Abstract:
Festivals can contribute to the economic development of local areas because they have the potential to attract large numbers of attendees. It is thus important for festival organisers (and host cities) to know the demographic composition of attendees, their experiences and how much they spend during the festival. This information is likely to assist organisers in tailor-making offerings and marketing strategies towards attracting potential future attendees. Consumer behaviour is therefore a vital component of festivals. Although research on festival tourism is prolific in the South African context, there is a dearth of research on the biggest festival in the Free State province, the Mangaung African Cultural Festival (Macufe). In addressing this, the aim of this study was to assess the consumer behaviour of visitors to Macufe.
Macufe attracts more than 140 000 attendees to Bloemfontein annually. Owing to the size of the population, a quantitative approach was selected as the most suitable for reaching the aim of the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to 400 festival attendees at the 2016 festival. The questionnaire consisted of six sections: demographics, accommodation, transportation and parking, food and beverage, shows and entertainment, and general issues. Data were interpreted using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that most of the attendees were local residents and from the Free State Province. The group with the second most attendees was from Gauteng. The findings also showed that there were attendees from all nine provinces of South Africa. The majority of respondents were African males, with the average age distribution between 21 and 40. Most respondents spent more than R500 on food and more than R1 000 on beverages. The majority of respondents also spent between R500 and R1 000 on shows and entertainment. The vast majority of respondents (around 80%) felt that shows and entertainment were well organised reasonably priced and that the venues were suitable. The study concluded with appropriate recommendations to the festival organisers.
