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Festivals and Events Web Links

In Minnesota there are currently anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 festivals and events that take place annually, and roughly 50,000 that take place throughout the nation. One of the oldest festivals in Minnesota is the Renaissance Festival, which began in 1971. One of Minnesota’s most significant annual events is the Minnesota State Fair, a 10 day event which hosts 1.7 million visitors. All festivals and events have a life cycle, beginning with an initial concept, followed by a period of development and growth, peaking, and then either decline or change. Rarely a festival or event becomes a ‘classic’; one that draws crowds consistently year after year. Festivals and events represent a major piece of tourism industry, yet impacts are hard to measure due to the transitory and temporal nature they often exhibit.

Associations

Journals and select publications

Event Management Journal (formerly Festival Management and Event Tourism)
Journal of Travel Research: search results; articles related to festival attendees motivations
Special Events Magazine, Articles on Fairs, Festivals, and Picnics
Managing Festivals and Tourism Events 1991
Perceived Impacts of Festivals and Special Events by Organizers Tourism Management 2004
Ethnoscapes as Spectacle: Reimaging Multicultural Districts as New Destinations for Leisure and Tourism Consumption 2004 (.pdf)
Urban Regeneration, Arts Programming and Major Events 2004 (abstract of research article)
Cross-Cultural Research Issues in Developing Tourist Markets for Cultural Events 2003 (abstract of research article)
Visitor’s Perceptions of Authenticity at a Rural Heritage Festival: a Case Study 2003 (abstract of research article)
Building a Diverse Attendance at Cultural Festivals: Embracing Oral History/Folklore in Strategic Ways 2003 (abstract of research article)
Why Festivals Fail 2002 (abstract of research article)
Tourist Expenditures at Heritage Festivals 2002 (abstract of research article)
Festival Visitor Motivation From the Organizers’ Points of View 2001 (abstract of research article)
Rural Tourism Development in the USA (.pdf)

State/regional studies

U of MN Tourism Center
At-a-Glance index, Special Event Attendees:

Ice Palace Visitors (.pdf)
Lake of the Woods Events Attendees (.pdf)
Red River Valley Event Attendees (.pdf)

County Fairs

WI Tourism Travel Tracker

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Tourism Center
120 BioAgEng Building
1390 Eckles Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108-6005
Phone: 612-624-4947
Fax: 612-624-4264
tourism@umn.edu