diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 7de73dd..1803cf5 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -307,6 +307,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "env_logger",
  "futures-util",
  "log",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_json",
+ "serde_repr",
  "thiserror",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-tungstenite",
@@ -489,12 +492,60 @@ version = "0.6.25"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "f497285884f3fcff424ffc933e56d7cbca511def0c9831a7f9b5f6153e3cc89b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ryu"
+version = "1.0.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "71d301d4193d031abdd79ff7e3dd721168a9572ef3fe51a1517aba235bd8f86e"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "scopeguard"
 version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d29ab0c6d3fc0ee92fe66e2d99f700eab17a8d57d1c1d3b748380fb20baa78cd"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde"
+version = "1.0.130"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f12d06de37cf59146fbdecab66aa99f9fe4f78722e3607577a5375d66bd0c913"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_derive"
+version = "1.0.130"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d7bc1a1ab1961464eae040d96713baa5a724a8152c1222492465b54322ec508b"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_json"
+version = "1.0.71"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "063bf466a64011ac24040a49009724ee60a57da1b437617ceb32e53ad61bfb19"
+dependencies = [
+ "itoa",
+ "ryu",
+ "serde",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_repr"
+version = "0.1.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "98d0516900518c29efa217c298fa1f4e6c6ffc85ae29fd7f4ee48f176e1a9ed5"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sha-1"
 version = "0.9.8"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 658d197..34fbfee 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,3 +13,6 @@ futures-util = "0.3.17"
 tokio-tungstenite = "0.16.0"
 tungstenite = "0.16.0"
 thiserror = "1.0.30"
+serde = { version = "1.0.130", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1.0.71"
+serde_repr = "0.1.7"
diff --git a/src/event.rs b/src/event.rs
index 5f3d473..2d721aa 100644
--- a/src/event.rs
+++ b/src/event.rs
@@ -1 +1,72 @@
-pub struct Event {}
+use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize};
+use serde_json::json;
+use serde_json::Result;
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq, Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct Event {
+    id: u32,
+    pubkey: u32,
+    created_at: u64,
+    kind: u8,
+    tags: Vec<Vec<String>>,
+    content: String,
+    sig: u64,
+}
+
+// Goals:
+// Roundtrip from JSON-string to Event, and back to string.
+// Perform validation on an Event to ensure the id and signature are correct.
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use crate::event::Event;
+    use serde_json::Result;
+    fn simple_event() -> Event {
+        super::Event {
+            id: 0,
+            pubkey: 0,
+            created_at: 0,
+            kind: 0,
+            tags: vec![],
+            content: "".to_owned(),
+            sig: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn event_creation() {
+        // create an event
+        let event = simple_event();
+        assert_eq!(event.id, 0);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn event_serialize() -> Result<()> {
+        // serialize an event to JSON string
+        let event = simple_event();
+        let j = serde_json::to_string(&event)?;
+        assert_eq!(j, "{\"id\":0,\"pubkey\":0,\"created_at\":0,\"kind\":0,\"tags\":[],\"content\":\"\",\"sig\":0}");
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn event_tags_serialize() -> Result<()> {
+        // serialize an event with tags to JSON string
+        let mut event = simple_event();
+        event.tags = vec![
+            vec![
+                "e".to_owned(),
+                "xxxx".to_owned(),
+                "wss://example.com".to_owned(),
+            ],
+            vec![
+                "p".to_owned(),
+                "yyyyy".to_owned(),
+                "wss://example.com:3033".to_owned(),
+            ],
+        ];
+        let j = serde_json::to_string(&event)?;
+        assert_eq!(j, "{\"id\":0,\"pubkey\":0,\"created_at\":0,\"kind\":0,\"tags\":[[\"e\",\"xxxx\",\"wss://example.com\"],[\"p\",\"yyyyy\",\"wss://example.com:3033\"]],\"content\":\"\",\"sig\":0}");
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}