A lot of study and research has been conducted on current audiences and pricing of arts and cultural events, but a recent report into the reasons people DON’T attend these events opens up a new perspective.
As part of its continuing focus on arts development in Western Sydney Art NSW has commissioned research into audiences. In May 2009 Multicultural Marketing and Management surveyed Western Sydney residents who had not visited a cultural venue or event in Western Sydney in the past 12 months. 665 face-to-face street interviews were conducted in 4 languages across the 14 LGAs of Western Sydney.
The resultant report Who Doesn’t Attend and Why? demonstrates that respondents were generally positive about increased involvement in the arts and identifies barriers to attendance.
The great majority of participants speak English at home, and more than one in ten also speak Arabic at home. Vietnamese, Mandarin and Cantonese were also well represented, as were small samples of other languages.
The top four reasons given for non-attendance of arts and cultural events were cost, work, family and program.
You may read the full report here.