Mustafa TEPECİ, Ceren İŞÇİ, Zehra Gökçe SEL, Selim KIROVA

The Management of a Government-Hosted Festival from Stakeholders’ Perspectives: International Manisa Mesir Paste Festival

The purpose of this study is to determine how a local government hosts and manages a large-scale festival from the perspectives of stakeholders, including the organizing committee members, government entities, academics, businesses, tourists, and residents. The study investigates the way International Manisa Mesir Paste Festival (hereafter Mesir Festival) is managed and detects how different entities explain the reasons of the success or failure of the public festival as well as providing recommendations to increase success. The research applies a qualitative method to explore the determinants of the success of this festival organization. In this study, researchers conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders. The findings reveal that public administration is prevalent and dominant in deciding the content and administration of the Mesir Festival. Three significant main themes were determined: shortcomings, benefits or contributions, and recommendations. The results indicate that the festival did not achieve any notable economic, social, or cultural gains, thus, shortcomings of the festival exceed its benefits. This research provides valuable insights into the study of festival management by extending our understandings of government-hosted and managed festivals.

Keywords:

Manisa Mesir Paste Festival government-hosted festival, Distribution Cerenomy, Historical Festival, stakeholders’ perspective,

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