Festivals as Living Labs: Innovating Events for Sustainability Transitions

Despite the growing body of research on implementing innovative and sustainable practices at festivals, few studies in event management have explored how festivals can be organized to accelerate innovation and transition both within and beyond the event. This research addresses this gap by examining how festivals can be conceptualized and organized as ‘living labs’ for testing and developing sustainable innovations that can contribute to societal transitions. A living lab is a real-world open innovation ecosystem where diverse stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, municipalities, researchers, and end-users, co-create innovations. This study uses a qualitative approach to analyze festivals, organizations, and practitioners in the Dutch events industry that employ a living-lab approach to innovate events. The findings contribute to festival and event management by demonstrating that festivals can serve as powerful platforms for engaging diverse stakeholders, changing behavior, and fostering broader social and ecological change through event-based innovation that extends beyond the event itself.