Outdoor music festivals are unique events given that they are, for the most part, bounded and ticketed, and alcohol is served. They frequently have a higher incidence of patient presentations when compared with similar types of mass gatherings. Often, however, single events are reported in the literature, making it difficult to generalize the findings across multiple events and limiting the understanding of the "typical" patient presentations at these mass gatherings. The aim of this paper was to understand the characteristics of young people who have presented as patients to on-site health care at outdoor music festivals in Australia, and the relative proportion and type of injury and illness presentations at these events. This research used a nonexperimental design, utilizing a retrospective review of patient report forms from outdoor music festivals. Data were collected from 26 outdoor music festivals across four States of Australia during the year 2010. Females presented at greater numbers than males, and over two-thirds presented with minor illnesses, such as headaches. Males presented with injuries, in particular lacerations to their face and their hands, and alcohol and substance use made up 15% of all presentations.

Purpose This paper aims to provide further insight into factors influencing Australian consumers’ purchasing preferences for sparkling wine, including champagne. Design/methodology/approach Focus groups were conducted and thematic analysis was undertaken to identify factors influencing sparkling wine consumers’ purchasing preferences. Findings Personal taste was found to influence choice of a sparkling wine rather than another type of beverage, and selection of a particular style and brand of sparkling wine. Country or region of origin was found to be important, often linked to the product being champagne. Brand image, reputation and symbolism were found to influence purchase decisions (sometimes linked to consumption occasion), especially for purchases of gifts. Advice, recommendations and expert reviews, and consumption occasion also were found to influence purchase decisions. Price was found to influence style and brand of sparkling wine purchased. A high price was found to be a barrier for some participants, while other participants were found to avoid sparkling wines priced below some particular level. Thematic analysis enabled development of a preliminary model of purchasing preferences. Research limitations/implications Being exploratory in nature, findings cannot be generalised. Further studies are required to confirm the preliminary model and to evaluate the validity and significance of proposed relationships. Practical implications Findings suggest a producer could benefit from marketing a range of sparkling wines to cater to different tastes, occasions and gift purchases. Findings also confirm the importance of marketers pursuing opportunities to obtain and promote favourable expert reviews for their sparkling wines, and of identifying and promoting regional distinctiveness. Originality/value The first comprehensive model of sparkling wine consumers’ purchasing preferences has been developed. Empirical testing would enable refinement and enhance understanding.

Sparkling wine represents a small but significant proportion of the Australian wine industry's total production. Yet, Australia remains a significant importer of French Champagne. This study investigated consumer preferences for Australian sparkling wine vs. French Champagne and any compositional and/or sensorial bases for these preferences. A range of French and Australian sparkling wines were analyzed by MIR spectroscopy to determine if sparkling wines could be differentiated according to country of origin. A subset of wines, comprising two French Champagnes, a French sparkling wine and three Australian sparkling wines, were selected for (i) descriptive analysis to characterize their sensory profiles and (ii) acceptance tests to determine consumer liking (n = 95 Australian wine consumers). Significant differences were observed between liking scores; on average, the $70 French Champagne was liked least and the $12 Australian sparkling wine liked most, but segmentation (based on individual liking scores) identified clusters comprising consumers with distinct wine preferences. Interestingly, when consumers were shown wine bottle labels, they considered French wines to be more expensive than Australian wines, demonstrating a clear country of origin influence.

Introduction The science of mass gatherings is a relatively new and developing field. It is currently at a stage where summarising the rigour of knowledge gained about the complex interrelationships between key characteristics of an event, spectator profiles and health implications are critical. This study seeks to summarise the levels of evidence in peer-reviewed journal articles concerning mass gathering public health and emergency medicine published 2001 to 2011. Until now, the evidence behind the science of mass gathering public health and emergency medicine has not been critically analysed. Methods Publications were reviewed by searching the following online databases: GALE, NLM, Web of Science, Elsevier, Wiley, BMJ Journals, OUP, IngentaConnect, RMIT, DOAJ and JSTOR. Published news articles and grey literature were omitted. The peer-reviewed articles were organised into pre-determined World Health Organisation categories and the levels of evidence were assessed using the effectiveness classifications developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Descriptive statistical analysis was then undertaken using Microsoft Excel®. Results Of all publications examined, 38·86% (n = 89) of the articles found in this review were categorised as observational studies, 36·68% (n = 84) were expert opinion or consensus, 20·09% (n = 46) were cohort studies, 2·18% (n = 5) were case-controlled studies and 2·18% (n = 5) were quasi-experimental studies. Conclusion High-level evidence studies may not be possible in the mass gathering context, but research in the middle-level should be encouraged to ensure that literature is less reliant on experience and expert opinion when applied to event management strategies which impact on public health and emergency medicine.

By understanding the cultural predispositions of the audience, event planners and designers, event risk managers and event safety personnel are able to better understand the motivation of the audience and how this might impact on audience behavior at the event. Further work needs to be done, however, to investigate the broader range of predispositions. The ultimate aim of developing this understanding is to better inform the health promotion and public health messages that can be developed for a particular type of event based on the likely composition of the audience in attendance.