Introduction

Globally, life-threatening disasters triggered by natural events (severe storms, droughts, floods, wildfires) are increasing (AccuWeather, 2013; UNISDR, 2016) and communities must find ways to recover from the devastating effects. Once recovery is underway, a whole community approach is needed (FEMA, 2011). This approach is being adopted by communities and governments as it strengthens resilience by actively building on the assets in a community (McKnight and Linnenluecke, 2017). Organizing festivals in response to disaster reflects an example of community engagement and a whole-community approach.

Festivals and community events are flexible mechanisms for delivering recreation opportunities for communities and attractions for visitors (e.g. Négrier, Bonet, & Guérin, 2013). Through the production of arts and culture, festivals can serve many goals simultaneously and have repeatedly been shown to contribute to a sense of place, a sense of community, and economic and community development (Karttunen & Luonila, 2017; Van Winkle & Woosnam, 2014).