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Between Fire and Ice: Experiences of the Persian Fire Festival in a Nordic Setting

Author

Listed:
  • Saeid Abbasian

    (Department of Environmental Science and Tourism Studies, Södertörn University, 14189 Huddinge, Sweden)

  • Anna Lundberg

    (Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden)

Abstract

This exploratory research seeks to gain insight into the visitors of Persian Fire Festival in Stockholm, their motivation, level of satisfaction and loyalty to the festival. The overall methodology is mixed methods consisting of participant observation and 280 completed online surveys including close-ended and open-ended questions. A Grounded theory analysis has been employed. The most important reason behind the participation has been to strive for the recognition of ethnic cultural identity; to keep the ancient culture alive; to maintain their ancestors’ legacy and transfer it to the next generation. Most of the visitors experienced positive feelings, showed satisfaction and loyalty, believed that the festival fulfilled their expectations and it should be celebrated officially every year. A minority showed dissatisfaction mostly due to the lack of accessibility to the event venue and might are not loyal to the festival. The first conclusion here is that these motivators are totally different than those mentioned by earlier research (e.g., escape, socialization, novelty, rest, prestige, excitement). Even though the desire to preserve the ancient culture and tradition is very strong, a lack of accessibility to the venue would constitute disloyalty and a barrier to re-attend in such a festival.

Suggested Citation

  • Saeid Abbasian & Anna Lundberg, 2020. "Between Fire and Ice: Experiences of the Persian Fire Festival in a Nordic Setting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10374-:d:460618
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Saeid Abbasian, 2022. "Disparate Emotions as Expressions of Well-Being: Impact of Festival Participation from the Participants’ Subjective View," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Woojin Lee & Haeyoon Kwon, 2021. "The Influence of Personal Involvement on Festival Attendees’ Revisit Intention: Food and Wine Attendees’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-17, July.

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