ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to reflect how festival research has advanced in the past and to identify the current state of play. It considers academic journal articles in the festival field and the methods of research applied, and acknowledges an appreciation for trend(s) and void(s) of the contributions. The chapter discusses systematically capturing and appraising developments in research in the festival-sector literature during the period of 2012-2016. It demonstrates the breadth of festival research undertaken throughout the world in the past. The chapter highlights the dominance of quantitative methods particularly using surveys to gather data. It shows that qualitative methods of research are receiving greater acceptance in a range of journals, and presents some of the more pioneering techniques adopted. However, there are challenges ahead in festival research, for example, in relation to data, the requirements for data protection especially in relation to 'big data'.
