Investigating social capital development in embedded festivals: The case of the Cygnet Folk Festival

This article adopts Claridge's (2018) tri-dimensional social capital lens to explore how social capital is developed in an embedded festival setting. The study was based upon a quantitative survey and semi-structured in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders of the embedded Cygnet Folk Festival (a regional festival located in Tasmania, Australia). Results indicated that embedded festivals could generate unique social capital by co-opting the local infrastructure and providing volunteer opportunities. While all dimensions of social capital were detected, it appeared that embedded festivals may be particularly effective in generating the structural and cognitive dimensions of social capital; the findings of this study support the notion that embedded festivals differ in the manner in which social capital is produced and in their ability to create a sense of community in the host location. This paper concludes with a range of theoretical and practical implications for the effective management of social capital development in festival settings.