Creating knowledge spillovers through knowledge based festivals: the case of Mantua

This paper attempts to extend the analysis of event effects by analysing the knowledge creation role of an Italian literary festival, the Festivaletteratura in Mantua. The festival uses its local network, consisting of cultural organisations, local firms, festival volunteers and civic organisations to develop and disseminate knowledge. This is linked to an (inter)national network of creative actors, including creative entrepreneurs and festival (ex) volunteers who help to focus attention on the event. The combination of the locally embedded network and an extensive international network are key to the development of the festival as a knowledge hub. In the analysis of such knowledge-based festivals, it is important to shift our focus from events as a happening at a specific moment in time, to their more permanent role as a creative hub embedded in a regional context.