The Island of Volunteers – the research results of festival volunteers' motivation
Eliza Bodor-Eranus – Eszter Vit – Ákos Bocskor
Abstract
Sziget Festival, the largest popular music festival in Hungary, has followed international trends for twenty years now, not only culturally, but also in volunteer participation. Festival volunteers play an increasingly important role in the organisation of the event, which can be captured both in the growing number of volunteers and in the work of the Festival Volunteer Centre, which coordinates the tasks of volunteers. Festival volunteering is a specific case of episodic volunteering. Our research was conducted during the summer of 2022 among the volunteers of the Sziget Festival, the number of volunteers was 730 and we used questionnaires for investigation of motivation factors, the number of valid answers was 311. In line with the results of previous research conducted among regular volunteers, recognition and social interaction are among the leading motivational factors for episodic volunteers, and this should be considered in addition to the festival ticket provided as compensation when organizing festival volunteer work. Although the backgrounds of the festival volunteers in our sample and the motivational factors that were emphasised are similar overall, there is some variation between first-time volunteers, episodic volunteers and regular festival volunteers. Festival volunteers over 25 years of age who were regular volunteers placed significantly more emphasis on the role of volunteering in their self-esteem than less experienced volunteers.
Keywords: episodic volunteering, volunteer motivation, festival volunteering, volunteering and free time