Scottish Government

Chapter 3: Attending Cultural Events

Charts 3.1 to 3.6 illustrate the percentage of respondents who attended each broad category of cultural event, while charts 3.7 to 3.12 demonstrate attendance at specific types of cultural events. Table 3.1 shows which cultural events were asked about and how categories of event were defined.

Table 3.1 Cultural events attended (from questionnaire)

Chart 3.1 shows that 75% of respondents attended some kind of cultural event in the past 12 months. Events relating to visual arts were the most commonly attended, with 62% of respondents attending in the past 12 months. It is observed that females were more likely to attend at least one event than males (77% v 72%).

Looking at categories of events, females were slightly more likely to attend visual arts, other cultural events and dance events. Attending theatrical performances shows a large gender split (females 42% v males 27%). This appears to be the key result behind the difference in attending any cultural event.

Chart 3.1 - Attendance at cultural events in the past 12 months, by gender

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.2 reveals that there is a strong negative relationship between age and attendance at cultural events. It can be seen that 88% of respondents between 16-24 years attended some kind of cultural event in the previous 12 months, as opposed to 65% aged 60-74 years and 49% of those aged over 75 years. This difference is most likely to be primarily attributed to the youngest age group attending visual arts such as cinema, much more than their older counterparts (81% v 29%). Another example of event type being more popular with the youngest age group is the music category, where 53% of those aged 16-24 years attended a music event in the past 12 months, compared to 38% of overall respondents. When looking at other categories of cultural events it is noticeable that the overall trend is not constant throughout, since the age group 35-44 years were the most likely to attend a theatrical performance, a dance event and other cultural events.

Typically for specific events (see chart 3.9), the drop in attendance with increasing age was steeper than seen for attending 'any event'. This suggests that people attend more than one type of event but perhaps do fewer different types as they get older.

Chart 3.2 - Attendance at cultural events in the past 12 months, by age

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.3 reveals that moving from least deprived 20% of areas ( SIMD 5) to most deprived ( SIMD 1) there was a steady drop in the proportion attending cultural events. Those living in areas which were ranked in the least deprived SIMD quintile were significantly more likely to attend a cultural event in the previous 12 months than those from any other area. The converse can also be said about those who reside in areas ranked the most deprived, since those respondents were significantly more likely not to have attended a cultural event in the previous 12 months than those from any other area.

When looking at individual categories of events, different patterns of attendance are evident. While the visual arts category reflects the overall attendance category closely, it is the only category to do so. The theatrical performance and music categories display a noticeable divide between those living in the 40% least deprived areas and those living in the remaining 60%. The dance category and 'other' category both demonstrate only small differences in attendance between those living in the most deprived areas and those in the least deprived areas.

Chart 3.3 - Attendance at cultural events in the past 12 months, by SIMD

Base: All respondents (6,764), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.4 demonstrates large differences in overall attendance between those who reported having a long-term illness or disability (57% attending in the past 12 months) and those who did not (81% attending in the past 12 months). Those who have a long-term illness or disability were significantly less likely to attend every category of event than those who do not have a long-term illness or disability.

Chart 3.4 - Attendance at cultural events in the past 12 months, by long-term illness/disability

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.5 shows that those on higher incomes were more likely to attend cultural events and demonstrates a positive relationship between gross income and attendance, which applies to every category of cultural event. Attendance results for the income group £5,200 to £10,390 were even lower than that suggested by the overall trend; for all categories of event. However, this could be explained by the caveats which apply to the income variable - see explanation under chart.

Chart 3.5 - Attendance at cultural events in the past 12 months, by gross income

Base: All respondents (6,664), adult population 2007/2008 data

When analysing according to income we have used the gross income of the respondent (as opposed to household income). This is not a perfect measure of income or wealth (since the respondent could benefit from other household income) but the choice was made to link the income variable to the person responding to the questions. Reporting against gross household income was the alternative but this would also be imperfect since the impact on the respondent is dependent on the relationship between individuals in the household.

Throughout this report, a broadly positive relationship between gross income and participation and attendance is seen. However, for many activities and events, contrary to intuition, those in the lowest income group are slightly more likely to attend cultural events than those in the group above them. This could be attributable to a number of factors: the respondent is a househusband or housewife, the respondent is retired, the respondent is a student, the respondent has accrued wealth in previous years or the respondent has more free time due to unemployment. This may be more likely to be applicable to those who have good qualifications but are temporarily unemployed, rather than the long-term unemployed.

