Rooting a new event in its place: the case of Festa Templária, Tomar, Portugal

Purpose With fierce competition in capturing tourists, it is crucial that destinations be prepared to adapt and to refresh their event portfolio. The purpose of this paper is to look into the decision-making process that led to the development of a new festival in a middle-sized city, Tomar, in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach This study analyses the creation process of the Knights Templar Festival, in Tomar, a new event focusing on the Templar history of the city. A retrospective outlook on the evolution of the event is given. Primary data were collected via quantitative survey analysis and semi-structured interviews. The theoretical scope is events and placemaking. Findings The strengths and weaknesses of the region influenced the conception and setting up of this particular event. This awareness is important for cities in meeting the challenges and opportunities that event portfolio diversification calls for. Research limitations/implications This paper helps us to understand the motives and challenges in establishing a new event in the city, through the analysis of a single case study of a European middle-sized city. Simultaneously, it is a longitudinal in-depth case of the first editions of a new historically focused event. Practical implications Several practical implications can be derived to the case of Tomar. Overall, it is key that cities align the focus of new events with the city’s identity (as Tomar did). Originality/value This paper presents an in-depth and longitudinal case study, from the moment of the creation of a new event to its fourth edition, mapping the decision-making process, highlighting the learning curve of the decision makers.The authors wish to thank Professor Francisco Carvalho for all his help with the SPSS analysis and to the team of students who have volunteered to conduct the survey designed to capture part of the data needed for this study. Moreover, without the help of Beatriz Medina, João Gomes, Cláudia Braz, Helena Pereira, André Oliveira, Daniela Ferreira, Fernando Carvalho, Joana Duarte, João Fernandes, Dany Afonso, João Carlos, Cátia Caetano and Gonçalo Coelho, the assembling of this paper would have been much harder.