Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose and introduce a new classification model to segment a nation’s cultural tourists based on their motivations to travel to a military music festival. Little research is apparent about the types of people, and their motivations, who attend these types of festivals. In addition, the research investigates the impact of military music festivals on the concepts of patriotism and national identity. Design/methodology/approach The research approach involves empirical testing of a Canadian audience attending the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, a longstanding annual musical event held in Nova Scotia, Canada, that pays tribute to the country’s military heritage. A proposed classification model that includes two dimensions is applied, which investigates: motivation to attend the event and kinship to Canada’s military and naval traditions. Findings Findings provide a better understanding of the diversity of the Canadian cultural tourist audience attending a military music display in terms of tourists’ demographics, experience of the show and the desire to return. This research also provides new insights as to the ability of a military musical event to arouse emotions of national pride, patriotism and strengthen national identity. Originality/value This research is important to event sponsors and organizers of military music events as they attempt to maintain productivity and attendance growth in an increasingly competitive entertainment environment.