'Music Festivals and Regional Development in Australia provides an extremely welcome and highly readable contribution to our understanding of how events contribute to regional economies and communities. Although Australian in focus, the book is internationally relevant. Via a series of excellent case studies as well as a general overview of the field, the book is essential reading for any regional economic or tourism organisations that seeks to harness the attraction of music and the arts for regional development.' C. Michael Hall, University of Canterbury, New Zealand 'Gibson and Connell have produced a must-read book for students and fans of music festivals, indeed of festivals in general. They demonstrate how music festivals contribute to local and regional development, not merely by attracting tourists, but by engaging people in acts of creation, invention and sustaining of place identity, and community capacity building. There are answers in this book to the global question: can festivals revitalize and sustain rural communities?' Don Getz, University of Calgary, Canada 'This volume is an exemplar of what a research monograph should be, an academic masterpiece providing a turning point in an intellectual current that speaks far beyond its immediate audience. The authors should be commended for making their landmark contribution in an open, accessible, and ultimately intellectually satisfying way.' LSE Review of Books