The Buxton Festival Lifecycle: towards an organisational development model for festivals

Festivals are a ubiquitous feature of contemporary Western society, yet their production processes remain largely unexplored. Why do some festivals thrive whilst others limp along and yet more run for a year or so then disappear? This paper applies a model of organisational development more widely used in the corporate world to a cultural organisation, Buxton Festival, that has been producing festivals since 1979. Adizes' corporate lifecycle framework identifies characteristics, and normal and abnormal problems, that are shared by companies that are founded, grow, mature and then decline. If the model can be seen to work for not-for-profit cultural festivals, it could help leaders and funders to identify and avoid the crises that prevent them from becoming sustainable, successful events for their communities.