BA (Hons) International Festival & Event Management

You'll learn how to plan, design, market, operate and develop events, as well as how these events can be used to help local economies and communities. With options of a 24-week work placement and study abroad, this course offers excellent preparation for your career in festivals and events management.

The programme has a number of compulsory and optional modules that feature throughout the duration of the course: these include options in marketing, entrepreneurship, tourism, hospitality, and gastronomy.

Your first year will give you an introduction to key themes and concepts relevant to the operational aspects of event management, in a broader context of related industries. You will also learn mainstream business skills to help develop your knowledge of how businesses work.

In year two you will learn about event design, and are assessed in a practical module. Other topics include sports events, and the management of venues and other facilities, which helps build on your foundation from year one. 

The first half of year three sees you put events in their broader political context, as well as focusing on conferences and corporate events. The second half of year three has an industry focus, when you will either complete a 24-week work placement, or a consultancy based Live Project.

Your final year is focused on your dissertation, a large-scale piece of independent academic research. Other modules focus on event sustainability, and strategic management.

Lead Academics

• Dr David Jarman came to Edinburgh to study his undergraduate degree, a period during which he combined study with summers spent working at the Edinburgh festivals. Through the early years of the century David built up his festival experience, completed an MSc, and travelled. This provided a great platform on which to develop his academic teaching and research career with Edinburgh Napier, from 2007 on.
• Dr Gary Kerr is a Lecturer in Festival and Event Management in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University, where he lectures students on International Festival & Event Management degree programmes. Gary has a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Warwick and is completing his second PhD at the University of Salford on the social, political and cultural dimensions of science festivals in the UK. As part of his research, he has interviewed over 30 UK science festival directors. He has worked in numerous roles with various festivals including Staff Manager, Event Manager, Venue Manager, Production Coordinator, Creative Producer, and Creative Director. He was Stage Manager for the Olympics & Paralympics Homecoming Parade (2016).
• Internationally, Gary has held the role of Quality Controller of the Innovator Festival (UAE) and Local Content Manager and Producer of the world-leading Abu Dhabi Science Festival. In these roles Gary consistently provided his clients with ongoing feedback on the quality of the festival's content and ensured consistency in the delivery of a high quality festival. Gary teaches at up to 20 universities across the UAE each year and is a Visiting Professorial Teaching Felow at The University of Warwick

How will my degree reflect sustainability and sustainable development?

• The Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) – established under the UN Global Compact – places a clear onus on Higher Education to ‘transform management education and develop the responsible decision-makers of tomorrow to advance sustainable development’. The Business School is a PRME signatory, and we seek to influence professional practice and policy nationally and internationally, helping to drive key societal, economic and environmental impacts.
• Our mission is ‘to empower communities to apply business knowledge for positive societal impact’ and we work constantly to embed practical actions into our curriculum, to promote sustainability and relate these to the key ideas of sustainability, as reflected in the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes now reflect one or more of the SDG, and our research is targeted to solve real world problems, mapped against the criteria used in the Times Higher Education’s Impact Ranking.
• The most recent annual league table for Sustainability - compiled by People & Planet, the UK’s largest student campaigning network - again places Edinburgh Napier in a top 3 position among Scotland’s 19 universities. This reflects their assessment of our performance across a range of environmental and ethical considerations, which include carbon reduction and management, and education.

What is distinct about equality, diversity and inclusion?

• Edinburgh Napier University is enriched by the diversity of perspectives, cultures and backgrounds brought by all within our global community. We are committed to a positive environment where diversity and inclusiveness is celebrated and everyone is treated fairly regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability, age, ethnic origin, religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status or whether pregnant or on maternity leave. We commit ourselves to providing a learning, working and social environment that is free from discrimination, prejudice, intimidation, stigmatisation and all forms of harassment and bullying.

How you’ll be taught

• Lectures, workshops, seminars, and industry-based learning placements. Online resources include lecture slides, reading suggestions, podcasts, wikis, videos and more.

Assessments

• Essays, reports, presentations, projects, portfolios, exams, multiple choice tests, practical events, industry/client pitches, wikis, group assessments and more.

Work placement

• You're in the right place if you want real life, hands-on experience. Our strong links to industry allow us to offer an optional 24 week work placement available across all three of the subject areas: hospitality, tourism and festival & events.
• Placement and Study Abroad opportunities are subject to UK and Scottish Government health and travel advice.

study abroad

• You'll have the opportunity to study abroad, with options in Europe, North America and Australia.
• Placement and Study Abroad opportunities are subject to UK and Scottish Government health and travel advice.

Careers

What can you do with an International Festival & Events Management Degree?

• By studying international festival & events management at Edinburgh Napier University, you will become an expert at planning, delivering and evaluating events of all kinds. You will gain strong organisational skills whilst developing your cross functional knowledge in business, marketing and budget management. You will learn about the operational requirements within the international events sector, along with how different cultures, environments and infrastructure feed into event planning and development across the tourism, events and hospitality industry. On completion of your degree, you will be an effective communicator, with excellent problem solving and time management abilities, which may lead you to pursue a career in events and conference management, exhibition management or as an event team leader. As a graduate you may also go on to work at internationally renowned events such as the Commonwealth Games, Rugby World Cup, The Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

What does an International Events Manager do?

• An International Events Manager is responsible for planning, organizing, and executing events on a global scale. Their primary focus is to coordinate events that involve participants, attendees, and stakeholders from different countries. In this role, you will have excellent leadership and organisational skills, with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

The role involves a wide range of tasks and responsibilities, including but not limited to:

• Event Planning
• Budget Management
• Marketing and promotion
• Stakeholder engagement
• Risk management
• Site co-ordination
• Post event evaluation