Dear Event Doctor:  The professional sports leagues have all had success incorporating interactive fan festivals into their bigger events. We’ve also seen the approach used with some smaller sports organizations like ours. Do you have any advice on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to these events?  —Festive Atmosphere

Dear Festive : Attending a competitive event can be tremendously entertaining and exciting. At their best, fan festivals capture the emotional, tribal and celebratory qualities of attending a game, race or athletic performance in a form that is engaging, participatory and affordable. But not all fan festivals work, and many are somewhere on the spectrum between bad and mediocre. Know that small budgets are no excuse for a bad fan festival and that big budgets won’t keep you from creating a lousy one.

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The Event Doctor is sports-event veteran Frank Supovitz, president and chief experience officer of Fast Traffic Events & Entertainment, an event management and consulting firm. From 1992 to 2014, Supovitz served as the senior event executive for the National Football League and National Hockey League. He is also the author of “The Sports Event Management and Marketing Playbook.” Questions for The Event Doctor can be emailed to Frank Supovitz at eventdoctor@schneiderpublishing.com.