Managing and Developing Communities, Festivals and Events

The different stages of a festival's evolution provide a plethora of opportunities for us to better understand our culture, the relationships we build, what we value in our culture and our communities, and how we socialize and interact with one another. Managing and Developing Community Festivals and Events brings together community festival and event research from nine different countries. It critically explores how festivals and their communities develop and impact upon one another. The chapters focus on a wide range of festivals such as food and culinary festivals, art events, religious pilgrimage and feast festivals, as well as a variety of diverse themes such as joy, civil unrest, preservation of cultures and authenticity.

Allan Jepson is a senior academic in Event Management & Tourism, and researcher within the Marketing Insight research Group (MIRU) at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. Allan currently serves as a reviewer for the International Journal of Culture, Tourism & Hospitality Research, Marketing Intelligence and Planning and the Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. His research with Alan Clarke explores power, hegemony and decision making processes that produce community cultural events, community engagement within the planning process, and the impact that festivals and events have upon overall quality of life. Allan is also Vice-Chair for the Association of Events Management Education (AEME).

Alan Clarke is a Docens in the Faculty of Business and Economics at University of Pannonia, Hungary. He has been part of the research team undertaking a yearlong review and evaluation of the festivals and events in Veszprém for the Tourism Destination Management Organisation and is currently working on new offers, such as the Auer Festival. Previously he was the Assistant Dean in the Business School, and in the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Derby, UK. He chaired the Derby Tourism Challenge Team, was Vice-Chair of the Derbyshire Tourism Partnership and was the founding chair of the Derbyshire and Peak District Sustainable Partnership.