"The different stages of a festival's evolution provide a plethora of opportunities for us to better understand our culture, the relationships we build, how we consume, what we value in our culture and our communities, and how we socialize and interact with one another. This book brings together community festival and event research from around the world, from nine different countries. It explores critically how festivals and their communities develop and impact upon one another. The chapters focus on a wide range of different festivals and themes such as: food and culinary festivals, religious pilgrimage and feast festivals, peace, sustainable events, power and events, joy, civil unrest, identity, preservation of cultures, authenticity, traditions, rituals, and arts events"--