Carb festivals, barbecue festivals and beer festivals are sweeping across the country, and “curated” operations are injecting new impetus into consumption.
How can a festival “on the tip of the tongue” become more and more popular?
Young people line up in long lines just to buy a piece of bread - this is not hunger marketing, but the daily life of "Bread Festival". Since this year, various offline food festivals focusing on a single category, such as Bread Festival, Carbohydrate Festival, Barbeque Festival, and Beer Festival, have swept across the country, attracting consumers to flock to them.
In Qingdao, the Qingdao International Beer Festival held this summer attracted 819,000 tourists at the Laoshan venue, driving a comprehensive consumption of 497 million yuan. In Shanghai, the "Super Wonderful Bread Festival" in Mixc City attracted 540,000 people in four days, and more than 800,000 Each loaf of bread was swept away; the "HOCH Burger Festival" has visited more than 10 cities since its tour in 2025, with a single visitor flow exceeding one million, creating a "billion-yuan IP"... Behind the lively numbers, why are consumers paying this time? How can these "on the tip of the tongue" festivals become more and more popular?
Buy scenes, buy emotions, buy social value
In the past year, Liu Tianrui from Beijing has participated in the Bread Festival, Coffee Festival and Sausage Festival one after another, satisfying his "festival addiction". In Liu Tianrui's view, when buying a piece of bread or buying a cup of coffee is planned as a festival, the experience on the taste buds becomes more ritualistic.
Ms. Chen, a white-collar worker in Beijing, also often appears at the Bread Festival and Coffee Festival. When asked why it was "worth a special trip", Ms. Chen gave the same answer. “After visiting many stores, the exquisite food and warm atmosphere will make people feel like they are living a serious life,” said Ms. Chen.
At festivals, what kind of products will make people spend money? Liu Tianrui’s answer was very candid: “Some stores are bigger and have more people, so they will want to buy.” In order to avoid waiting in line, Liu Tianrui also spent 99 yuan to buy a “U-Speed Pass” ticket. In addition, Ms. Chen said that she can see various products and brands in the market at once, and the unexpected discovery of new products will encourage her to try them.
Xiong Haifeng, associate professor at the School of Cultural Industry Management of Communication University of China, said that the essence of past festival marketing was to "take advantage of the situation", such as relying on existing nodes such as the Spring Festival for promotion; the essence of "artificial festivals" is also to "build momentum", but the difference is that these festivals will actively arrange content and scenes, and even try to build them into IP, thereby transforming traditional channel operators into content producers and producers.
Bu Xiting, an associate researcher at the School of Cultural Industry Management of Communication University of China, said that people are eager to release their emotions and engage in group interaction in a specific festival atmosphere. "Festival-making" provides a reasonable reason for crowds to gather and meets the needs of modern people, especially young people, for social interaction and group carnival.
"The festival has verified that the focus of young people's consumption has shifted from buying goods to buying scenes, emotions, and social value." Xiong Haifeng added.
How various festivals can leverage consumption
Today, when consumer decisions are extremely complex, consumers still have a ledger about whether something is worth it or not. "The most valuable thing is that you can taste many stores that are difficult to visit in daily life, and there are even stores in other places. After trying them offline, you can repurchase them online." Liu Tianrui said that these "on the tip of the tongue" festivals are like a large-scale offline product selection meeting: take a bite, feel good, pay attention to the store, and then repurchase.
The reporter learned from interviews that young consumer groups are the main target group for these festivals. At food festivals in some places, consumers born in the 1990s and 2000s accounted for more than 70%. There are also a considerable number of young people who travel across cities to participate in various food festivals. In addition to feasting, they either brought cameras or wore trendy clothes. They not only turned the market scene into a fashion check-in place, but also checked into a new city.
Merchants participating in the festival also benefited greatly. Ms. Yun, an Italian ice cream merchant who has participated in many festival market events, told reporters that each food festival has its own characteristics, such as the Spring Mushroom Festival in Beijing Xiyuan. Because it matches the target consumer positioning, the final passenger flow and purchasing power at the event far exceeded her expectations.
"The sales of some categories are very good, and sometimes there are already customers queuing up in front of the stall before the stall is officially opened. Some parents told me that their children had eaten our ice cream the day before, and they couldn't forget it and cried all night. The next day, they brought their children here to buy again." Ms. Yun said, "The main cost of each stall is the stall fee, plus about 20% of the organizer's commission. Overall, the profit margin is relatively objective, and it also greatly promotes brand promotion."
Continue to stimulate the festival vitality "on the tip of the tongue"
How to release the consumption potential of these "on the tip of the tongue" festivals for a longer period of time, and how to further extend the consumption chain through festival planning?
Xiong Haifeng believes that if these festivals can be IP-based and branded to form stable users and compound interest effects, including repeat customers, word-of-mouth, content assets, and business ecology, and can bring multiple incomes such as tickets, sponsorships, co-branding, and private domains, then they will be sustainable; if it is just a one-time diversion without settling into brand assets or IP value, it may be a "money-burning" game.
"We need to find the 'soul' of the festival." Xiong Haifeng provided suggestions for making something more in-depth and different. "Of course, plagiarism will not have a soul."
At present, various festivals are emerging one after another. Bu Xiting believes that organizers should avoid blindly following the trend. For example, some places simply copy non-native food festivals, such as bread festivals, etc., which lack a vertical sense of cultural belonging and have limited vitality. He suggested that local food habits, cultural features, etc. be combined to create an IP with regional emotional connections and a sense of cultural belonging to enhance the vitality and sustainability of the festival. At the same time, festival planning needs to take into account both social and economic benefits. Only by achieving profitability can we ensure the support of all parties for continued operations. For example, the social value and appeal of the festival can be enhanced by enhancing on-site interaction, cultural and creative integration, and national participation.
Bu Xiting said that in the future, physical commercial spaces, including shopping malls, neighborhoods, parks and even public cultural spaces, will generally turn to "curation-type" operations similar to festival event planning, providing spiritual value products through content planning, and enhancing user stickiness and sustainability. Physical commerce will no longer just sell products or scenes, but will become a comprehensive operator that integrates products, scenes, lifestyles and urban culture.
Our reporter Wang Xianru
"Worker Daily" (October 14, 2026, Page 04)
