Re-imaging arts festivals through a corporate lens:
Case study of business sponsorship at the Henley Festival
Dr Rebecca Finkel
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
School of Business, Enterprise and Management
Queen Margaret University Drive
Musselburgh, East Lothian EH21 6UU
Scotland, UK
Tel: +44 (0)131 474 0000
Fax: +44 (0)131 474 0001
rfinkel@qmu.ac.uk
Dr. Rebecca Finkel is an urban cultural geographer and currently is Programme Leader and Lecturer
of Events Management in the School of Business & Enterprise at Queen Margaret University,
Edinburgh. Her main field of study is the role of arts festivals in the cultural economy and their
social, economic and political impacts on communities and places. Main research interests include
events and culture-related regeneration, creative and cultural industries and UK cultural policies.
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Re-imaging arts festivals through a corporate lens:
Case study of business sponsorship at the Henley Festival
Abstract
This paper explores the impacts commercialisation processes have on contemporary arts
festivals by analysing their increasing reliance on private sector funding sources, such as business
sponsorship. A case study of the Henley Festival demonstrates the effects that being primarily
dependent on corporate subsidies can have on the ‘look and feel’ of a festival. Research methods
include a survey sent to 117 UK arts festival organisers to discern audience demographics,
programming, funding and future plans. Case study methods include in-depth interviews with the
Artistic Director and Marketing Director of the Henley Festival, as well as participant and direct
observation of the festival, which was recorded in a personal research diary. Main conclusions
suggest that the Henley Festival is exclusionary for many of the local population and classical arts
enthusiasts, who are often alienated from the festival as a result of its emphasis on garnering
corporate support and providing corporate entertainment.
Keywords
arts funding, business sponsorship, arts festivals, commercialisation, classical arts, corporate
subsidy
Re-imaging arts festivals through a corporate lens:
Case study of business sponsorship at the Henley Festival, UK
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1. Introduction
It has widely been accepted that there has been an overall commercialisation of many
cultural forms and leisure activities in recent years (see Bayley, 1989; Bennett et al., 1998; Caves,
2000; DuGay and Pryke, 2002; Beck, 1990; Rohter, 2003), and this can be seen to include UK arts
festivals. The degree to which an arts festival is commercialised depends not only on the activities
conducted by the festival (Mittila, 2003, 17), but also the ways in which the festival is constructed
and utilised by its financial supporters. Although some commercial elements, such as hiring venues
and artists, are standard for most festivals, other commercialised activities, such as implementing
business techniques and accepting sponsorship, have been adopted on a wider scale fairly recently
(Mittila, 2003, 17). Although the majority of contemporary arts festivals in the UK are not profitdriven, many can been seen as commercial entities because they are being used to create financial
gain for places and often indirectly communities or individuals, and because some are increasingly
associated with commercial enterprises and commercial practices.
This paper explores the effects that commercialisation processes have on arts festivals in
Britain by analysing how the private sector sponsors the arts in general and arts festivals more
specifically, and the influence this support has on the content and organisation of the arts festivals.
For some arts festivals who receive business sponsorship, this often means catering to their
programming preferences and striving to match festival audiences with sponsor’s target markets.
This is exemplified by a case study of the Henley Festival, which examines the effects that being
primarily dependent on corporate sponsorship can have on priorities and programming of a
contemporary arts festival.
It is suggested that arts festivals are affected by commercialisation processes in three
different key ways: 1) when they are organised principally for financial gain and revenue generation
becomes the principal aim, 2) when they are sponsored by a for-profit enterprise and, 3) when they
become vehicles for executing economic agendas. The first of these has the potential to arise when
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there is a primary emphasis on funding the festival from the box office. The second form can be
associated with funding from business sponsorship, even if the supporting business does not gain
financially from the partnership. It can be argued that an association with business strengthens the
likelihood of making the festival into a commercial entity. The third way is a more recent
phenomenon and suggests that the economic motivations behind public subsidies are contributing to
the increasing commercialisation of festivals in recent decades. Public subsidy once was a reliable
way of guaranteeing that commercial influences would not affect the arts (Mittila, 2003, 17).
However, this can be seen to be no longer the case in many instances in Britain due mainly to the
government's managerialist tendencies to measure the worth of artistic output in economic terms
(Holden, 2004).
