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The paper aims to explore cultural events in a post-disaster town cultural events in a post-disaster town, L’Aquila, Italy, facing a long-term process of adaptation and recovery after the 2009 earthquake.

A time-based conceptual framework is applied in a case analysis relying on primary and secondary data. In-depth semi-structured interviews with local actors, direct observations and participation in local events and public debates enriched the analysis.

In the absence of a clear-cut urban policy framework, an urban heritage of cultural events emerged from local actors’ initiatives, with some evidence of local capacity building. Elements of events’ institutionalisation and signals of a serious risk of vanishing in the post-disaster transitioning context are discussed.

The study involves development of a theoretical framework for analysing the temporal process of evolution of a local system of cultural events as instruments for place-making and capacity building in a post-disaster town. New light is cast on the meaning of “eventification.”