Nearly half (43%) of Canadian culture seekers believe that attending an indoor arts or cultural event is as safe as going to a restaurant. And 47% also believe it is safer to attend an indoor arts or cultural event than to participate in a sporting event in person. This is what emerges from the most recent part of the national survey on arts attendance conducted by the Arts-Affaires group in collaboration with the National Arts Centre, based on data collected in December 2021.
Additionally, “about a quarter of culture seekers say going to an indoor arts or cultural event is safer than a sit-down restaurant, which is slightly higher than the previous November 2021 wave,” the authors write. of the study, carried out by the firm Nanos.
These data are based on a survey of approximately one thousand Canadian culture lovers on December 22 and 23, when the Omicron wave had already begun to sweep across the country. Among the amateurs who plan to go and see cultural performances immediately after the reopening of shops and performance halls, the vaccination of the greatest number and the vaccination passport are among the reassuring measures for 51.5% of respondents. This is followed by wearing a mask for 48.4% of respondents, and social distancing for 24.4% of them. Just over 10% (10.8%) of respondents said they would prefer fewer COVID cases in the population. Only 9.1% said rooms operating at low capacity made them feel more comfortable with COVID-19.
Among culture vultures who planned to wait six months after theaters opened to return to see shows, 15.6% said they wanted COVID to be eradicated and there to be no more cases.
“When it comes to barriers to attending an in-person arts or culture event, culture vultures cite safety or exposure to the virus more frequently than about a month ago, in November 2021. Among others main mentions are crowds or other people not respecting sanitary measures, ”continue the authors of the study.
Across Canada, Quebecers have been the most numerous (31.9%) to have attended an indoor cultural show since the start of the pandemic. Conversely, Quebecers were also the least likely (27.7%) to attend outdoor shows. They come far behind culture lovers from British Columbia, who are 40.1% to have done so, those from the Prairies (37.8%) and Ontario (37.3%).
Among Canadian culture-goers who have attended outdoor performances since the start of the pandemic, 46.1% were between the ages of 18 and 34.
Quebecers say they are less worried (5.5 on a scale of 10) than residents of the Atlantic provinces and Ontarians of contracting COVID or a member of their family contracting it. Across Canada, women expressed more concern (6 out of a scale of 10) than men (5.4 out of 10) about this.
Security concepts
Following the publication of these data, the Arts-Affaires group organized a webinar on Wednesday bringing together various actors from the Canadian cultural community outside Quebec. On this occasion, Alex Sarian, who took the lead of the Arts Commons group in Calgary, in the midst of the COVID epidemic, mentioned that arts organizations should now offer “artistic experiences” that include notions of security, rather just simple shows. He also said he saw the pandemic as an opportunity to focus on the repertoire of local artists, as well as on the networking of community resources, particularly in terms of advertising.