| Summary: | Festival tourism has shown growth over the years, especially in the context of developing countries such as South Africa. Destinations around the world are utilising festivals as a draw card to boost local economies. The current paper aimed to investigate economic impacts of Buyel’Ekhaya Pan-African Cultural Music Festival (BPACMF) on East London residents in the province of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Despite the fact that East London city has successfully hosted this festival over the past nine years, its economic level of contribution on local residents is dubious. Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used to assess the economic impacts of BPACMF on residents of East
London city. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 200 residents living around the area where the event takes place. Purposive and stratified sampling methods were applicable to identify the selected areas. Random sampling was applied to choose respondents. The data was captured and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22. The results revealed that BPACMF contributes to East London city’s economy, through short term job creation. However, residents feel that local businesses are the main beneficiaries rather than ordinary citizens. A low level of residents’ involvement in the decision-making and as part of the organising team were
notable. The researchers recommend that the event organisers should create a balance to ensure even distribution of BPACMF economic benefits to all stakeholders, especially residents. Government needs to create an awareness and educate residents to capitalise on festivals for economic gains in the communities in which they reside.
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