ABSTRACT
A successful event is one that meets its own aims and, in doing so, benefits the city and improves the quality of life of its residents. The same principles apply to the eventful city as a whole: have the objectives of the entire city event programme been achieved and have their outcomes been of benefit to the city's economic, social and cultural prosperity? Although the broad criteria for success remain the same for all cities, the means of attaining these will vary; each city is unique and has a particular relationship to its event programme. Research has demonstrated, however, that many of those cities that might be considered as successful in their eventfulness have a number of qualities in common.
