Paper Title
Socio-Cultural Impact of Events on Host Communities

Abstract
Event tourism is a contemporary phenomenon and the outcome of new activites in leisure time in western cultures. What were only recently simply the pleasures of a privileged few, have become quickly commodified, as local and national authorities have recognised events as an important means of earning profits. Events have also been used to improve the image of a place and market places to potential visitors because of their ability to connect places with particular images and emotions. Tourism is simultaneously a social, economic, cultural and political phenomenon. It transfers capital between people and places, influences the social organisation of destinations, enables the revitalisation, preservation of cultural heritage and traditons and creates new landscapes. Each of these themes is crucial to event tourism and will be examined in the context of the Dimensions Music Festival. The overall aim of the paper is to examine the extent to which this particular music festival influences the quality of life of the members of the local community. Key words- events, festivals, destination, local residents, local culture, social benefits, economic impacts, visitors, local community, tourism