The Influence of Local Cultural Festivals on Young People's Understanding of Traditional Culture: A Case Study of the Historic Jeddah Festival, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Cultural festivals are increasingly recognised as important spaces where young people engage with traditional heritage and develop cultural awareness. This study examines the influence of the Historic Jeddah Festival on young people’s understanding of traditional Saudi culture. Using a quantitative approach, the research employed a retrospective pre–post questionnaire completed by 107 festival attendees aged 18–30. The findings show that festival attendance was associated with positive changes across all measured dimensions of cultural understanding, including cultural knowledge, appreciation, identification, and interest. The strongest improvement was found in self-assessed cultural knowledge, while changes in cultural pride and personal connection were smaller, likely due to already high levels of national cultural pride among respondents. Traditional activities, especially food-related experiences, produced higher engagement than digital displays, although participants preferred a combination of traditional and digital approaches. The study also identifies a gap between perceived cultural learning and active participation, suggesting that the festival functioned mainly as a presentational rather than fully participatory experience. Overall, the findings indicate that cultural festivals can effectively strengthen youth awareness of traditional culture, but deeper and sustained identity engagement may require more participatory and digitally integrated heritage strategies.