International Festival and Event Management and Marketing

International festival and event management and marketing sits at the intersection of creative production, business strategy, and audience engagement. Festivals and events, whether in music, culture, sport, business, or the arts, are complex undertakings that require disciplined project management, financial planning, marketing intelligence, and the ability to coordinate many people and organisations toward a shared goal under significant time pressure. The international dimension of the subject reflects both the global reach of the major festivals and events industry and the increasingly cross-border character of the markets that events serve.

Edinburgh Napier University is particularly well positioned to offer this degree. Edinburgh is one of the world's festival cities, home to the Fringe, the International Festival, the Film Festival, and many others, making it a live and exceptional laboratory for event management study. This four-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, which extends the international perspective beyond the Edinburgh context and gives you the opportunity to study in another country with its own festival and events culture.

You will study the fundamentals of event planning, operations management, budgeting, risk and safety management, marketing strategy, audience development, digital marketing, sponsorship, and the legal and regulatory environment in which events take place.

The degree develops both practical and analytical skills. You will learn to plan and execute events with the rigour that professional contexts demand, while also developing the critical and strategic thinking that allows you to understand markets, audiences, and the creative and commercial forces shaping the industry. Communication, teamwork, and the ability to work under pressure are skills that festival and event environments naturally cultivate.

Graduates work across the events and creative industries in roles spanning festival management, event production, venue management, sports event coordination, corporate events, conference and exhibition management, and tourism and destination marketing. Marketing agencies, cultural organisations, sports bodies, and hospitality companies all recruit graduates with this background. The year abroad strengthens international career options, and the Edinburgh context provides industry connections that many graduates draw on directly after graduation.