Event studies – The state of play

Events and festivals are not new; in fact, they have been around for millennia. However, the study of events, particularly the management aspects of events, is comparatively new. This perspective paper considers the development of the field of events research from an early focus on operational and managerial aspects to the more recent investigation of event sustainability and legacy, and the integration of social media and technology into event studies. The paper highlights those event studies fields which are arguably somewhat saturated in terms of their ability to generate significant new knowledge (e.g. economic impacts and event attendance motivations) as well as those fields which are continuing to produce novel insights and innovations (e.g. legacy and sustainability and technology). The paper concludes by highlighting three main criticisms of current events research, namely a bias towards Western developed perspectives, a lack of theoretical and conceptual rigour, and a limited range of methods and methodologies. These criticisms provide food for thought for future event studies researchers as to how they may best contribute to this dynamic field of studies.