Cultural events and the city: The migration of FIRST International Film Festival from Beijing to Xining, China

In existing studies on the relationship between cultural events and urban transformation, neoliberalism narratives of urban entrepreneurship have been prominently emphasised. As this paper argues, discussions of the cultural economy rarely pay sufficient attention to the agency of the creative class, and often fail to consider that those modes of urban governance may differ. This paper draws on a study of the geographical factors involved in developing the FIRST International Film Festival, which was held in the city of Xining on the Tibetan Plateau. It explores the reasons for the relocation of the FIRST International Film Festival from Beijing to Xining, and the purposes and ways in which Xining employs the FIRST International Film Festival. From these findings, the study suggests that the geographical expressions of cultural industries themselves, as well as the diversity of development interests and considerations in a particular place, are essential to gain a comprehensive understanding of the connections between cultural events and the city.