Chart 3.6 reveals that qualification level is a powerful indicator of cultural attendance. It can be seen that respondents who report that Standard Grades or equivalent were their highest qualification attended cultural events significantly less than those with more advanced qualifications. There is an even greater gap between those who obtained no qualifications at all and those with some qualification. While this pattern is fairly consistent across all categories, it is clear that theatrical performances, and to a lesser extent dance events, are much more commonly attended by those with degrees or professional qualifications.

Chart 3.6 - Attendance at cultural events in the past 12 months, by highest qualification

Base: All respondents (6,617), adult population 2007/2008 data

Attendance at cultural events - More detailed event analysis

Chart 3.7 outlines the attendance at specific cultural events, outlined in Table 3.1, during the past 12 months. It can be seen that the cinema is by far the most commonly attended attraction, with 55% of respondents stating that they had attended in the past 12 months. Between approximately one fifth and a quarter of respondents had attended the following events: a musical or pantomime (25%), a live music event (not including musical genres which are specifically listed) (23%), an exhibition or collection of art, photography or sculpture (23%) and a play or drama (19%). It would appear that the categories used captured all cultural events well since almost no respondents stated that they had attended an event which would be contained in the "other" category.

Chart 3.7 - Attendance at specific cultural events in the past 12 months

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.8 reveals that females were more likely to attend almost all cultural events than males, although most music events are exceptions to this finding along with attendance at video or electronic art events. The main difference in patterns of cultural attendance between the genders is that almost twice the proportion of females went to musicals or pantomimes, compared with males.

Chart 3.8 - Attendance at specific cultural events in the past 12 months, by gender

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.9 highlights different patterns of attendance in each category of events, depending on the age of respondent. It can be seen that attendance at some events, such as cinema, live DJ events and other live music events have a negative correlation with age. However, attendance at other events such as: exhibitions or collections of art, craft exhibitions, street art events and musicals or pantomimes can be better described by a bell curve, with middle age groups more likely to attend than both young and old alike.

Chart 3.9 - Attendance at specific cultural events in the past 12 months, by age

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.10 compares attendance at cultural events by those with long-term illnesses or disability to those with none (presumed in better health). It shows that for those with a long-term illness/disability, watching a film at the cinema was the most common activity, with 33% stating that they had done so, but this was much lower than the figure for those without a long-term illness/disability (62%). The smallest differences between the two groups were seen for attendance at opera, art or sculpture exhibitions and musicals or pantomimes. Those with long-term illnesses or disability show a noticeably lower proportion attending live DJ events and other live music events,

Chart 3.10 - Attendance at specific cultural events in the past 12 months, by long-term illness/disability

Base: All respondents (6,763), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.11 gives attendance at specific events by highest qualification. The percentage of respondents who attended cinema is not much below that for attending any event. As attendance at cinema was similar for the following groups; those with degree, HNC/ HND, and Highers or A level; then this may explain why attendance at any event is greater in these three groups than any other group defined by qualifications. It is clear that respondents with degrees or professional qualifications were significantly more likely to attend 'high brow' events, such as exhibitions or collections of art, play/dramas and classical music. Respondents with HNC or HND's were most likely to have attended a live DJ event in the past 12 months.

Chart 3.11 - Attendance at specific cultural events in the past 12 months, by highest qualification

Base: All respondents (6,617), adult population 2007/2008 data

Frequency of cultural event attendance

Chart 3.12 reveals the frequency with which the most popular cultural events were attended. It is evident that these events were typically attended fairly infrequently. Cinema was the most frequently attended, with 25% of respondents stating that they attended at least once per month. This contrasts with musicals or pantomimes, where the highest number of respondents indicated that they attended only once per year, which could indicate that many people treat these events as one-off events (eg going to see a pantomime at Christmas, and a musical as a 'special' event in the year).

Chart 3.12 - Frequency of attendance at listed events

Respondents who stated that they attended the events listed, adult population 2007/2008 data

Film at a cinema or other venue - Base: (3,373), Art exhibition - Base: (1,524)

Other theatre performance - Base: (1,627), Other live music event - Base: (1,391)

Detailed analysis of "other" music event attendance

Chart 3.13 explores the types of music which were included in the "other live music event" and the "live DJ event", in the section above. It reveals that the vast majority of responses in this category (69%) related to attendance at a rock or pop music concert. This translates into an overall attendance figure of 16%, making it the most attended category of music event (compared to the named music events in chart 3.7). Small percentages stated that they attended Folk or Country and Western music, Dance music and Soul, R&B or Hip-Hop music. The remaining categories had negligible numbers of responses.

