Bernadette Quinn has a PhD in Human Geography from University College Dublin. She currently lectures and researches in the Department of Tourism at the Dublin Institute of Technology.  The nature and meaning of festivals and festivity in contemporary society has been a key research interest and her work on the topic has been published in a number of international journals including Urban Studies, Social and Cultural Geography, Tourism Geographies, Event management and the Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. Other research interests include the relationship between culture and tourism, leisure and social inclusion and contemporary forms of tourism mobility. Publications on these topics have appeared in the Annals of Tourism Research, Gender, Place and Culture and Leisure Studies as well as in various edited book collections. Her teaching interests mirror her research interests and she is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate tourism management and event management programmes teaching modules related to cultural tourism, international festival environments, tourism studies and tourism and event policy. She is actively involved in the ATLAS Events Special Interest Group and has co-authored a chapter on festivals and social capital in their forthcoming book on Exploring the Social Impact of Events.