The beginning of the escalation in the number of arts festivals adopting commercial
practices and the widespread use of arts festivals for commercial gain in the UK can be traced to the
late 1980’s. Prior to this, in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the majority of arts festivals could be
categorised in two different ways. There were classical arts festivals, which were organised by and
for the cultured middle classes, often with Arts Council support, to enable them to see and hear a
wide variety of work. Also, there were primarily locally-based community celebrations (Bianchini
and Parkinson, 1994), which relied on community volunteers and local council assistance. These
kinds of festivals still exist to an extent today. However, the degree and nature of public subsidy has
been a key variable that has changed through the years (Beck, 1990), and this has had an effect on
the development of arts festivals.
Public support was once considered by arts festival organisers to be more favourable than
business sponsorship because it allowed the festival to experiment with more creative ideas and to
operate without the necessity for as many measurable outcomes (Gardner, 2006). However, the
increasing politicisation of arts funding in contemporary Britain has somewhat reversed this trend,
and many arts festivals are unable to programme with the luxury of reliable and secure public
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funding or even manage to get a “foot on the funding ladder” (Gardner, 2006). Arts festivals have a
responsibility to cover their costs and are increasingly seeking alternative ways to do so in the light
of current public funding situations, such as increased competition for funds and restrictive
guidelines for eligibility. As public funding becomes more complicated and more uncertain as a
primary source of financial support for many arts festivals, government funders have encouraged
arts organisations to increase their earned income through the box office and retail sales and to seek
corporate sponsorship (Caust, 2003, 55). However, the pursuit of these private methods of funding
can also be seen to be having an impact on the programming decisions and operations of arts
festivals. It is suggested that the main factors affecting many arts festivals as they enter into the
arena of private support are: increasing competition for funds, potential loss of creative control over
programming, increasingly target-driven approaches to operations and increasing commercialisation
of the festival.
The cultural sector faces a funding landscape that is increasingly competitive (A&B, 2005)
due in part to greater competition, arts market saturation and the increase in the number of other
public sector organisations seeking to partner with businesses (A&B, 2004, 2). Although business
sponsorship for the arts has increased 8% in the past year and three-quarters of arts organisations
that applied for private funding were successful, private sources typically make up no more than
13% of their overall revenue (A&B, 2004). Arts festivals are not only competing with each other for
such funding, but also with other events, art forms and modes of entertainment. Many also do not
know how best to position themselves to successfully compete in an environment that requires a
business-oriented approach (Evrard and Colbert, 2000, 4). The added pressures of becoming more
strategic can be a financial drain, as it often requires hiring staff with management or grant writing
expertise.
The critics of business intervention in the arts believe such measures have the potential to
commodify artistic output and turn arts organisations into commercial entities (Clark, 2004, 34).
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However, before condemning arts organisations for engaging in business practices and associations,
it is necessary to pause and consider if commercialisation is necessarily such a bad thing for them in
practice. From an artist perspective, private funding can often allow artists to pursue innovative
activities that they would not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue. Also, many artists accept
corporate funding in order to afford to perform at smaller events without having to charge charities
or publicly-funded organisations as much. However, it is important, especially in the current
‘strings attached’ climate of arts subsidy, that artists and arts administrators retain creative control
despite funding pressures (Gardner, 2006).
2. Development of business sponsorship for the arts
The concept of business sponsorship for the arts can be traced to the American tradition of
business philanthropy implemented by Carnegie, Rockefeller and other industrialists of the 19th
century. By the 1950’s, it was an established function in many large companies in America and
Britain. The idea was to demonstrate that the companies cared for their employees by giving back to
the communities in which they lived (Laurie in Robinson et al., 1994, 68). Business sponsorship
was seen as an advantageous proposition for both the company and the arts. As Chong put it, “big
business feels comfortable supporting the arts; arts organisations deem support by big business as
an essential ingredient for financial success; and target audiences are made aware of the corporate
contribution to cultural life” (2002, 47).
In the 1980’s, corporate support for the arts became a wider phenomenon on both sides of
the Atlantic aided by the Reagan and Thatcher government’s direct encouragement (Wu, 1998, 28).
