FESTIVAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TENDENCIES OF THE RIVNE REGION

Abstract

Festival tourism is a comparatively new type of tourism that has been covering a more increasing segment of a tourism market in the recent years. However, the influence of this tourism type upon the tourism-recreational branch development of the region has not been discovered and analyzed enough.

The tourism-recreational branch of the Rivne region has been actively developing; a multitype festival organization only contributes to this. Numerous festival events are held in almost all the areas of the region during the year. The basis of the festival tourism of the Rivne region is: keeping of ethnical and religious traditions, customs, a local colour and language, traditional food, folklore, nature conditions and resources etc. Festivals that are held in different areas of the Rivne region provide the region popularization, encourage a considerable increasing of the number of tourists.

According to the Rivne Reginal State Administration data, more than 60 multigenre festivals and competitions are held yearly; the majority of them being of international and all-Ukrainian importance. The most popular are the ethnic-tour-fest "The Amber Way"("Burshtynovyj Shljah"), the folk-ethnographic holiday "Muzejni Gostyny", the festival "Taras Bulba", the brass music regional festival "The Orchestra's Brass is Ringing" ("Dzvenyt' Orkestra Mid'"), the regional open patriotic song children's festival "Our Kozaks' Glory Will Neither Die Nor Be Killed" ("Nasha Kozatska Slava Ne Vmre, Ne Zagyne"), the international children's folklore festival "The Bag Was Rolling" ("Kotylasja Torba") etc. Sports festivals including tournaments and competitions are becoming more popular.

A seasonal factor has a great influence upon festival tourism. On the Rivne region territory more than 30 multigenre festivals are held in the highest season, 25 in the high one, 14 in the middle one, 8-10 in the low one. Folklore-artistic and sports events comprise the largest part of festival tourism: 35% and 33% correspondenly. Music festivals comprise large enough part – 25%. Ethnic festivals are little interested in – 7%. Religious, gastronomic and modern subcultures festivals are not popular in the region. The above mentioned events visitors statistics in years has not being conducted so far; it is worth mentioning the increasing number of tourists visiting festivals.

For the further perspective of the festival tourism development in the Rivne region the accent on the most interesting and visited events should be made; new tourism products for tourism region potential strengthening should be created.