Manuel Garcia-Ruiz holds a PhD in Sociology from ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. His research has four main topics: (i) Nightlife, festivals, and tourism, (ii) city branding, culture-led regeneration strategies, artwashing and commodification of the arts, and (iii) artistification, culture, and artistic careers of emergent professionals; (iv) research (mix) methods with focus on night studies and social sciences. He is the main founder and coordinator of the International Night Studies Network, coordinator of Etno.Urb research network, and the director of the Urban Audiovisual Festival.