Scottish Government

CHAPTER 3 Attending Cultural Events

The survey found that 75% of people had attended or visited at least one cultural event within Scotland in the previous 12 months. The following table groups specific events into types of events attended:

Table 3.1 Attendance at categories of cultural events in the last 12 months

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Note: Respondents may have attended more than one type of event.

See Annex B for mapping of specific cultural events to categories above

Visual arts events (including film) appear to have been the most popular events attended, with 61% of people having attended such an event in the last year; this was followed by music events (37%), theatrical performances (35%), and then 'other type' of cultural event. However, one-quarter (25%) of the population had not attended any cultural event at all in the last year.

Frequency of attendance at cultural events

Respondents who had attended events were asked how often they had been to each type of event they attended.

People who had been to the cinema were most likely to have attended frequently, with nearly a quarter (24%) having done so at least once a month and 47% at least 3-4 times in the last year. The next most frequently attended event (for those who had attended) was a live DJ event, with 20% having attended at least once a month and a further 34% having attended at least 3-4 times in the last year. Frequency of attendance at specific events can be found in Annex B, Table B3.

Differences in attendance

There was no major difference between women's and men's likelihood of attending cultural events, although women were more likely to have gone to any theatrical performance than men (41% v 28% respectively).

There were however, very clear differences in attendance at any cultural event by age, with younger age groups much more likely to have attended a cultural event than those in older age groups, as illustrated by Figure 3.1. Also, the youngest age group of 16-24 years were much more likely to have gone to a music event than older age groups - 51% compared with the average of 37% attendance.

Figure 3.1 Attendance at cultural events in the last 12 months, by age

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Base: All respondents (3,383)

There was no discernible pattern of attendance when examining the urban/rural split, but when area of deprivation was examined there were stark differences, with only 60% of those in the most deprived areas having attended any cultural event in the last 12 months rising steadily to 89% for those living in the least deprived areas.

There were also major differences in attending a cultural event when analysed by disability and number of cars in the household - only 56% of those with a disability or longstanding illness had attended a cultural event in the last year compared with 81% of those without; and 57% of those without access to a car compared with 77% of those with access to one car and 85% of those with access to two or more cars in the household.

Those on a low income were much less likely to have attended a cultural event - for example, only 62% of those with an income of £5,200-£10,399 had been to a cultural event compared with 87% of those with an income of more than £36,400.

Similarly, those with no qualifications were much more likely to say they had never been to a cultural event than those with the highest level of qualifications - 53% and 9% respectively. This is shown below in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2 Non-attendance at cultural events in the last 12 months, by level of qualification of respondent

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Base: All respondents (3,285)

Attending specific events

Respondents were provided with a list of cultural events and asked whether they had attended in the last year. The listed events were as follows in Table 3.2 below

Table 3.2 Attendance at cultural events, in the last 12 months

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Note: Respondents may have attended more than one type of event

In line with prior expectations, the most attended cultural event was film showings (at a cinema or any other film screening venue). Fifty-five percent (55%) of those questioned said that they had seen a film at least once in the last year. Attendance at 'other' theatre performances (musicals or pantomimes) and exhibitions (or collections of art, photography, or sculpture) were next most popular, attracting 24% and 23% of adults respectively. This was followed by attendance at other live music events (22%), plays or dramas (19%), and street arts events (14%).

There were few gender differences in attendance at cultural events with the exception of visiting a craft exhibition (15% of women and 8% of men), play or drama (21% of women and 16% of men), and "other" theatre performances (musicals or pantomimes) (30% of women and 17% of men).

Looking at attendance by age groups, it would appear that the specific event under consideration tends to matter. Younger people were more likely than older people to have visited the cinema in Scotland in the previous 12 months. While 78% of 16-24 year olds attended the cinema, only 33% of 60-74 year olds and 14% of 75+ years did so. Similarly, younger individuals were far more likely to have been to a live DJ event (25% of 16-24 year olds had attended compared with 4% of 45-59 year olds) and also more likely to have attended any other live music event - 36% of 16-24 year olds compared with 10% of 60-74 year olds). Individuals between the ages of 60-74 or 75+ years were more likely to have visited the opera or classical music performances than their younger counterparts.

Similarly, when attendance by urban/rural classification categories is examined, the likelihood of an individual's attendance varied depending on the specific event under consideration. For example, an individual from a large urban settlement (12%) was less likely to have attended a craft exhibition compared to an individual from an accessible rural (17%) or remote rural (19%) area. Likewise traditional Scottish music events were attended more frequently by individuals from remote rural (20%) areas than those within large urban settlements (10%). On the other hand, a play or drama attracted a larger proportion of individuals from large urban settlements (23%) relative to those living in remote rural areas (15%). Other events - such as "other" live music events - show no discernible pattern across urban/rural classification categories.

