Examining the relationships among festivalscape,experiences, and identity: evidence from two Taiwanese aboriginal festivals

Despite an increase in the number of studies on aboriginal festivals, little empirical research has examined how the organisers of these festivals influence visitors’ sense of festival identity by promoting identifiable factors in their promotional materials. This study thus examines the relationship between the festivalscape, emotional and authenticity experiences, and festival identity among the attendees of two major aboriginal festivals held in July and December in Taiwan. A total of 901 usable questionnaires were collected. Our empirical results suggest that programme planning and the facilities of the festivalscapes positively and significantly affect the emotional experience at both festivals. Furthermore, the emotional experience and the authenticity experience positively and significantly affect festival identity at both festivals. Our findings contribute to efforts to understand the behaviour of festival attendees. Managerial implications and future research directions for aboriginal festival tourism are presented.