Christine Van Winkle is committed to community-based research examining visitor experiences at events and attractions. As a former Festival co-ordinator and attraction consultant Dr. Van Winkle brings both practical experience and theory based research to inform practice. Dr. Van Winkle’s work has been published widely and appears in a range of tourism, leisure and event journals, books, conference proceedings and reports. She is a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba.