Giulia Rossetti is a Senior Lecturer in Events Management in the Business School, Oxford Brookes University. Giulia’s areas of expertise are: understanding festival and event experiences using cultural sociology and serious leisure theories; festival socio-cultural impacts; and the educational value of festivals and events. Her current research interests include: the role of events in generating wellbeing; storytelling and festivals; edutainment at festivals; intangible heritage and cultural tourism. Giulia is the Event Management Journal Social Media Editor.Brianna Wyatt is a Senior Lecturer and the current Postgraduate Subject Coordinator for the Hospitality, Tourism, and Events Management programmes at Oxford Brookes University. She specialises in dark tourism with emphasis in interpretation and experience design, with her most recent publication on re-enactment in lighter dark tourism in The Journal of Travel Research. She also has industry experience working in both heritage and dark tourism, and is a Trustee and Member of the Board of Directors for the Buckingham Old Gaol. She currently sits on the Editorial Boards for the World Leisure Journal and Event Management.Jane Ali-Knight is a Professor in Festival and Event Management at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland and a Visiting Professor at Curtin University, Australia. A recognised academic, she has published widely in the areas of wine tourism and regional development; destination development; festival and event marketing and management, accessibility, and well-being. Jane is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Higher Education Academy and a trustee of British Arts Festivals Association; Without Walls: Innovators in Outdoor Arts and Hidden Door Festival.

"Whilst the conceptualisation of edutainment is not new, it is wonderful to see this unique edited text bringing together interconnected concepts such as planning, engagement, and the event experience giving readers a much deeper understanding into how edutainment can be applied in a multidisciplinary way to improve sustainability, create equity, and move EDI agendas forward, upon which the future of humanity depends."-Dr Allan Jepson, Hertfordshire Business School."Festivals and Edutainment is a vital addition to existing knowledge on Events Management theory and practice. It is your one stop shop for examining the theoretical and practical nuances of Education and Entertainment in the Festival typology of events. The blend of industry and research insights means the text lends itself to industry practitioners as well as taught units aligned to Events and Arts Management"-Dr. Miriam Firth, School of Environment, Education and Development, Manchester Institute of Education."Decades, if not centuries later, we are still – only now – starting to understand the transformational power of events on the people that organize and experience them. We must do more to analyze how events move us, change us, and generate positive social change. By "we" I mean… everyone! Everyone involved in the conception, planning, delivery, and the long-tail legacies that events bequeath. That’s why this book, focused on "edutainment", is special; a series of well-written and interesting cases that help to explicate these complex processes, applicable to all event stakeholders, from academics to practitioners" -Dr. Mike Duignan, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida.‘This pioneering volume provides a novel approach to the understudied theme of edutainment in events. It assembles a curated collection of contributions with a wide range of perspectives and incorporating different research methodologies. Important contemporary issues such as sustainability and equality are examined, and visitor and resident perspectives, edutainment experiences and emotions are highlighted. It therefore represents an important source book on edutainment in events for researchers and students.’-Professor Greg Richards, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tilburg University.‘This book is the first to unpack the role of edutainment in festival experiences globally. While much festival research has focused on the operational elements of festival management, the concept of edutainment has received much less attention. Using a series of case studies of diverse festivals from around the world, the book examines how edutainment festival experiences are planned to engage audiences and how audiences experience edutainment. The case studies also explore how edutainment fosters co-creation leading to more inclusive and sustainable festivals. This text will be invaluable reading for advanced students of events and festivals as well as tourism and leisure students more broadly as well as festival practitioners.’-Professor Kirsten Holmes, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University.

• Part 1: Planning edutainment. 1. Introduction. 2. Science Non-Friction: Balancing operational and legacy agendas for a university based science festival. 3. Witch City’s ‘Haunted Happenings’: Managing authenticity and edutainment in Salem, Massachusetts. 4. Edutainment in Disney’s EPCOT International Festival Cycle. 5. SouthWestFest: Edutainment through the lens of a cultural community festival, and its delivery partners. Part 2: Audience engagement. 6. Music festivals, edutainment, and audience engagement in a digital world. 7. Science in society: exploring science festivals and valuable leisure. 8. Maintaining festivals’ "sense of community" through educational activities for locals and festival tourists during the Covid-19 crisis in Greece. Part 3: Sustainability and EDI. 9. The Winterage Festival in a Learning Landscape. 10. Managing inclusivity and diversity with edutainment for festivals. 11. Edutainment actions in a Mexican film festival - Cinema Planeta, the first film festival in Morelos, Mexico. Part 4: Experiencing edutainment. 12. Edutainment through Storytelling, Nostalgia and Living History in 1940s Festivals and Events. 13. Playing with your food: fun, frolics and learning at food festivals. 14. Learning (with) Negative Emotions: The Future of Science Festivals. 15. Afterword: The future of edutainment in festival experiences.

