Audiences increasingly keen to return to arts venues, new data finds

One in four respondents had visited a cultural event in the past fortnight

A new survey of 15,000 Australian arts enthusiasts has indicated a growing intent to return to arts venues, such as theatres and galleries, as soon as it’s possible to do so.

The survey, conducted by Patternmakers in partnership with state government arts bodies, found 28 per cent of respondents are “ready to attend as soon as permitted”, with 68 per cent of respondents comfortable to attend a 100-seat venue. These figures have increased from 22 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, when the same questions were asked during the survey’s first round back in May.

One in four respondents said they had visited a cultural event in the past fortnight.

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Additionally, respondents said they were putting their money where their mouth was, purchasing tickets for events that were taking place relatively soon.

“At this stage, 10 per cent of respondents say they bought a ticket for a live show or performance recently. Most of those buying tickets for future shows and performances are buying tickets in the same month as the event (33 per cent) or a month ahead (23 per cent),” researchers said in an accompanying report.

However, the new data also found an increased number of respondents saying the pandemic has affected their likelihood to return to events in the long term.

“Qualitative data suggests that between May and July 2020, audiences have had more time to process the implications of the pandemic and some are adopting a more conservative stance,” researchers said.

Victorian respondents were also less comfortable with the idea of returning to any cultural facility, compared to the national average. This is unsurprising given the resurgence in active COVID-19 cases over the past month.

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The full report is available here.

While the ongoing pandemic has been the primary cause of the arts sector’s decline, Australian Council chief executive Adrian Colette pointed out in May that the secondary issue was convincing audiences to return to venues once it was safe to do so.

“The longer the social distancing goes, the more critical – and we’ve some examples of it – the cash flow issue is going to become,” he said during a segment of RN Drive.

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