Cultural Participation
Explore the latest figures about in-person, online and participatory engagement to find out who is engaging and how it's changed in reponse to recent crises.
We look at who engaged in culture in a variety of methods (e.g. population surveys, analysis of ticket-buying) and in relation to a variety of types of engagement (e.g. in person, online and participatory engagement). Different types of people do different things; they also do them in different ways and different amounts. We track those levels of engagement and how they are changing (e.g. which groups’ engagement is up or down post-pandemic), through our own research, others’ research and in academic partnerships. But we also look at what is driving those levels and what that might mean for cultural organisations.
From The Audience Agency
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Sales changes: the biggest movers
August 2024
Despite an overall decline in ticket sales, segments like Frontline Families and Trips & Treats have surged, while Home & Heritage and Commuterland Culturebuffs have seen significant drops, underscoring the importance of understanding audience subsegments to navigate these shifts effectively.
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Sales changes: an overview
August 2024
It’s been a changeable few years for ticket sales in the cultural sector. What we’d initially hoped would only be a sharp ‘V’ shape in ticket sales, with a quick rebound after a one-off bad year due to the pandemic, has turned into something more complex…
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The election through Audience Spectrum
July 2024
Now that the election’s over, the ballot boxes stowed away again in the basements of town halls across the country, and hundreds of new MPs have taken the train to Westminster to be sworn in, we thought it would be a bit of fun to look at the election results using Audience Spectrum.
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Comparing over-represented Audience Spectrum Segments in seats won in the 2024 General Election
July 2024
Gain a deeper understanding of the 2024 election with our Audience Spectrum Analysis, where we break down the profile of each party's seats compared to the national average, revealing key trends and the demographics each party represents.
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Interest in history and heritage
June 2024
Heritage is broadly popular with the general population, with high proportions saying that it’s an interest of theirs.
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Report | Let's Create: Opera and Music Theatre Analysis
March 2024
Arts Council England have published a report into the opera and music theatre sector.
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What’s happening with Panto and Christmas show audiences post-pandemic?
January 2024
Arts and cultural events continue to increase booker numbers post pandemic, but the cost-of-living crisis that followed is affecting some artforms more than others. Panto and Christmas shows are among those that are particularly affected.
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Audiences prefer live events to digital
January 2024
This report uses data from wave 9 of the Cultural Participation Monitor (CPM) to understand the extent audiences engage with live versus digital events, finding that:
- All audiences prefer live events, followed by at home viewing and then watching at a cinema screening.
- Lower engaged segments are more open to viewing at home and at the cinema compared to higher engaged segments.
- Younger people are more open to all viewing platforms and artforms compared to audiences aged 45 and over
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Audience preferences on venues' values
November 2023
Social and environmental issues are at the forefront of much news about the cultural sector recently: cancellation of fossil fuel sponsorships; repatriation of museum artefacts and decolonialisation of collections and displays; demonstrations of support for Black Lives Matter; the emphasis on environmental action in Let’s Create and National Portfolio funding, to name but a few topics. But where is the voice of the audience in these discussions?
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Nothing beats the live experience
July 2023
While attending 'live' cultural events in person is everyone's strong preference, when it comes to alternative modes of engagement, watching from home, either streaming online or on TV, appeals more to all groups than doing so at the cinema, though both options are more popular among younger audiences.
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Engagement trends
March 2023
1/3 still report attending arts and culture less than pre-pandemic, though under 35-year-olds are returning more than others, and are more likely to identify as the 'initiators' of social cultural activity with friends and family.
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Support for organisations
March 2023
Half of those who previously did so intend to donate less over the next couple of years, but most who have cancelled memberships do intend to restart them, and c.80% of lapsed volunteers expect to return to their activities.
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Ongoing Attitudes to Covid
September 2022
Fears surrounding Covid-19 are softening, with half feeling 'back to normal' and fewer than 1 in 10 people expressing strong concern about catching the virus themselves, although over half still worry about vulnerable friends and family, while support for certain safety precautions remains high.
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Plans for future attendance
September 2022
While willingness to attend continues to trend upwards however, people do anticipate that their future in-person participation will be less frequent than pre-pandemic, though outdoor events are an exception, and they also intend to engage with cultural activities more locally (and inexpensively) than before.
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Recent Engagement Trends
September 2022
Recent arts, culture and heritage attendance has risen to an impressive 90% among respondents, with film and museums/heritage proving especially popular, particularly with families, while online arts activities continue to attract a younger and more ethnically diverse audience.
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Willingness to attend events, especially outdoors, is rising
April 2022
Overall there is much increased willingness to attend events and optimism about future attendance, though some groups continue to be especially concerned, with disabled people less likely to be willing or able to attend.
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Support for Covid-19 safety measures is starting to ebb
April 2022
Safety measures are rated as less important than they have been previously, but desire for them continues, with half of audiences still saying that they would not attend if precautions were removed all together.
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Attendance rose significantly in 2021, even though it hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels yet
November 2021
In-person engagement doubled in 2021 compared to 2020, especially for film, heritage sites, and museums, while online engagement is starting to trend down.
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Willingness to attend cultural events in person may be on the rise
November 2021
Willingness to attend might be going up slightly, but still a third are not comfortable returning in-person (even before Omicron).
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Audiences still care about Covid safety measures
September 2021
Attenders still feel strongly about Covid safety measures in place at cultural venues, and they would like to see them continue. Ventilation and crowd management are the safety measures rated most important.
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A lot of people still don't feel safe to attend
September 2021
Willingness to attend has not increased since June and people remain worried about others' behaviour, though they don't appear to think there is much more organisations themselves should be doing to make them feel safe.
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Audiences are Proving Slow to Return
July 2021
Audiences are proving slow to want to return, with a continuing sense of risk to health and only slow rises in engagement.
Cultural participation takes in a range of different activities and ways of engaging: things people do creatively themselves and others where people go and experience others' creative efforts. (Of course, watching and listening and reflecting can also be creative acts). We take a broad view on what is included within creative and cultural activity, recognising that most people take part in cultural activity of one sort or another.
Related videos
Cultural Participation Monitor | Latest Findings on Audience Attitude and Behaviours
Watch nowTEA Break: Bad behaviour? - What types of behaviour people prefer when attending culture
Watch nowTEA Break | From Interest into Action
Watch nowTEA Break | More Insights on Changing Audiences
Watch nowTEA Break | Key Changing Audiences for Art Forms
Watch nowSources from elsewhere
DCMS Participation Survey
gov.uk
This page introduces the Participation Survey and links to all relevant documents.
Taking Part Survey
Tableau Public
DCMS has published a set of online data analysis tools designed to make data from the Taking Part survey more accessible.
CASE analysis of the drivers on engagement
AMAculturehive
Report which explores new methods for determining the value of engagement in culture and sport, provides evidence on what works and develops a theory and working model of engagement to inform policy decisions. (From 2010)