Chart 3.13 - Attendance at "other" music events in the past 12 months

Base: Respondents who attended "other live music events" (703), adult population 2008 data

Chart 3.14 shows that rock or pop music was the most popular "other" music event to attend amongst all age groups, but interestingly respondents in the group aged 35-44 years were considerably more likely to attend this type of music than other age groups. It can be seen that those aged 16-34 years were more likely to attend Dance music events than other groups. Interestingly, those aged 16-24 years were also more likely to attend Soul, R&B or Hip-Hop music, but the same could not be said of those aged 25-34 years. Finally, those aged 45-59 years were the most likely to attend Folk or Country and Western music. These responses could also be influenced by which music was popular during eras when respondents in each age group were teenagers.

Chart 3.14 - Attendance at "other" music events in the past 12 months, by age

Base: Respondents who attended "other live music events or live DJ event" (703), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.15 reveals that there is a weak, but negative relationship between those living in a deprived area and attending rock or pop music concerts. Conversely, there appears to be a positive relationship between living in a more deprived area and attending a Dance music event.

Chart 3.15 - Attendance at "other" music events in the past 12 months, by SIMD

Base: Respondents who attended "other live music events or live DJ event" (703), adult population 2007/2008 data

Reasons for attending cultural events

Respondents were asked to select reasons for attending cultural events from a pick list. If more than one was selected they were then asked to give a main reason. If only one reason was given, this has been treated as the main reason.

Chart 3.16 shows the main reasons for attending cultural events given by respondents during 2008. Results have been aggregated over all types of event.

This aggregation reveals that the most common factor for attending a cultural event was that the respondent liked to go that type of event (34%), while seeing a specific performer or event (23%) and spending time with friends/family (16%) were also common reasons for attendance.

Chart 3.16 - Aggregate reason for attending cultural events

Base: Respondents who attended a cultural event (2,822), adult population 2008 data

In 2007 respondents were asked about a randomly selected event type. In 2008 they were asked about each event type they attended. For this reason the results from the two years cannot be combined directly.

Attending more cultural events

Chart 3.17 provides an overview of whether respondents who attended specific events would like to attend those events more frequently, which could perhaps express an indication of whether attendees were satisfied with their experience. It must be recognized that for some types of event eg Mela, the frequency the event is staged is the limiting factor for how often people attend. Charts 3.18 and 3.19 investigates the demographic breakdown relating to this question directed at exhibitions or collections of art, photography or sculptures, which were the most commonly attended cultural events.

The overview shows that "other live music events" stood out as being the type of event that attendees wished to attend more frequently, with 80% of respondents stating this. Plays/dramas, musicals or pantomimes, jazz performances and exhibitions or collections of art, photography or sculptures each had high levels, approximately 70%, of respondents stating that they wished to attend more frequently. Conversely, contemporary dance, carnivals, video or electronic art events, craft exhibitions, street art events and multicultural dance each had approximately 50% of respondents stating that they wished to attend more frequently.

Overall, it is clear that people who already attend cultural events wish to do so more often.

Chart 3.17 - Do attendees wish to participate more?

Base: Respondents who attended a cultural event (range: 73 - 1,570), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.18 looks at those who wished to attend more art exhibitions or collections more frequently by age (excluding the youngest group 16-24 years due to the small number of respondents in this group who answered positively to this question). It shows that those aged between 25 and 59 years were more likely to say that they wished to attend art exhibitions or collections more frequently compared to those aged 60 years and above.

Chart 3.18 - Do attendees at art exhibitions wish to participate more, by age?

Base: Respondents who attended an art exhibition (1,512), adult population (excluding those aged 16 to 24 years) 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.19 shows that those with lower qualifications were less likely to state that they wished to attend art exhibitions or collections more frequently.

More demographic splits can be found in annex B. It is interesting to note that there was no difference between the responses of those who live in the most deprived quintile and those who live in the least deprived quintile, when asked whether they would like to attend more often. Furthermore, males were more likely than females to indicate that they would like to attend more frequently (68% v 65%)

Chart 3.19 - Do attendees at art exhibitions wish to participate more, by highest qualification?

