Since 1995, regional festivals have been growing phenomenon in South Korea as a social capital. Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival (JNYF) has become the leading event of its type of festival in South Korea, attracting many visitors every year. Generally, JNYF hold in early October along the Namgang and represent City’s culture and identity which are the crucial elements for this festival. This paper discusses JNYF to understand resident’s opinions regarding to the festival to make better festival’s programs and activities to attract more tourists including foreigners. The aim of this article is to highlight resident perceptions of tourism impacts and how they affect resident reaction toward JNYF. This
perspective expands on the correlation between place identity and tourism impacts, going beyond the accepted influence of resident reaction. This quantitative research collected 411 valid questionnaires from host residents and the result indicated at the early of December 2015. This study recommends that theory of festival tourism, place identity, and resident reaction and can be all utilized in connecting with supporting tourism development in host community. Furthermore, this research will be useful resource to policymakers and festival organizers for expanding their management of regional festivals and it is also effective to governance of shared resources.