At the time, the Conservative government wanted businesses to fund the arts in order to make up
for the decrease in government support (Beck, 1990, 393). Unlike nineteenth century
philanthropists, however, business sponsorship of the arts in recent times should be partly
considered as a commercial undertaking and not a purely altruistic activity. The Association for
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Business Sponsorship in the Arts in the UK states that sponsorship is part of a calculated promotion
and publicity campaign for the business name, products and services (Wu, 2002, 128). Along with
providing innovative status for associating themselves with the arts, sponsorship provides positive
branding for businesses (Gardner, 2006). However, along with the results of Thatcherism, there are
other reasons why sponsorship has grown. Growth in business investment in the arts in recent years
is attributed to the increasing importance of corporate social responsibility for businesses, the
increased awareness that affiliations with the arts stimulates creative business cultures, regeneration
projects, European City of Culture bids, growth of cultural tourism and renewed popularity of
certain kinds of art forms, such as visual arts (A&B, 2004, 2). O’Hagan and Harvey (2000, 222) list
five primary motivations for contemporary businesses to sponsor the arts. In order of importance,
these are:





Promotion of image/name
Supply-chain cohesion1
Corporate entertainment for clients
Non-Monetary Benefit to Managers or Owners
Enhancing good will/ corporate responsibility
In terms of promotion, well-known arts events attract certain audiences that fit many
corporations’ socio-economic marketing targets, and sponsorship is considered to be a relatively
inexpensive and effective advertising tool for the companies involved (Wu, 2002, 129). For
example, tobacco companies have been known to use arts sponsorship as a way of getting cheaper
advertising and sometimes as a way of getting any advertising since cigarette advertising is illegal
in many places (Wu, 2002, 129). Sponsorship of the arts can often help change the image of a
product or corporation that may have negative connotations. The traditional partnership of art,
money and social status can be seen to exist at certain high-profile festivals and cultural events, and
many companies want not only to advertise to that target audience, but also have their name
1
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This is defined as, “making production more efficient, linking up key suppliers, focusing on employees of firm”. Its
rationale is one of reducing costs by avoiding industrial relations tensions. It also occurs when a company that is
competing on international markets chooses to sponsor a local arts event in the country in which it is located
(O’Hagan and Harvey, 2000, 222).
associated with such prestigious events in order to strengthen their brands (Zukin, 1995). These
types of events are also good arenas for corporate entertainment. Not only do sponsors receive free
tickets or reduced ticket prices for employees and clients to attend prestigious events, they are also
provided with heavy exposure of the company logo for clients to see (Laurie in Robinson et al.,
1994, 69). As the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas Hoving put it in more
basic terms, “Art is sexy! Art is money-sexy! Art is money-sexy, social-climbing fantastic!” (in Wu,
1998). This may help to explain why business sponsorship is sometimes criticised for using the arts
for corporate propaganda (Hewison in Robinson et al., 1994, 29).
On a less strategic level, sponsorship also is a way for companies to be seen giving back to
the community. Businesses seek to create positive environments in which they can more effectively
operate. Sponsoring artistic activities shows that they maintain a social responsibility to the
community and care about their customers, which in many instances they do. As Murray Bring,
Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Philip Morris put it, “Selling a product is not the
principal motive for giving to the arts, and if it were, it would fail” (in Robinson et al., 1994, xvii).
Corporation leaders believe that when people feel good about what a corporation is doing for the
community, they will feel better about the corporation and buy from it (Laurie in Robinson et al.,
1994, 70). In recent times, there has been more pressure on companies to demonstrate their social
responsibility. The arts comprises about 11% of most major companies’ overall contributions budget
(Laurie in Robinson et al., 1994, 68).
Also, there are global-local linkages that many multi-national corporations take into account.
A company that deals in the global marketplace can demonstrate its good will and connection to a
local area where the firm has an office or a plant by helping to support local celebrations and
traditions. A festival can be viewed as a means for the company to market their products without as
much competition from other brands, as well as embed themselves locally despite being a company
with national and international business interests.
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Businesses do not often give directly to artists or to all types of arts evenly, or to all places
geographically (Laurie in Robinson et al., 1994, 72). In the past, what was sponsored was
determined by the chairman’s taste in art (Laurie in Robinson et al., 1994, 69). However, decisions
about what to sponsor are becoming increasingly pragmatic and focused to capitalise on name
association and branding potential benefits. Banks tend to prefer arts programmes that bolster
regional development; publishers fund literary projects, etc. For example, The Guardian’s
sponsorship of the Hay Festival of Literature is a strategic move given the connections between the
topic of the festival and the sponsor’s industry, as well as the overlap of the newspaper’s readership
and the festival’s attendees. Perhaps due to alignment issues driving partnerships, community arts
organisations and activities tend to be more disadvantaged when seeking business sponsorship.
Their narrow audience reach and the marginal groups on which they tend to focus are often seen as
unattractive to businesses, and, despite growth trends in support for other art forms, total business
sponsorship in community arts decreased 15% in 2003 (A&B, 2004, 3). There is the danger that this
may lead to a gap in arts provision on a local level if grass-roots arts are increasingly underfunded
and financially forgotten.
