How arts participation has changed since before the pandemic
Recent arts, culture and heritage attendance has risen to 89% among respondents to Audience Agency surveys. Film and museums/heritage are proving especially popular particularly with families, while online arts activities continue to attract a younger and more ethnically diverse audience.
But the latest Cultural Participation Monitor findings also show that people expect to attend arts and culture events less in future than they did before the pandemic. The vast majority of respondents say that they are worried about the effects of the cost-of-living crisis on them.
Ticket sales and income have generally recovered to their pre-pandemic average, but as audiences tighten their belts, they also plan to reduce their general spend in venues' shops and cafés.
However, while financial uncertainty might make people nervous about splashing out on more expensive arts and culture activities, over 40% of people say that pursuing creative hobbies in their own time is a key interest, a trend that skews towards younger participants and has increased through the pandemic.