Cultural events and festivals

This chapter discusses the different categories of cultural events and festivals and explores key management issues for these types of events. It analyses the challenges involved in marketing cultural events and festivals and also discusses the ways in which cultural events and festivals can contribute to cultural and social change. Cultural events are hugely diverse in nature, from a Justin Bieber tour to the Sundance Film Festival and celebrations of identity and nationality. Festivals are both a particular kind of cultural event, each with its own history and tradition, and a specific celebratory form, with structural elements that can be used within a range of cultural traditions. X. Castaner and L. Campos identify the factors involved in the programming decision-making process that event managers go through when designing a programme of cultural events. These can be divided into environmental and cultural factors that impact upon an organiser's ability to develop innovative programmes within a specified form.