It is unlikely that the funding situation will improve in the future given the competition for
funds posed by the Olympics, among other new programmes (Serota, 2006), and will probably get
worse for those at the bottom of the arts festival hierarchy as competition keeps increasing.
However, as demonstrated in the following case study of the Henley Festival, relatively little
known, mid-level arts festivals can attract business sponsorship by positioning themselves
strategically to cater to their corporate audiences’ needs. The Henley Festival relies almost wholly
on corporate funding and corporate attendance, and, therefore, owes its continued existence on
establishing a suitable arena for corporate entertaining.
This decision by Henley Festival management to actively seek out corporate sponsorship
and a primarily corporate audience can be viewed as an interesting tactic to ensure continued
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support of the festival and the mainly classical arts it presents. Most other surveyed arts festivals
who feature mainly classical arts often have difficulty sustaining their festivals from one year to the
next due to changes in the public funding environment and variable interest classical arts
performances. Henley Festival also can be considered as hitting the spatial lottery 'jackpot' with
regards to its proximity to London, its situation in a wealthy county and relationship with the well
known Henley Regatta, which are a few of the factors facilitating its initial appeal to business
sponsors and classical arts enthusiasts. Henley’s location by the Thames is also very attractive.
These can be viewed as advantages that Henley Festival has over many of the other surveyed arts
festivals seeking business sponsorship, who often have a more difficult time attracting big business
sponsors on a regular basis.
3. Research context and methods
This case study is part of a larger research project, which examines social, economic and
political impacts of UK combined arts festivals on communities and places. Combined arts festivals
are defined by the Arts Council as those containing more than one genre of artistic performance,
i.e., music, drama and visual arts events, as opposed to those presenting events in only a single
genre of arts, such as film festivals (Casey et al., 1996, 93). Research methods include a 42-question
mail-back survey questionnaire sent to 117 combined arts festivals in the UK in December 2003 and
January 2004 to obtain festival demographics, programming history, funding and future plans. The
survey sent was adapted from a survey published in a 1992 study conducted by the Policy Studies
Institute concerning both single-genre and combined arts festivals in the UK (Rolfe, 1992). The 117
combined arts festivals represent the total number of combined arts festivals in the UK in 2003. A
listing of these festivals was compiled from the Arts Council of England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland arts festivals lists, as well as the British Arts Festivals Association membership
list, European Festivals Association membership list, British Federation of Festivals membership
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list and International Festivals and Events Association membership list.
The data are based on a 56% response rate. The majority of the major cities in England
(Birmingham, Liverpool), Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow), Wales (Cardiff) and Northern Ireland
(Belfast) who have combined arts festivals responded to the survey. The majority of combined arts
festivals in Greater London responded; these are primarily organised by local neighbourhoods or
councils, as there is no major London-wide combined arts festival. The 51 combined arts festivals
that failed to respond are similar in size variation and geographical area to those who did respond.
Case studies were selected for this research because they were viewed as the best means to
obtain a holistic understanding of cultural systems of action, which are sets of interrelated activities
in which actors in a social situation are engaged (Tellis, 1997, 5). The Henley Festival was chosen
in order to discern a more in-depth understanding of the aims and goals, audiences and content
influences of a combined arts festival that is primarily funded by business sponsorship. A variety of
methods were implemented, including semi-structured and open-ended in-depth interviews with the
Artistic Director, Marketing Director and the Henley-on-Thames Tourist Information Office.
Informal interviews and casual conversations with festival participants and local business people in
the town contributed to the participant and direct observation and recording of the festival
experience in a personal research diary. Field work for the Henley Festival took place from 8-11
July, 2004. All interviews took place during the festival visit during the day on Friday when there
was not as much happening to distract the interviewees. Interviews were recorded and conducted
face-to-face in one of the champagne tents on the festival site. Attendance at multiple festival events
was facilitated by location because all of the events took place in the same area of enclosure
separated from the town by the river.
