ABSTRACT
Our chapter invites the reader to engage with the intersections of events and well-being. Contemporary events such as festivals, sports events, parades, or carnivals to name but a few are by their very nature have the potential to create meaningful and significant cultural experiences for all those involved within their creation and consumption or passive observation. It is these meaningful experiences and the resulting impacts they produce (or have the potential to produce) where we centre our attention. It could be argued that the role and purpose of contemporary events in our societies has been lost amidst desires for economic success. But we should remember that, as humans, we are social creatures and as such the high degree of socialisation and interaction with others sharing our interests correlates directly to our psychological and physiological health and well-being. This introductory chapter begins to unravel the interconnectivity and importance of contemporary festivals and events in our lives as contributors to well-being. Furthermore, it calls upon researchers to adopt multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches through disciplines such as sociology, psychology and marketing to better understand the well-being derived through contemporary festivals and events.
