Frequent engagement with the arts decreasing

The percentage of people physically attending arts or cultural events at least once a week fell to 59% during the final three months of 2023, according to statistics published by DCMS.

The figure comes from the government’s most recently published Participation Survey covering October to December 2023 – the third quarter of 2023/24. The 59% is a drop of one percentage point on the figure recorded for the three months prior and 10 percentage points lower than the final three months of 2022.

Over the last two years, the proportion of people engaging with the arts physically on a weekly basis has fallen by 14 percentage points.

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But despite the fall in regular engagement, the proportion of people engaging with the arts at least once over a 12 month period has remained consistent, increasing by four percentage points over the last two years.

The decline in regular arts engagement comes as the sector continues to deal with the rising cost-of-living, while overall visitor numbers to many organisations remaining down on pre-pandemic figures.

Arts attendance

Participation figures for October to December 2023 show the proportion of people who have attended an arts event in the last 12 months increased.

In the last three months of 2023, 77% of respondents said they had attended an arts event in the last year, compared with 74% during the last three months of 2022. The figure has increased from 57% in the final three months of 2021, at which point the sector was still following several Covid-enforced restrictions and protocols.

The most commonly attended arts event was a cinema screening of a film or movie, with 55% of respondents saying they had attended in the past 12 months. This was followed by attending a live music event, attending a theatre play, drama, musical, pantomime, ballet or opera and attending an art, photography or sculpture exhibition.

Museum and heritage visits

The proportion of people visiting museums or galleries at least once a year has increased by more than 20 percentage points in the last two years.

Those saying they has attended a museum in the past year reached 44% in the final three months of last year, compared with 34% in the final three months of 2022 and 23% in the final three months of 2021.

In the most recent data set, almost two thirds (64%) of respondents visiting museums and galleries said they did so between two and four times a year. The most common reasons respondents gave for not visiting is a lack of time (30%) or interest (24%).

There has been less change in the number of people visiting heritage sites over the last two years, with all results within seven percentage points of each other. This is likely down to the majority of heritage sites being outdoors and therefore less impacted by the later stages of the sector's post-pandemic recovery.

In the final three months of last year, two thirds of respondents said they had visited a heritage site, slightly below the 69% in the final three months of 2022, but ahead of the 64% in the final three months of 2021.