4. Henley Festival: A case of champagne wishes and corporation dreams
The Henley Festival of Music and the Arts seeks to be a 'glamorous' event that requests its
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female attendees to wear evening dresses and its male audiences to wear at least jacket and tie, with
black tie optional. The arts festival is five-days long and is held the week after the famous Henley
Regatta in July. The festival uses the same site and tents along the river as the regatta, which are
physically set apart from the town of Henley-upon-Thames. One of the reasons for the creation of
the arts festival was to get more use out of the regatta site and tents. The other reason was the
director of the regatta twenty-eight years ago was an opera fan and wanted to bring more opera to
Henley-upon-Thames, which is a town two hours west of London. The festival began as an opera
festival and grew throughout the years to include other art forms. It now hosts performances
spanning all types of music (orchestra, choral, chamber, opera, jazz, folk, world, rock),
contemporary dance, folk dance, fireworks displays, stilt walkers, performance artists within the
tented festival area, comedy acts, non-fiction and poetry talks, visual arts exhibitions (painting,
crafts, sculpture, installation) and children’s events. The children’s events, however, are all held on
a Sunday afternoon ‘Family Fiesta’ and are very much separated from the main festival events,
which do not allow children in the audience.
The Henley Festival is, for the most part, representative of the local environment due to its
regatta legacy and wealthy communities. As they share the same site, many people confuse the arts
festival with the regatta, but the two events are separate entities. However, the festival does benefit
from the regatta’s renown and exclusive reputation. The Manager of the Henley-upon-Thames
Tourist Information Centre suggested that the energy level of the town is raised by the regatta, and
the festival maintains that for a longer period of time. He also notes that although the festival is not
as popular as the regatta, it does help keep visitors in the area. It is uncertain what percentage of
regatta attendees are also festival attendees, but it is estimated by the Tourist Information Centre
that there is some cross-over in event audiences. Accommodation, for example, is very difficult to
find during the duration of the festival due to regatta attendees staying through the weekend. It is
worth noting that the accommodation in Henley-upon-Thames is relatively expensive during this
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period, which is in keeping with the audiences for the regatta and festival, who can afford such
prices. This can be seen to be one of the many ways in which the Henley Festival attracts a selfselecting group for its audiences. In this way, access is restricted to those who can afford to attend
and stay over in the town.
Tickets are not sold for specific events, as is the case with most other arts festivals. Instead,
each person buys a ticket for an evening (or a series of evenings), which includes admission to all
the events on that specific date. To make up part of its budget of £1.6 million, ticket prices are not
subsidised and range from £35 for a family to attend the day-long ‘Family Fiesta’ to £178 for Lawn
tickets for all five evenings. The average Promenade ticket costs £37 for the evening (plus £7
parking). The average Grandstand A ticket costs £64 for the evening (not including parking).
Wednesday and Sunday evenings are less expensive. The Marketing Director interviewed for this
research noted this is done specifically to encourage more local participation on those evenings,
which are usually quiet. The majority of the festival events could be categorised as ‘classical arts’,
with an emphasis on classical music. The Henley Festival presents some famous names in music,
such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Jools Holland, along with smaller ensembles and experimental
works. This varied classical content focus can be seen to be “constructing new hierarchies of taste
and discrimination” (Bassett, 1993, 1974). As the Artistic Director interviewed for this research
says, “I think you have to fight harder for attention, therefore, you’ve got to be seen these days.
There needs to be more of a buzz. The stakes are higher for entertainment these day.”
The Henley Festival is a prestigious arts event with audiences that would also be at home at
the Glyndebourne Festival Opera or Cartier International Polo. However, there are a number of arts
festivals in high income areas that do not have the same luxurious trappings and corporate
connections as the Henley Festival. It is suggested that it is primarily the way in which the festival
is funded that has the most impact on the festival’s content. The Henley Festival can afford different
and top-quality arts events because of the patronage of its wealthy audiences and the sponsorship
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they attract. It also has a history of business sponsorship, perhaps linked to the regatta. The lack of
dependency on public funding means that the festival is able to programme without adhering to arts
organisations' or local council's social inclusion or diversity agendas. The Artistic Director says
there are “no boxes to tick” in his decision making, although he does say that the corporate
entertaining element has an indirect impact on programming. For example, there is no samba parade
and no amateur performers, as can be found at many arts festivals across the UK.
On the whole, business sponsorship funding gives the Artistic Director the liberty to present
unique performances that other organisers may not have the luxury or budgets to present. The
Artistic Director usually adds a ‘quirky’ event to the festival programming to keep people
interested, entertained and returning each year. He says, “We give people what they want, but not
what they expect.” For example, the 2004 festival featured the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, who use
vegetables as instruments and then make soup with them at the end of the performance (Henley
Festival programme, 2004). These types of events also give the festival recognition and set it apart
from the increasingly similar arts festival environment in the UK (Finkel, 2009). This particular
event was highlighted on the BBC website and the TV programme, “Richard & Judy”, which
provided national exposure for the festival.