Base: Respondents who attended an art exhibition (1,482), adult population (excluding groups with 'other' or unknown qualifications which had small sample size) 2007/2008 data

Main factors which could increase cultural attendance

Charts 3.20 and 3.21 look at the main factors that could encourage attendees to participate in specific activities more frequently, which highlight the differences and similarities between events. It can be seen that the top factor that would encourage respondents to attend every event more often is having more free time (ranging from 31% to 42%).

Chart 3.20 reveals the main factors that could encourage attendees to attend other live music events more often. As stated, the most common factor would be for the respondent to have more free time (31%). The second most common response was if there were cheaper admission prices (24%). This is an important finding because cheaper admission price is a very uncommon response in every other chapter of this report. A further 15% of respondents stated that they would be encouraged to attend more frequently if there were more performances and events in which they were interested, while 14% stated that they would like there to be more performances and events closer to where they live.

This could perhaps mean that event organisers could improve their programme of events by gauging the popularity of potential events through the utilisation of user surveys.

Chart 3.20 - Main factor which would encourage attendees to attend "other" live music events more often

Base: Respondents who wish to attend "other" live music events more often (1,031)

Adult population 2007/2008 data

A similar pattern broadly remains in chart 3.21, which displays four other commonly attended events. However, cheaper admission prices was not reported to be such an important factor for traditional Scottish music or art exhibitions. This may reflect that entry is often free to these events. Cheaper admission prices was a significant factor for plays/dramas and "other" theatre, which corresponds with events which tend to have a higher entry price.

Chart 3.21 - Main factor which would encourage attendees to attend a selection of cultural events more often

Base: Respondents who wish to attend traditional Scottish music events more often (478)

Base: Respondents who wish to attend plays/dramas more often (834)

Base: Respondents who wish to attend art exhibitions more often (549)

Base: Respondents who wish to attend musicals or pantomimes more often (1,115)

Adult population 2007/2008 data

Charts 3.22 to 3.24 examine in more detail the main factors that would encourage people to attend 'other theatre' (which includes musicals or pantomimes) more frequently, with demographic breakdowns.

Chart 3.22 shows that men and women were just as likely to quote a range of similar factors that would encourage them to attend more frequently. The only slight differences that stand out are that females were more likely to state that having more people to go with and cheaper admission prices would encourage them to go more frequently.

Chart 3.22 - Main factor which would encourage attendees to attend "other" theatre more often, by gender

Base: Respondents who wish to attend musicals or pantomimes more often (1,115) Adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.23 shows that the main factors that influence frequency of attendance vary widely between age groups. Having more free time was the top response for those aged 25-59 years, but it is interesting to note the different top responses for the older age groups. The most common response for those aged 60-74 years was that cheaper admission prices would encourage them to attend more frequently. One fifth of those aged 60-74 years stated that more performances and events about subjects that interest them was the most important factor, which was higher than any other age group. This suggests that perhaps the content of musicals and pantomimes does not appeal to these particular age groups and that cheaper admission prices would therefore not be a motivating factor.

Chart 3.23 - Main factor which would encourage attendees to "other" theatre more often, by age

Base: Respondents who wish to attend musicals or pantomimes more often (1,115)

Adult population (excluding the age groups 16-24 and 75+ because the sample size was small)

2007/2008 data

Chart 3.24 reveals that the number of cars in the household was a strong determinant of which factor was most likely to encourage more frequent attendance. It is clear that those with two or more cars in the household were more time constrained than those with no cars in the household, but that cheaper admission prices was a much more important factor to those with no cars in the household. The number of cars might be a proxy for income in the context of cultural attendance. In chapter 6 (historical sites) it is seen that for sites that are generally distant from population centres, it is the transport component of access to a car that becomes a more important factor.

Chart 3.24 - Main factor which would encourage attendees to attend "other" theatre more often, by number of cars in the household

Base: Respondents who wish to attend musicals or pantomimes more often (1,115)

Adult population 2007/2008 data

Reasons for not attending cultural events

Charts 3.25 to 3.29 explore the reasons why 25% of respondents did not attend any cultural event in the past 12 months.

Chart 3.25 reveals that three main reasons explain the non-attendance of the majority of respondents - that they were not interested (35%), their health was not good enough (18%) or it was difficult to find the time (17%). Although only a small minority of respondents stated that events cost too much (6%) and that they would feel unsafe at the activity/event (3%), these are two issues that could conceivably be addressed by event organisers. Subsidies or price cuts could be targeted at specific groups to encourage them to participate more. Further research would have to be carried out to determine whether respondents' perceptions that events are unsafe are outdated, or if safety issues still persist for some people.

