The art of partnerships in the festival field

Abstract

This qualitative research explores the evolution from sponsorship towards more collaborative partnerships in the festival context. It provides insights on the specificities of the relationship between festival organisations and their business partners. The primary data consists of seven in-depth semi-structured interviews with experts from the festival field, festival managers and business partners. The analysis focuses on the content of the interviews and identifies the main aspects of the new phenomenon. The research reveals that the nature of the relationship between a festival and its partners has evolved towards a more co-creative model characterised by a continuous interactivity, a shared purpose and the co-creation of value. The implementation of this approach requires from festival organisations to re-think their partnership strategies. This thesis offers suggestions to set the path towards successful collaborative partnerships.