The festival mainly advertises in national and regional newspapers, BBC Proms Guide,
Opera Now magazine and on radio station Classic FM, according to the Marketing Director. This
emphasis on classical arts advertising gives the festival exposure to the kinds of people who would
be interested in attending the performances and also helps attract sponsors who are interested in
reaching those types of audiences. The reputation of the festival as an upmarket event facilitates
obtaining luxury goods and corporate sponsorship because its audiences fit many business’ socioeconomic marketing targets. Indeed, involvement in cultural activities of this calibre to display
status, education and good taste, which Bourdieu (1992) suggests is a motivation for ‘high’ arts
participation, may be a key concept upon which many companies are depending when they decide
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to sponsor and be associated with this event.
According to Blau (1996, 1161), “Support fort the arts has conventionally been part of the
very process whereby social elites define themselves as a dominant class and establish social
distance between themselves and the populace, drawing on the distinction between popular and
high culture to bolster class differences.” Although the boundaries between so-called 'high' and
popular culture have become increasingly blurred in contemporary UK society (McGuigan, 1996;
Gans, 1999), the Henley Festival has retained the traditional perceptions of exclusivity of the
classical arts by fostering perceptions of elitism despite the encroachments of a political correct
society. Bourdieu (1989) argues that consumption functions as a source of social distinction and
fulfils the social function of legitimating social differences. With this kind of ‘cultural
accumulation’, the cultural elite can be seen to exert their social distinction and dominance
(Bourdieu, 1989, 7). Corporate entertaining and relatively expensive admission prices are barriers
to establish social distance in this instance, as arts enthusiasts may not be able to afford to attend or
are intimidated by the corporate business nature of the event.
Furthering the exclusionary nature of the festival space, the majority of the festival's
sponsors are either corporations, such as Invesco Perpetual, Simmons & Sons, Johnson Service
Group and Sackville Properties, or luxury goods companies, such as Lexus, Courvoisier, Whittard
of Chelsea and Sotheby’s. The website informs prospective sponsors that every concert and
performance is available for sponsorship, along with the restaurants, resident artists and visual art
displays. Sponsors are offered the best seats in the Grandstand and dinners at Albert Roux at the
Riverside. Most of all, sponsors have the ability to associate themselves with an upscale arts event
that gives them exposure to people with high spending power. The festival marketing material
states, “Sponsorship can ensure that you stand out from the crowd, creating visibility, profile and
status with your clients and peer group. It opens up new commercial and social opportunities,
allows you to meet new clients, forge new business relationships and reach new audiences.” This
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demonstrates more than an appeal for the appreciation for the classical arts; support for the arts in
this instance is part of a process to legitimise an elite by establishing social distance through
shaping norms of public discourse within the festival environment (Waterman, 1998, 57).
Reduced public subsidy or public subsidy that comes with socio-economic directives and
targets has increased the search for private or corporate sponsorship among many combined arts
festivals surveyed for this research. However, the private sector also has instrumental agendas when
investing in the arts. The often contentious relationship between the arts and business is seen by
Bourdieu and Haacke (1995) as the exchange of financial capital for symbolic capital because
businesses support the arts primarily to strengthen their images and public relations. Indeed, the
corporately-financed festival becomes a medium for business image making (Waterman, 1998).
This can be seen to be an example of commercial interests attempting to control the festival
environment and highlights the latent tensions between arts festivals and the cultural economy
(Waterman, 1998; Quinn, 2005). The corporate face of the Henley Festival sets the tone of the
festival – not just the content – but also the requisite social etiquette, which restricts access to those
without the specific cultural background or education to feel comfortable in such an environment.
According to Chan and Goldthorpe (2007), cultural participation depends on region (provision),
education, income and social status. In turn, sponsorship by luxury brands and financial
corporations reinforces the desirability of the festival to those in these groups. They may already be
consumers of such brands and services and associate themselves with that particular target market;
also, they may not want to miss out on something enjoyed by others in their self-perceived social
strata.
The field note extract below sets out excerpts of personal observations from a research diary
of attendance at the Henley Thames Festival in July 2004. The main observations from this research
are: 1) the festival presents mainly national and international performers; 2) there are many luxury
goods and corporate sponsors for the festival; 3) the audience for the festival is primarily white,
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upper middle class and 40-60 years old. The key point that the research diary excerpts illustrate are
to what extent corporate involvement in the festival shapes its outcomes and atmosphere.
