Festivals have been in existence since time immemorial. Festivals serve as cultural celebrations for the locals and international tourists who wish to look into the local culture. The concept of sustainability has crossed boundaries from its original environmental issues into tourism and festivals. As a means towards ensuring festivals remain a core rather than a peripheral leisure activity for both locals and international attendees, this study aimed at comparing the motives and perception of festival impacts for the two groups. A self-administered questionnaire was used in collecting data during the annual Sauti za Busara music festival in Zanzibar. Chi-square and t-tests were used to ascertain group differences where motivation to attend the festival indicated significant differences between locals and international attendees. Both groups of attendees indicated to have positive perception of the festival impacts onto the economic, environment, and socioculture. The results have policy and management implications that can aid festival stakeholders to make the festivals sustainable.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to test the perceived economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts on the satisfaction of local residents with the Zanzibar International Film Festival.Design/methodology/approachStructured questionnaires were administered to 299 local Zanzibaris, to obtain the data necessary for hypotheses testing using Structural Equation Modelling through Smart PLS 3.0.FindingsThe findings reveal that locals' perceptions related to economic, cultural, environmental and pride impacts of the festival had greater positive significant effects on the level of satisfaction of local residents compared to image, entertainment and social impacts.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings uphold the utility of Social Exchange Theory in explaining local residents' perceptions of the festival. The results contribute to the existing literature on festivals by affirming the multidimensional nature of their social consequences.Practical implicationsManagerially, the results shed light on possible areas to be improved by festival promoters from both the public and private sectors in enhancing the positive perceptions held by local residents as well as improving festivals in the area or similar context.Originality/valueThe study expands the Triple Bottom Line dimensions of sustainability in the festival context by adding pride, entertainment and image perceived value.