Waldemar Cudny specializes in urban and tourism geography. He is a graduate of the department of geography at the University of ¿ód¿ (Poland), where he received his MA in geography, specialising in spatial economy and spatial urban planning (1999) and his PhD in socio-economic geography (2004). Currently he holds the position of associate professor at the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland. Dr Cudny has conducted research on festivals and their impacts on cities, socio-economic transformation of post-socialist cities, urban tourism and car tourism. He has published several books on the role of festivals in the development of cities and 'car tourism.' In recent years, Dr Cudny has been conducting research on city marketing, city promotion and branding. In 2019 his latest book entitled City Branding and Promotion: The Strategic Approach (Routledge) was published.

1 The concept of place event marketing: setting the agenda 2 Cultural promotion of place as 'northern' space: the case of the Umeå2014 - European Capital of Culture event 3 Branding authenticity: perceptions of La Patum de Berga, a complex place marketing event in Catalonia, Spain 4 Participatory cultural events and place attachment: a new path towards place branding? 5 The impact of outdoor cultural festivals on the city image: Lublin case study 6 Place branding through culture and arts events: cases from Eastern Canada 7 Resisting Rio de Janeiro's event-led place promotion: from insurgent rebranding to festive counter-spectacle 8 Geographies and branding impacts of non-metropolitan music festivals in the Western Cape province of South Africa 9 Enhancing Macao's tourist destination brand image through cultural festivals 10 Brand Hong Kong: art hub for China's Belt and Road Initiative 11 Conclusions