Research Diary (Friday evening, 7pm-9pm):
The large series of white tents visible across the river from the town of Henley-uponThames act as a guide to lead one to the Henley Festival site. Outside the series of tents is
a large field used as a car park. There are chauffeured car and limousine parking areas along
with a small Lexus dealership in the centre. In the early evening, the car park begins filling
with BMWs, Mercedes Benz, Jaguars, etc. Some people set up tables and chairs to eat
picnics from hampers, drink wine and chat. Others eat and drink inside the tents at the
expensive restaurants set up along the river, such as Albert Roux at the Riverside, The
Ruinart Champagne Terrace, The Pavilion on the Piazza and the Seafood Garden. The mood is
light and joyous, wine glasses clinking above the tinkling of laughter. The air smells of a
bizarre mixture of Chanel No. 5 and freshly mowed grass. It is possible to leave the tented
site and go into Henley-upon-Thames itself for dinner, where there are many more
reasonably-priced pubs and restaurants. I skip a concert and make my way across the bridge
to the town centre, where people are more casually attired. I stand out in my formal dress
and am identified as a festival participant by the waiter in a local restaurant.
Each ticket holder is given a badge to wear for the evening, which is flashed to security
guards on the way inside the tent. Once inside the tented area, stilt walkers and
performance artists add to the festive atmosphere. Arts exhibitions, sculptures and
installations festoon the length of the lawn. It is a highly commercialised space. Sponsorship
promotion is ubiquitous. Posters for Pierre Jouet and Laurent-Perrier champagnes line the
bars; Benchmark Group and Thames Water logos hang outside the tents that show the
performances they sponsored. The Festival Shop sells souvenir programmes and displays
information on how to become a Friend of the festival. Champagne is clearly the drink of
choice among the majority of evening jacketted and pashmina wrapped white, middle-age
attendees. Unlike the Royal Opera House, there are no ‘cheap seats’ here for arts
enthusiasts in their 20’s and 30’s. This is distinctly an event for the parents of the ‘cheap
seats’. The New Labour government and Arts Council rhetoric of 'social inclusion' and
'widening access' does not seem to apply here.
The recognition of a festival attendee based on clothing raises representational issues
involved in having a dress code for the festival. It can be viewed as creating another layer of
distinction between the world outside of the physical festival site and the ‘festival world’. In many
respects, the dress code signifies a kind of branding of festival attendees. Based on Bourdieu's
(1992) belief that “the arts predisposes tastes to function as markers of class,” it is suggested that
the dress code represents a marker of belonging to one side of the river rather than the other – at
17
least for an evening. This demarcation on an individual basis as well as on a spatial plane can be
interpreted as adding to the liminal experience of the festival and creating a festival environment
that reinforces its exclusive image to its corporate clientele. Place becomes a metaphor for social
status, and the festival reflects this (Waterman, 1998). It is suggested that incorporating such layers
of status are consistent with the general atmosphere of the festival, which is filled with advertising
and promotion for expensive goods and business services.
Some photographs taken of the corporate branding of the festival space by luxury goods
companies.
Arts festivals have been argued to transform places from every day settings in to temporary
environments that contribute to the production, processing and consumption of culture in a
concentrated time and place (Waterman, 1998). On top of this, through its links to the regatta, use of
a separate site, dress code and luxury goods branding, the Henley Festival creates a private
members’ club atmosphere, which also distinguishes it from other arts festivals and makes it appear
to some as restrictive and elitist. But then, some could argue that Henley-upon-Thames is a
restrictive and elitist town, thereby making the arts festival a reflection of the local environment. In
18
many respects, it is an upmarket festival in an upmarket area. It is seeking to emulate the stylings of
more renowned non-urban arts festivals, such as Aldeburgh, Glyndebourne, Tanglewood, Verbier
and Aspen, who require its performers and audiences come to them from cities (Waterman, 1998,
69). The use of a non-urban setting can be argued to add to the image that this is a desirable event
reserved for a 'select' group due to accessibility issues. 23,000 people are expected to attend the
festival in 2009; 30% of its audience come from London for the festival, including celebrities of the
London arts scene, such as Charles Saatchi. The Artistic Director says programming was not
specifically designed to attract tourists to the festival. The Henley Festival website says audiences
are approximately 50% private visitors and 50% guests of companies. In terms of demographics,
42% of the festival audience is over 45 years old, and 78% are over 36 years old. (Henely Festival
website, 2009). As the marketing material states, “Every one of them is a potential client for you,”
which again reinforces the networking opportunities of the festival, making it more of a business
than necessarily a leisure offering.
The festival organisers commit many resources in to obtaining and maintaining sponsors.
For example, almost half of the permanent staff is devoted to development and marketing. Along
with complimentary tickets, elegant dining options and invitations to the festival board's opening
night party, the festival also is willing to brand just about anything in the festival space with
sponsors' logos, including stages, enclosures, marquees, car park railings, souvenir programmes and
swing badges that all patrons must wear. Also, the festival offers them access to their 12,000 person
mailing list and will work with sponsor's PR consultants to ensure sufficient coverage has been
achieved. If requested, sponsors can be thanked over the festival's PA system during the event and
are acknowledged on the festival's website. If this is not flexible enough, the festival's marketing
material also assures potential sponsors that “other ideas within the cost parameters can be
considered in order to achieve a sponsor's aims” (Henley Festival website, 2009). This could be
interpreted as overt commercialisation of the festival space and festival experience; however, it also
19
could be viewed as imperative for the future sustainability of the festival due to practical financial
considerations. Indeed, satisfaction appears to be high among sponsors, as many of the festival's
main sponsors have continued sponsorship for the past five years.
Another 'selling point' for sponsoring the festival are the corporate social responsibility
benefits. The festival has set up a charity, the Henley Festival Trust, to help bring arts education and
arts therapy to young people in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Their projects work in 15 schools with
800 students. The Marketing Director states sponsorship money goes into the charity for workshops
and does not go towards the festival limited. According to the Marketing Director, “Southern Arts
loves us!” Sponsors, then, can also be seen to be helping the local community by their involvement
in the festival. With this charitable element of the festival sponsorship package, the Henley Festival
can be seen to fulfil four out of the five primary motivations for contemporary businesses to
sponsor the arts, as previously set out by O’Hagan and Harvey (2000, 222), including promotion of
image and name, corporate entertainment for clients, non-monetary benefit to managers and
enhancing good will / corporate responsibility. It is uncertain whether there are supply-chain
cohesion benefits to sponsors through this event.
A distinction should be made, however, between community work and community access to
the festival. The closest to the festival many local young people and families get is watching the
fireworks from the bridge that separates the town from the festival site. However, just as the festival
attendees are a self-selecting group, there is a self-excluding group in the community who
purposely avoid the festival due to its cost, image and status markers. Although a large portion of
those in the local area do attend the festival, it is not run by the community for the community.
There are no volunteers; instead, there are eight staff members, who are professionals in events
management and whose job it is to make sure the Henley Festival is the special event that corporate
hospitality does not miss.
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5. Conclusions
The majority of UK arts festivals have become more commercially focused due to a number
of social, economic and political factors in the past few decades. There has been an active
adaptation of commercial practices on the part of many arts festivals as well as the use of some arts
festivals by public and private funders for commercial gain. Due to this growing ‘managerialist
orientation’ of arts groups, Chong (2000) has argued that more critical perspectives on the
relationship between the arts and management are needed in order to ensure artistic integrity is
upheld. Although securing funding is a realistic imperative, it is argued that the increase in
commercial methods and commercially-linked investment of many contemporary combined arts
festivals is turning them into ‘experiential products’ or commodities for cultural consumption from
an organisational perspective. Even though many combined arts festivals are viewed by attendees as
experiences to be enjoyed, it is suggested that the introduction of management priorities is making
them commoditised and, in many cases, indistinguishable from one another.
There is increasing criticism that many festivals are losing their individuality because they
do not reflect their local environments (Lehrer, 2004). Commercial pressures can be seen to be one
of the reasons for the loss of significance of arts festivals for locals as a result of favouring the
economic over the social and aesthetic. Although the Henley Festival is similar to the classical arts
festivals of the 1960’s, its reliance on business sponsorship has raised its exclusive status to include
the corporate upper classes while ‘pricing out’ many in the community of classical arts enthusiasts.
In the mid-twentieth century, community arts festivals as well as classical arts festivals were largely
non-commercial due to their primary reliance on support from local and national councils and
individuals. Today, this is becoming less of the norm because public subsidy is more difficult to
acquire and also often comes with a commercially-motivated agenda. This raises the question of
whether or not the ‘innocence’ of holding a festival for the enjoyment of the arts may indeed be a
thing of the past (Archer, 2006).
21
22
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