The 3rd International Conference on the Arts in Society, will take place at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, United Kingdom on 28-31 July 2008.

Amongst the many topics on the agenda - there are eleven themes in total, Festivals are number nine on the list.

Theme 9: Festivals

• Festival cities
• Cultural tourism and public display
• Festival and ritual
• Global festivals
• Ethnic arts festivals
• Regional festivals
• Theatre festivals, genres, regions and Shakespeare
• Music festivals
• Visual arts festivals and biennales
• Cultural diversity and festival development
• Festival and event management
• Book festivals
• Film festivals
• Festivals and civic engagement
• Economic impact and festival development
• Why create an arts festival
• Rural festivals as social life
• Olympic festivals – of real and imagined proportions

For more information on the conference, please go the conference website.

Paris, Porte de Versailles, Hall 6
11 - 13 April 2008

For the first time in the world, an event bringing together all of the professions and all of the spheres of influence pertaining to the circus!

The debut event of National Harbor, a major new development on the banks of the Potomac River in Prince George's County, needed to partner up with a local charity to obtain its liquor license. The Washington Post reports that the charity will share in the proceedings of the new Wine & Food Festival at National Harbor.