Making Sure They Have the Time of Their Lives: Identifying Cocreation Opportunities at the Dirty Dancing Festival

Abstract

Film-induced festivals are becoming more popular, generated through accessibility of streaming platforms and acceptance for popular culture fandom. This is different than any general film festival, because there is a sense of community and desire for recreation among film-induced festival attendees, who are seeking a very specific feel and experience. This excitement can also spill over into the surrounding community, thus sparking interest with festival organizers and community hospitality and retail business owners. Knowing what experiences film-induced festival attendees are seeking can potentially increase visitation, facilitate positive word of mouth, and promote return intentions. This study explored The 2017 Dirty Dancing Festival at Lake Lure, NC, USA where social media posts were collected to understand how attendees experienced the festival. Informed by cocreation theory and a qualitative content analysis, seven themes related to the lived experiences of festival attendees were identified providing in-depth information on attendees' expectations of film-induced festivals. Their experiences related to recreating film scenes and scouting film locations helped to contribute evidence for how festival organizers can maximize cocreation through film-induced festivals using social media posts.