Giulia Rossetti is a Senior Lecturer in Events Management in the Business School, Oxford Brookes University. Giulia’s areas of expertise are: understanding festival and event experiences using cultural sociology and serious leisure theories; festival socio-cultural impacts; and the educational value of festivals and events. Her current research interests include: the role of events in generating wellbeing; storytelling and festivals; edutainment at festivals; intangible heritage and cultural tourism. Giulia is the Event Management Journal Social Media Editor.Brianna Wyatt is a Senior Lecturer and the current Postgraduate Subject Coordinator for the Hospitality, Tourism, and Events Management programmes at Oxford Brookes University. She specialises in dark tourism with emphasis in interpretation and experience design, with her most recent publication on re-enactment in lighter dark tourism in The Journal of Travel Research. She also has industry experience working in both heritage and dark tourism, and is a Trustee and Member of the Board of Directors for the Buckingham Old Gaol. She currently sits on the Editorial Boards for the World Leisure Journal and Event Management.Jane Ali-Knight is a Professor in Festival and Event Management at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland and a Visiting Professor at Curtin University, Australia. A recognised academic, she has published widely in the areas of wine tourism and regional development; destination development; festival and event marketing and management, accessibility, and well-being. Jane is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Higher Education Academy and a trustee of British Arts Festivals Association; Without Walls: Innovators in Outdoor Arts and Hidden Door Festival.

"Whilst the conceptualisation of edutainment is not new, it is wonderful to see this unique edited text bringing together interconnected concepts such as planning, engagement, and the event experience giving readers a much deeper understanding into how edutainment can be applied in a multidisciplinary way to improve sustainability, create equity, and move EDI agendas forward, upon which the future of humanity depends."-Dr Allan Jepson, Hertfordshire Business School."Festivals and Edutainment is a vital addition to existing knowledge on Events Management theory and practice. It is your one stop shop for examining the theoretical and practical nuances of Education and Entertainment in the Festival typology of events. The blend of industry and research insights means the text lends itself to industry practitioners as well as taught units aligned to Events and Arts Management"-Dr. Miriam Firth, School of Environment, Education and Development, Manchester Institute of Education."Decades, if not centuries later, we are still – only now – starting to understand the transformational power of events on the people that organize and experience them. We must do more to analyze how events move us, change us, and generate positive social change. By "we" I mean… everyone! Everyone involved in the conception, planning, delivery, and the long-tail legacies that events bequeath. That’s why this book, focused on "edutainment", is special; a series of well-written and interesting cases that help to explicate these complex processes, applicable to all event stakeholders, from academics to practitioners" -Dr. Mike Duignan, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida.‘This pioneering volume provides a novel approach to the understudied theme of edutainment in events. It assembles a curated collection of contributions with a wide range of perspectives and incorporating different research methodologies. Important contemporary issues such as sustainability and equality are examined, and visitor and resident perspectives, edutainment experiences and emotions are highlighted. It therefore represents an important source book on edutainment in events for researchers and students.’-Professor Greg Richards, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tilburg University.‘This book is the first to unpack the role of edutainment in festival experiences globally. While much festival research has focused on the operational elements of festival management, the concept of edutainment has received much less attention. Using a series of case studies of diverse festivals from around the world, the book examines how edutainment festival experiences are planned to engage audiences and how audiences experience edutainment. The case studies also explore how edutainment fosters co-creation leading to more inclusive and sustainable festivals. This text will be invaluable reading for advanced students of events and festivals as well as tourism and leisure students more broadly as well as festival practitioners.’-Professor Kirsten Holmes, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University.

• Part 1: Planning edutainment. 1. Introduction. 2. Science Non-Friction: Balancing operational and legacy agendas for a university based science festival. 3. Witch City’s ‘Haunted Happenings’: Managing authenticity and edutainment in Salem, Massachusetts. 4. Edutainment in Disney’s EPCOT International Festival Cycle. 5. SouthWestFest: Edutainment through the lens of a cultural community festival, and its delivery partners. Part 2: Audience engagement. 6. Music festivals, edutainment, and audience engagement in a digital world. 7. Science in society: exploring science festivals and valuable leisure. 8. Maintaining festivals’ "sense of community" through educational activities for locals and festival tourists during the Covid-19 crisis in Greece. Part 3: Sustainability and EDI. 9. The Winterage Festival in a Learning Landscape. 10. Managing inclusivity and diversity with edutainment for festivals. 11. Edutainment actions in a Mexican film festival - Cinema Planeta, the first film festival in Morelos, Mexico. Part 4: Experiencing edutainment. 12. Edutainment through Storytelling, Nostalgia and Living History in 1940s Festivals and Events. 13. Playing with your food: fun, frolics and learning at food festivals. 14. Learning (with) Negative Emotions: The Future of Science Festivals. 15. Afterword: The future of edutainment in festival experiences.

