ABSTRACT
Festivals and events are significant cultural phenomena globally and they present a platform to represent people in different socio-cultural contexts. For this reason, events lend themselves to the anthropological analysis of events that draws upon the study of rituals. The anthropological analysis of events is the principal focus of this chapter as complex and ritualised public events provide a broad focus for study. A wide range of perspectives are possible ranging from kinship, religion, political economy and cultural practice with the anthropological analysis of events reflecting the broad basis of anthropology as a discipline. In the case of event studies, the sub-field of cultural anthropology is used as a basis to understand the human experience of events as illustrated in this chapter.
