Harmonizing visiting performers' motivations and community revitalization at a rural island music festival

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the motivations behind visiting music performers’ attendance at a music festival in the context of a rural Japanese island and how these motivations are connected to community revitalization within the framework of social exchange theory.Design/methodology/approachParticipant observation and 20 in-depth semi structured interviews were conducted with the visiting musicians at the Kurahashi East-West Music Festival on Kurahashi-jima in Hiroshima Prefecture. A qualitative analysis approach using thematic coding, grounded in social exchange theory, was employed to examine the perspectives of the participants.FindingsThe findings identified seven key themes related to motivation: performing and interacting with fellow musicians, for leisure performing or “fun”, providing a cultural experience to the community, participating for tourism purposes, because of sense of belonging to the destination, to collaborate with a prominent musician, and loyalty and commitment to a performance group. The results demonstrated that leisure performance and musician interaction were the most dominant themes in terms of motivation, while the importance of the other themes varied.Originality/valueBy employing social exchange theory at a micro-level, this study delved deeper into the motivations perceived by visiting performing musicians at music festivals and their implications for community revitalization. The insights gained from this research provide valuable implications for festival organizers, performers and community leaders to tailor music festivals for community revitalization.