Our study contributes to the current research on tourism and quality-of-life (QOL) by investigating Memorable Event Experiences (MEE), as a primary resource for familial bonding and memory creation. A mixed methods approach (focus groups and questionnaires) is used to explore the QOL indicators of: physical well-being, psychological/emotional well-being and relationships with family within the context of localised event experiences. Findings from this study are transferable across all aspects of the tourism system, they demonstrate that experiencing an event together as a family can facilitate collective memory creation, familial bonding, and create thick sociality or 'we-relationships' and can therefore enhance a family's QOL in the long term.

Purpose The importance of events for marginalised groups has largely been overlooked within tourism, hospitality and event studies. The purpose of this study is to address this gap, emphasising the positive outcomes of power relationships rather than the negative, which have traditionally been the focus in event studies. Design/methodology/approach The study investigated eight events for indigenous and ethnic minority groups, rural women, disabled people and seniors in Australia and New Zealand. Qualitative data was collected via participant observation, reflexive ethnography, semi-structured interviews and in-the-moment conversations. An inductive thematic approach was taken to data analysis. Findings Eight themes around notions of power and empowerment were identified during the analysis: providing a platform, giving/taking ownership, gaining confidence, empowering with/through knowledge, respect, pride and affirmation, freedom to “be” and resistance. These were then viewed through the lenses of social-structural and psychological empowerment, enabling a deeper understanding of power at/through events. Research limitations/implications The paper presents a framework for empowerment that enables event organisers to both understand and deliberately plan for the productive use of power, which can reaffirm important event aims, objectives and values. It can also be used by researchers as a framework through which to identify and assess the contributing elements of empowerment at events and by local government to guide policymaking around events. Originality/value This study is the first to highlight best practices for the positive use of power at events that “empowers” marginalised groups. Grounded in empowerment theory, the study offers a new lens to reframe notions of power and provides a theoretical framework that will be of value for both critical event studies researchers, event organisers and policymakers alike.

Quality of life (QOL) research has been well explored in medicine, psychology, and the social sciences, although it has received very little attention within festival and event studies. This proposition article is both conceptual and exploratory and will seek to establish the foundations of a framework to investigate the impact(s) festivals and events may have upon individual and family QOL and to set an agenda for research into QOL in the field of festival and event studies. The article begins with a review of literature, which sets the conceptual nature of the article in the area of festival studies and in doing so investigates interconnected themes such as: political, social, cultural, and personal impact discourses. Following this our article provides a review of literature introducing key QOL theories, concepts, and research undertaken in previous studies. The article then progresses naturally into a discussion of the key differences and relationships between individual and family QOL, and provides an overview of previous research in festivals and events to allow the study to develop research questions in order to situate this article and our future research agenda. Following the literature review we present a discussion of key methodological considerations in order to determine the most appropriate and practical framework for collecting and analyzing primary data to better understand the potential impacts of festivals and events on families' QOL. The final section of the article concludes and reflects upon our review of literature and research questions, which we hope will set an agenda for future research in this area and on the development of a framework to test QOL within events.

In this article we examine the emergence of knowledge management (KM) within the professionalization of festivals and events. The growing complexity of festival management places pressure on organizations to effectively manage “knowledge” in order to succeed. Knowledge is commonly conceptualized as information that can be stored or itemized through checklists. We offer an alternative conceptualization of KM as a relational construction shaped by the organizational culture and structure. We develop this relational approach through a case study of the Queensland Music Festival (QMF) to examine the construction of KM roles and responsibilities. Our ethnographic research and qualitative analysis identifies how QMF implicitly utilizes chief knowledge officer, knowledge broker, and knowledge worker roles. These roles were successfully performed over a short duration and yet they were not defined or explicitly stated. We discuss how the culture and spatial organization of work teams contributed to a collective understanding of the value of sharing and creating knowledge. With growing professionalization we argue that festival organizations will increasingly develop a more self-conscious awareness of the significance of KM language and practice. The findings will enable festival managers to better understand how KM processes are embedded within an organizational culture and contribute to organizational learning.

Purpose ??? The purpose of this paper is to examine the utilisation and application of reflexive ethnography as an interpretative methodology for researching knowledge practices within festival organisations. Design/methodology/approach ??? The ethnographic approach incorporates two methods of data collection in the research design; participant observation and in-depth interviews. Findings ??? The research identified that knowledge management practices and processes are often invisible to festival staff when they are embeddedwithin a cohesive organisational culture. Ethnography enables the researcher to make explicit the tacit and normalised ways of working that contribute to the success (and failure) of festival organisations to manage knowledge. The immersion of the researcher in the ethnographic process provided a rich understanding of the relational dimension of knowledge management that would be difficult to elicit from in-depth interviews alone. Research limitations/implications ??? New fields of study require a range of research methodologies to inform theoretical and practice-based knowledge related to event participation and management. This article contributes to the growing event management literature through a unique focus on ethnography as a research method that offers a deeper understanding of knowledge practices within festival organisations. Originality/value ??? Limited research has applied an ethnographic approach to festival and event management. This article builds upon early adopters and provides critical insight into the benefits and constraints of ethnographic research