results (quantitative and qualitative) in the form of a book to be published by Presses de Science Po.

From SOFEST! to the Festival Observation System (DOF)

While carrying out its program, the SOFEST team was involved in the implementation of the États Généraux des Festivals (EGF), promoted by the Ministry of Culture. In late 2020, the team was tasked with expanding its analysis to include all festivals in cultural sectors that had not previously been included in its scope: visual arts, film, literature, and other subsectors of the performing arts such as storytelling and street arts. The goal is to lay the groundwork for long-term monitoring of the festival landscape, based on a sample yet to be established. Starting in February, the team hopes to send a tailored questionnaire to as many festivals as possible, based on the initial version used for the study focused on socioeconomic indicators. The questionnaire now includes more questions on sustainable development and on the current situation of events, given the well-known health context.
Each festival participating in the study completes an online questionnaire via a personalized link (takes about 20 minutes to complete). In return, they receive a comparative table based on a set of indicators, allowing them to compare themselves with festivals in their sector (e.g., classical music, dance, urban arts, literary events, etc.) and with the overall sample of all festivals that responded to the survey.
The study will launch during the last week of January.
The data will be processed and analyzed in March, published in April, and presented in early May during the second phase of the EGF at the Printemps de Bourges festival.
See you in May!Study Directors: Emmanuel Négrier and Aurélien Djakouane, CEPEL, CNRS – University of Montpellier Coordination: France Festivals
Partnership: The Grand Est Cultural Agency – Occitanie en Scène – The Breton Festival Collective – Fédération De concert! – Federation of Francophone Song Festivals – Sacem – Crédit Coopératif – Ministry of Culture

More information: SoFest