A Research Agenda for Edinburgh Festivals

What is it about?

While the attention of festival stakeholders has often been on economic benefits, the very important cultural, community, and social benefits have been overlooked. Important issues such as engagement with the arts, community, cultural, social, and stakeholder benefits and disbenefits produced had as this point yet to be researched in any systematic way. This article offers a comprehensive research agenda for key festivals in Edinburgh. It also offered an important link to the other articles in this special issue of the journal.

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Why is it important?

In Edinburgh, as in other festival destinations, most of the research and evaluation effort has been concerned with "proving" the economic benefits of individual events. The limitations of focusing on narrow economic outcomes are now widely recognized in terms of the comparability, reliability, and utility of the estimates produced. This article offers a comprehensive research agenda for key festivals in Edinburgh as well as other destinations that are seeking to understand the social and cultural, as well the economic, dimensions of festivals.