The Department of the Premier and Cabinet has announced that the latest Audience Outlook Monitor survey shows confidence to be high among the State’s arts and cultural event audiences, despite the COVID -19 pandemic.
The Department said the Audience Outlook Monitor Australia Snapshot Report (July 2021) tracked the behaviours and sentiments of arts audiences over the course of the pandemic.
The survey found that audience responses and behaviour results between 2020 and 2021 helped to inform planning and decision-making about event reopening and programming.
The Department said the latest survey included more than 8,700 respondents across Australia, spanned a diverse range of event types and encompassed people who attended all types of events.
It said the majority of audiences nationally (74%) continued to make plans to attend future events, with South Australian audiences the most likely to make firm plans (86%), followed by those in Queensland (78%) and Victoria (78%).
The Department said the Report showed that nationally, comfort levels with attendance at public activities had dropped amid recent outbreaks in various states, however, audiences in South Australia along with Tasmania and Western Australia had the most comfortable and most types of public activities.
It said that in South Australia where virus cases had been very low and the July lockdown had not occurred at the time of data collection, audience comfort remained largely consistent with March 2021 levels — even increasing slightly in the case of attending interactive exhibits, which was 66%, up from 63% in March 2021.
The Department said positive audience sentiment was evident during Illuminate Adelaide (16 July-1 August), with the festival planned and designed around audience comfort during the pandemic.
It said the event had strong attendance over the opening weekend before the July seven-day lockdown, with audiences returning after the lockdown lifted.
The 20-page Report can be downloaded online at this PS News link.
