Participant well-being and local festivals: the case of the Miri country music festival, Malaysia Kim-Lim Tan University of Newcastle, Singapore, Singapore Adriel K.S. Sim and Delon Chai Curtin University Malaysia, Miri, Malaysia, and Louise Beck Birkbeck University of London, London, UK Abstract Purpose – Festivals are becoming a growing commodity for countries keen to increase their portfolio of tourist attractions. The benefits experienced by the local community and the visitors at festivals are multi-faceted. However, existing tourism research has primarily focussed on the value of the event in terms of customer satisfaction. It has yet to explicitly identify the affect music festivals have on individuals’ well-being. This study aims to investigate the effect of music festival unique attributes on visitors’ satisfaction levels and how it influences individuals’ well-being. Design/methodology/approach – A paper-based questionnaire was distributed to participants visiting the Miri Country Music Festival (MCMF) in Malaysia, and partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis. Findings – The results from 288 respondents revealed that the festival programme was the main attribute in influencing one’s satisfaction to a festival, which in turn improved one’s subjective well-being. The other attributes that influence an individual’s satisfaction in a music festival include food, information services and festival value. Originality/value – This study advances the body of knowledge by integrating the self-determination theory and the environmental psychology theory as the bases that a music festival potentially provides an engaging environment that is conducive for positive well-being among the participants. This is the first study that confirms the influence of the different predictors on the perceived value of MCMF, proposing a model in developing a better understanding of the participants’ well-being. Keywords Festival experience, Miri Country Music Festival, Festival value, Subjective well-being, PLS–SEM, Environmental psychology theory, Self-determination theory Paper type Research paper Introduction Festivals are increasingly becoming an essential part of a destination’s portfolio of attractions. As one of the fastest-growing destination products, festivals provide opportunities for visitors to participate in a collection of unique experiences ranging from food, culture, art, beverage and music (Tanford and Jung, 2017). In addition to this, festivals provide the host countries with social, economic and cultural benefits. These benefits include the enhancement and preservation of culture, the renewing of a locality, economic development, stimulation of tourists’ demand, the enhancement of social cohesion and the improvement of pride in local communities (Duarte et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2017; Tanford and Jung, 2017; Yolal et al., 2016). Music festivals have the added dimension of culture communion where groups of people come together, as they share a similar passion for the same genre of music. Such driving forces have seen music festivals evolve from small-scale events to mainstream businesses that reap profits and attract corporate sponsorship. It was reported by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the music festival industry is estimated to be worth US$3bn globally (BBC, 2018). Therefore, it is unsurprising that music Participant well-being and local festivals 433 The authors acknowledge the funding from Place Borneo Sdn. Bhd. for the conduct of this study. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1758-2954.htm Received 6 February 2020 Revised 5 July 2020 28 July 2020 29 July 2020 Accepted 29 July 2020 International Journal of Event and Festival Management Vol. 11 No. 4, 2020 pp. 433-451 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1758-2954 DOI 10.1108/IJEFM-02-2020-0007