Visitors' Motivation to Attend the Festival of Edible Flowers

Abstract

This article examines participants' motivation to an edible flowers festival and their diversification in terms of sociodemographic characteristics. Sixteen motives for participating in the festival were empirically tested and presented in four motivational dimensions. The data were collected during the 5th Edible Flower Festival in Poland in 2020 using a questionnaire. The results show that the most common motive for participating in a culinary event was the need for socialization. In contrast, the need to experience new culinary discoveries/experiences was slightly less critical. The findings also show significant differences in the participants' motivational dimensions due to sociodemographic characteristics. Women more often participate in events with a high motivation to escape from the routine of everyday life and cultural exploration. Younger respondents were more often motivated by searching for culinary novelties, and older respondents were motivated by cultural exploration and escaping from daily routine. For visitors accompanied by family members, the priority was socialization and escape from routine. In contrast, those accompanied by acquaintances/friends indicated a cultural exploration and encountering new culinary experiences more often. The study results may provide a better understanding of the participants of a culinary festival, increase the effectiveness of marketing and promotional activities, and thus increase the satisfaction of participants in subsequent events.