Chart 3.25 - Main reason for not attending cultural events

Base: All respondents (1,762), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.26 indicates that males are more likely than females not to attend cultural events because they are not interested, whereas females are more likely to be prevented from attending due to health concerns or because they do not have enough time.

Chart 3.26 - Main reason for not attending cultural events, by gender

Base: All respondents (1,762), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.27 shows the reasons for non-attendance for those who did not attend cultural events by age (excluding the 16-24 years age group where too few people answered this question). Those aged between 25 and 44 years were more likely to be unable to find the time for culture. This would reflect the ages at which people are busy bringing up children or with their careers. In contrast, those aged 60 years or above were more likely to state that their health was not good enough or that they were not interested.

Because so few respondents aged 16-24 years did not attend any cultural events, the sample size for this age group was not large enough to obtain a robust estimate. This age group's reasons for not attending a cultural event are therefore not included in chart 3.27.

Chart 3.27 - Main reason for not attending cultural events, by age

Base: All respondents (1,762), adult population (excluding those aged 16-24 years) 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.28 reveals that those living in areas which are the least deprived were more likely to state that they found it difficult to find the time to attend cultural events while those living in more deprived areas were more likely to give a diverse range of reasons. However, it should be noted that not being interested is the top response for every SIMD group.

Chart 3.28 - Main reason for not attending cultural events, by SIMD

Base: All respondents (1,762), adult population 2007/2008 data

Chart 3.29 demonstrates that those with degrees or professional qualifications were significantly less likely to state that they were not interested in attending cultural events. This is the only group where being uninterested was not the most common response; instead this group was most likely to report that they did not have enough time.

Chart 3.29 - Main reason for not attending cultural events, by highest qualification

Base: All respondents (1,707), adult population (excluding those with HNC/ HND or unknown qualifications where the sample size was too small) 2007/2008 data

Conclusions

Three quarters of respondents stated that they had attended a cultural event in the previous 12 months. This means that a slightly smaller percentage attended cultural events than participated in cultural activities (75% v 78%). This finding might be attributed to the very high percentage of people who read for pleasure (69%), which is included in the participation category. While cinema also has a high percentage of respondents attending (55%), there are no cultural events which are as widely popular as reading. Attending a cultural event may involve a greater time and money cost. However, it can be observed that there is a wider variety of events which many people attend, compared to participation where most activities were only performed by a relatively small minority of respondents. Theatrical performances and music events are both attended by over a third of respondents, 35% and 38% respectively.

It can be seen that the same percentage of males attended events as participated in them (72%), but that the percentage of females attending events was significantly smaller than the percentage participating in cultural activities (77% v 82%), although it should be noted that both these figures are higher than their male equivalents. Attendance is similar at all categories of activities between genders, except for theatrical performances which are heavily favoured by females (42% v 27%).

The drop with increasing age observed in the proportion of respondents who took part was steeper for cultural attendance than for participation. While 88% of the youngest age group (16-24 years old) attended cultural events, only 83% participated in cultural activities. Conversely, only 49% of the oldest age group (over 75 years old) attended cultural events while 71% participated in cultural activities. These findings can generally be extrapolated to other demographic variables, which reveal that vulnerable groups are more sensitive to attendance at cultural events than to participation in cultural activities. Furthermore, it can be seen attendance at 'high brow' events, such as exhibitions or collections of art, play/dramas and classical music is heavily weighted towards the more privileged groups, such as those with degrees or professional qualifications, those with high incomes and those residing in the least deprived areas.

The main reasons given by respondents for attending cultural events were: because they enjoyed the event (34%), to see a specific performer or event (23%) and to spend time with friends or family (15%).

Almost every type of event had a majority of respondents stating that they wished they could attend more often, with particularly large majorities stating that they would like to attend live music events and the theatre more often. The most commonly quoted barrier to not attending more was that respondents did not have enough free time. Events being closer to home and having more specific performances of interest to them would also encourage respondents to attend more frequently. Lower entry price was also a factor for events which tend to be costly, like live music performances and the theatre.

The most common reason for not attending cultural events is that the respondent was not interested (35%). Combining this with the next top two reasons accounts for the majority of responses: health is not good enough (18%) and it is difficult to find the time (17%). Overall, there are very small differences between demographic groups. The lack of a clearly different pattern of reasons for not attending between different demographic groups may make it difficult to target attendance amongst non-attendees.