Iride Azara, Peter Wiltshier, Jamie Greatorex
Ashbourne Royal Shorovetide Football (ARSF) is a sporting event that occurs yearly on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in the market town of Ashourne, in Derbyshire. sometimes referred to as "mob football" Shrovetide can arguably be perceived as the quintessential sensorial and fully immersive event, being played out across town and involving the entire community. The event is also a unique tourism spectacle and a tool for tourism destination positioning. This article presents some of the results of a large study that looks at challenges in the mutter of events safety and the impacts that this has on event survival and the sustainable development of local communities. Finding highlight the need to support communities to learn from events in order to preserve them as they are essential for the maintenance of a unique and inimitable identity.