Figure 3.3 Attending a film at the cinema or other venue in last twelve months, by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ( SIMD) quintiles

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Base: All respondents (3,383)

Analysis of attendance by level of deprivation indicated that in general, those in the most deprived areas were much less likely than those in the least deprived areas to have attended a cultural event in the last year - even for the most popular activity of going to the cinema, only 40% of those living in the most deprived areas had gone to see a film (the average being 55%) compared with 68% of those living in the least deprived areas. The only exceptions to this trend were going to a carnival or going to a live DJ event.

Those who had a disability or longstanding illness were, in general, less likely to have gone to a cultural event in the last 12 months, with the exceptions of attending an opera/operetta, classical music performance, ballet, or a dance event, where attendance rates between those with and without a disability were similar.

For the vast majority of events under consideration, individuals with a higher gross income were more likely to attend. The exceptions to this included attendance at video or electronic art events and live DJ events, where the trend between attendance and income was less discernable. This is most likely due to the higher attendance at these events by younger age groups. Younger age groups will tend to have lower annual incomes than older age groups.

Similarly, those who had no access to a car in the household tended to be less likely to have attended the majority of selected events in the last year, with the exception of a live DJ event and any dance event, where there were no major differences between whether a respondent did or did not have access to a car.

When attendance at specific events was examined on the basis of qualifications held, the general trend was that those with no qualifications were much less likely to have attended any of the specific events than those with the highest qualifications - for example, going to the cinema to see a film was done by 73% of those with the highest qualifications compared with 26% of those with no qualifications, and art, photography or sculpture exhibitions attracted 46% of those with the highest qualifications compared with only 9% of those with no qualifications.

Attendance at different types of music events

If people said that they had attended a live DJ or "other" live music event (other than opera, classical, jazz or traditional Scottish music which were asked individually), they were asked which type of music event they had attended.

Table 3.3 shows attendance at different types of DJ and "other" live music events by all those who had gone to such events (703 people).

Table 3.3 Type of music event attended by those who had attended live DJ or "other" live music events, in the last 12 months

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Note: Respondents may have attended more than one type of event. Does not include opera, classical, jazz or traditional Scottish music, which were asked individually in Table 3.2.

Because of the small sample sizes, it is not possible to analyse attendance at these different types of live music events by variables such as the urban/rural split, disability, income, or qualifications. However, it is possible to comment on gender, age, area lived in and access to cars in the household - there were no discernible differences between men and women in the type of music events they had attended; 16-24 year olds were most likely to have gone to a soul/R&B/hip-hop music and to a dance music event (including house music, trance, techno) and were least likely to have gone to a folk or country and western music event; those living in the least deprived areas were most likely to have gone to a rock/pop music event, and those living in the most deprived areas to a dance music event. Similarly those with no access to a car in the household (possibly young people, and those living in deprived areas) were most likely to go to a dance music event.

Why people go to cultural events

For people who attended one or more of the events listed ( not including attendance at a film event), the module randomly selected one of the events the respondent attended (if they attended more than one) and asked why they had attended.

Table 3.4 shows that of those people who had attended a cultural event in Scotland in the previous 12 months, the most common reason for attending the event (randomly selected from the ones they attended) was because 'they liked going to that type of event,' with 37% of the attending population giving this as a reason. This was followed by 'they wanted to see a specific performer or event' (32%), 'they wanted to spend time with friends or family' (27%), 'they were accompanying children' (13%), and 'for a special occasion or celebration' (11%).

Table 3.4 Reasons for attending cultural events, in the last 12 months

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Note: Respondents who had attended at least one cultural event (excluding cinema). Respondents may have given more than one reason.

There were no notable differences according to gender regarding why people attended cultural events, although men were more likely than women to say that they wanted to see a specific performer or event and that they happened to be passing by, whilst women were more likely to say that they went because they wanted to spend time with friends and family.

There were major differences between age groups in why people had attended a cultural event, with the youngest age group (16-24 year olds) much more likely than other age groups to attend because they wanted to see a specific performer or event or that they wanted to spend time with friends and family. Those over 60 years were much more likely to say that they went because they liked going to that type of event and that they wanted to support their local community. The 35-44 year age group were the most likely to say that they went to accompany children.

