Authenticity and Motivations in Traditional Events: The case of the Festival of the Crosses

Abstract

Popular events exist around the world, and many of them have the mission of preserving the intangible and material heritage of a specific country, region or locality, creating links between the population, encouraging the growth of tourism and the economy. In Portugal, pilgrimages in northern Portugal are no exception. The villages, towns and cities are full of customs, testimonies and traditions that unite the sacred and the profane, which motivate the visit in order to know the territory and to participate in religious events, characterized by processions, music bands, marches, ethnographic parades, dance groups and competitions. The Festival of the Crosses, known for being the first pilgrimage of the Minho region, is characterized by a program full of activities that transport us to past times, to the religious and profane character that attracts thousands of people to the city during the festivities.

This research aims to understand the motivations of participants (residents and non-residents) at the Festival of the Crosses in Barcelos. For this, data were collected through a questionnaire to 603 participants, applied between April and May 2019 and the statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 23.

The results suggest that the main reasons for visiting the festival come from personality-related motivations, social and cultural influences, and event attractiveness.