Giulia Rossetti is a Senior Lecturer in Events Management in the Business School, Oxford Brookes University. Giulia’s areas of expertise are: understanding festival and event experiences using cultural sociology and serious leisure theories; festival socio-cultural impacts; and the educational value of festivals and events. Her current research interests include: the role of events in generating wellbeing; storytelling and festivals; edutainment at festivals; intangible heritage and cultural tourism. Giulia is the Event Management Journal Social Media Editor.Brianna Wyatt is a Senior Lecturer and the current Postgraduate Subject Coordinator for the Hospitality, Tourism, and Events Management programmes at Oxford Brookes University. She specialises in dark tourism with emphasis in interpretation and experience design, with her most recent publication on re-enactment in lighter dark tourism in The Journal of Travel Research. She also has industry experience working in both heritage and dark tourism, and is a Trustee and Member of the Board of Directors for the Buckingham Old Gaol. She currently sits on the Editorial Boards for the World Leisure Journal and Event Management.Jane Ali-Knight is a Professor in Festival and Event Management at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland and a Visiting Professor at Curtin University, Australia. A recognised academic, she has published widely in the areas of wine tourism and regional development; destination development; festival and event marketing and management, accessibility, and well-being. Jane is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Higher Education Academy and a trustee of British Arts Festivals Association; Without Walls: Innovators in Outdoor Arts and Hidden Door Festival.

"Whilst the conceptualisation of edutainment is not new, it is wonderful to see this unique edited text bringing together interconnected concepts such as planning, engagement, and the event experience giving readers a much deeper understanding into how edutainment can be applied in a multidisciplinary way to improve sustainability, create equity, and move EDI agendas forward, upon which the future of humanity depends."-Dr Allan Jepson, Hertfordshire Business School."Festivals and Edutainment is a vital addition to existing knowledge on Events Management theory and practice. It is your one stop shop for examining the theoretical and practical nuances of Education and Entertainment in the Festival typology of events. The blend of industry and research insights means the text lends itself to industry practitioners as well as taught units aligned to Events and Arts Management"-Dr. Miriam Firth, School of Environment, Education and Development, Manchester Institute of Education."Decades, if not centuries later, we are still – only now – starting to understand the transformational power of events on the people that organize and experience them. We must do more to analyze how events move us, change us, and generate positive social change. By "we" I mean… everyone! Everyone involved in the conception, planning, delivery, and the long-tail legacies that events bequeath. That’s why this book, focused on "edutainment", is special; a series of well-written and interesting cases that help to explicate these complex processes, applicable to all event stakeholders, from academics to practitioners" -Dr. Mike Duignan, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida.‘This pioneering volume provides a novel approach to the understudied theme of edutainment in events. It assembles a curated collection of contributions with a wide range of perspectives and incorporating different research methodologies. Important contemporary issues such as sustainability and equality are examined, and visitor and resident perspectives, edutainment experiences and emotions are highlighted. It therefore represents an important source book on edutainment in events for researchers and students.’-Professor Greg Richards, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tilburg University.‘This book is the first to unpack the role of edutainment in festival experiences globally. While much festival research has focused on the operational elements of festival management, the concept of edutainment has received much less attention. Using a series of case studies of diverse festivals from around the world, the book examines how edutainment festival experiences are planned to engage audiences and how audiences experience edutainment. The case studies also explore how edutainment fosters co-creation leading to more inclusive and sustainable festivals. This text will be invaluable reading for advanced students of events and festivals as well as tourism and leisure students more broadly as well as festival practitioners.’-Professor Kirsten Holmes, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University.

• Part 1: Planning edutainment. 1. Introduction. 2. Science Non-Friction: Balancing operational and legacy agendas for a university based science festival. 3. Witch City’s ‘Haunted Happenings’: Managing authenticity and edutainment in Salem, Massachusetts. 4. Edutainment in Disney’s EPCOT International Festival Cycle. 5. SouthWestFest: Edutainment through the lens of a cultural community festival, and its delivery partners. Part 2: Audience engagement. 6. Music festivals, edutainment, and audience engagement in a digital world. 7. Science in society: exploring science festivals and valuable leisure. 8. Maintaining festivals’ "sense of community" through educational activities for locals and festival tourists during the Covid-19 crisis in Greece. Part 3: Sustainability and EDI. 9. The Winterage Festival in a Learning Landscape. 10. Managing inclusivity and diversity with edutainment for festivals. 11. Edutainment actions in a Mexican film festival - Cinema Planeta, the first film festival in Morelos, Mexico. Part 4: Experiencing edutainment. 12. Edutainment through Storytelling, Nostalgia and Living History in 1940s Festivals and Events. 13. Playing with your food: fun, frolics and learning at food festivals. 14. Learning (with) Negative Emotions: The Future of Science Festivals. 15. Afterword: The future of edutainment in festival experiences.