diff --git a/backend/event/admin.py b/backend/event/admin.py
index b36f1ada..b4e89704 100644
--- a/backend/event/admin.py
+++ b/backend/event/admin.py
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 from core import admin as core_admin
 
 
+@admin.register(models.EventCategory)
+class EventCategoryAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
+    list_display = ["name", "description"]
+    search_fields = ["name", "description"]
+
+
 class EventDescriptionAgentAdmin(admin.StackedInline):
     model = models.EventDescriptionAgent
     fields = ["agent"] + core_admin.description_field_fields
@@ -33,6 +39,18 @@ class EventDescriptionSpaceAdmin(admin.StackedInline):
 
 @admin.register(models.EventDescription)
 class EventDescriptionAdmin(core_admin.EntityDescriptionAdmin, admin.ModelAdmin):
+    filter_horizontal = ["categories"]
+    list_filter = ["source", "categories"]
+    fieldsets = [
+        core_admin.named_fieldset,
+        core_admin.description_source_fieldset,
+        (
+            "Contents",
+            {
+                "fields": ["summary", "categories"],
+            },
+        ),
+    ]
     inlines = [
         EventDescriptionAgentAdmin,
         EventDescriptionGiftAdmin,
diff --git a/backend/event/migrations/0014_eventcategory_eventdescription_summary_and_more.py b/backend/event/migrations/0014_eventcategory_eventdescription_summary_and_more.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..36266df3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/event/migrations/0014_eventcategory_eventdescription_summary_and_more.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2.7 on 2024-04-18 11:45
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('event', '0013_initial'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name='EventCategory',
+            fields=[
+                ('id', models.BigAutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
+                ('name', models.CharField(help_text='A name to help identify this object', max_length=200)),
+                ('description', models.TextField(blank=True, help_text='Longer description to help identify this object')),
+            ],
+            options={
+                'abstract': False,
+            },
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='eventdescription',
+            name='summary',
+            field=models.TextField(blank=True, help_text='full description of the events in the passage'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='eventdescription',
+            name='categories',
+            field=models.ManyToManyField(help_text='labels assigned to this event', related_name='event_descriptions', to='event.eventcategory'),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/backend/event/models.py b/backend/event/models.py
index 2505abdd..fc069c7a 100644
--- a/backend/event/models.py
+++ b/backend/event/models.py
@@ -1,17 +1,31 @@
 from django.db import models
 from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
 
-from core.models import EntityDescription, DescriptionField
+from core.models import EntityDescription, DescriptionField, Named
 from person.models import AgentDescription
 from letter.models import GiftDescription, LetterDescription
 from space.models import SpaceDescription
 
 
+class EventCategory(Named):
+    class Meta:
+        verbose_name_plural = "event categories"
+
+
 class EventDescription(EntityDescription, models.Model):
     """
     An epistolary event described in as source text
     """
 
+    summary = models.TextField(
+        blank=True,
+        help_text="full description of the events in the passage",
+    )
+    categories = models.ManyToManyField(
+        to=EventCategory,
+        related_name="event_descriptions",
+        help_text="labels assigned to this event",
+    )
     agents = models.ManyToManyField(
         to=AgentDescription,
         through="EventDescriptionAgent",