People with a disability or longstanding illness were more likely than those without, to have gone because they liked going to that type of event, or because it was a special occasion or celebration.

Those from the most deprived areas were more likely than others to say that they had attended because it was a special occasion or celebration, and that they wanted to spend time with friends or family. People living in remote rural areas were more likely than those in large urban settlements to say they wanted to support their local community (16% v 5% respectively), they wanted to meet people (8% v 4%) and they liked going to that type of event (43% v 35%).

There were no discernable patterns according to car ownership, income or qualifications with the exception of those in the high income groups and with high levels of qualifications being more likely to have attended due to a recommendation from someone.

Do people want to attend cultural events more often?

Everyone who had attended a specific event was asked, for that event, if they would like to go more often. Table 3.5 indicates their responses:

Table 3.5 Desire to go more often to specific types of cultural event

Row percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Note: Respondents may have attended more than one event.

* Data not published due to small sample size

As can be seen from Table 3.5, responses as to whether people would like to go more often to specific cultural events ranged from 35% saying that they would like to go to a carnival more often, to 76% indicating that they would like to attend an 'other live music event' more often. In general, for most of the events, the majority of people (over 50%) wanted to attend more often.

What would encourage people to attend cultural events more often?

The main factor that would encourage people to attend cultural events more often was if they had more free time, which is not something that providers of cultural events can control. However, over a quarter (27%) of people said that they would attend more often if there were more performances and events closer to where they lived; over one-fifth (23%) if there were more about subjects in which they were interested; 17% said they would attend more often if there was better information on what was available; 15% if there were cheaper admission prices, and 9% if there were better public transport links or access to transport.

For factors that would encourage people to attend specific cultural events more often, see Annex B, Tables B7.1 - B7.10 for information.

Reasons why people do not attend cultural events

As stated already, 25% of the population had not attended any cultural event in the last 12 months. The main reasons people gave for not having attended any cultural events were again, individual and personal - the main reasons given were 'no interest' (35%), followed by health reasons (20%), difficult to find the time (16%), it had never occurred to them (9%) and that the events cost too much (8%). The time and health factor cannot be addressed by cultural events organisers, but perhaps more and extensive promotion of the event to reach all social groups could create an interest, and cheaper costs for certain groups might increase attendance.

There were some differences between groups as to the reasons why they did not attend - men were more likely than women to say that they had no interest, whilst women were more likely than men to say they found it difficult to find the time.

There were also differences in specific reasons for not attending for those who were disabled and non-disabled - clearly, health reasons were an issue for those who were disabled or had a longstanding illness compared to others (41% v 4% respectively), and to a lesser extent that the events cost too much (11% v 6% respectively). Those in car-owning households were more likely to say that they were not interested and it was difficult to find the time, whilst those with no cars in the household were more likely to say that the events cost too much or their health was not good enough. Those living in the more deprived areas were, unsurprisingly, more likely to say that the events cost too much than those who lived in less deprived areas

Conclusions

Clearly, a large majority of people (75%) have attended at least one cultural event in the last 12 months. However, as with cultural participation, there are important differences in attendance among groups within society. Older people, individuals living in the most deprived areas, those on low incomes, with a disability or longstanding illness, without access to a car and those without qualifications were much less likely to attend cultural events in general, and some specific cultural events in particular. For example, even in relation to the most popular activity of going to the cinema, which attracts attendance of 55% across the whole population at least once in the year, only 14% of older people, 40% of those from the most deprived areas, 39% of those on a low income, 34% with a disability, 38% without access to a car, and 26% with no qualifications, had attended at all. These groups may need specific targeting to enable them to make full use of the cultural facilities and events available to them.

The data also indicate that, of those who had attended cultural events in the last year, the majority of them would like to attend more often. Although the main factor for encouraging people to attend more was reported as 'having more free time', substantial minorities indicated that they would attend more often if there were more events closer to where they lived, or on specific areas of interest, better information on what was on, cheaper admission prices and better public transport links.

For those who had not attended any cultural event in the last 12 months (a quarter of all respondents), the findings on reasons why they did not attend indicate that again, individual reasons such as having no interest, health reasons, difficult to find the time, and it never having occurred to them, were given. However, almost one in ten (8%) indicated that costs were a factor.

The time and health factors cannot be fully addressed by cultural events organisers, (although there may be scope to schedule activities variously, and provide help to ease access for those with poor health) but, as with promoters of cultural participation, perhaps more and extensive, tailored development and promotion of the event to reach and attract different types of social groups could create an interest, and cheaper costs for certain groups might also increase attendance.