Festivals have burgeoned in rural areas, revitalising old traditions and inventing new reasons to celebrate. How do festivals contribute to tourism, community and a rural sense of belonging? What are their cultural, environmental and economic dimensions? This book features contributions from researchers who answer such questions.

Chris Gibson is Professor in Human Geography at the University of Wollongong. John Connell is Professor of Geography at the University of Sydney. For well over a decade they have been researching and writing about music, tourism and festivals in Australia and beyond. More recently they were part of a team undertaking Australiaâ€(TM)s largest ever study of rural festivals, with 480 festivals participating in the research. Insights from that research project feature throughout this book.

John Connell is Professor of Geography and Head of the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney. His research interests span mobility, tourism, music and place identities. He has published widely on urbanisation, migration, and tourism. His books Sydney: Emergence of a World City (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Small Worlds, Global Lives: Islands and Migration (Pinter, 1999).