Attendance
Source of awareness
71% of visitors surveyed had seen or heard about Encounter Festival prior to their visit.
Facebook is significantly the main source, with just over one third of visitors (34%) stating they had seen or heard about Encounter Festival on Facebook prior to their visit. Word of mouth (22%) is the second main source of awareness prior to the event.
All other pre-coded individual sources were identified by 1% or 2% of visitors.
Chart 15: Where visitor had seen or heard about the event prior to their visit
Sample base = multiple response, all visitors who provided a response, 2024 = 170 visitors
Profile of visitor group
71% of visitors in 2024 attended Encounter Festival with someone else, with 29% attending on their own.
Visitors in 2023 (83%) are more likely to have visited with someone else than visitors this year in 2024 (71%) and visitors in both 2022 (70%) and 2021 (68%).
Chart 16: Profile of visitor group
Sample bases = single response for each year, all visitors who provided a response; 2015 = 123 visitors, 2016 = 359 visitors, 2018 = 340 visitors, 2021 = 148 visitors, 2022 = 180 visitors, 2023 = 201 visitors, 2024 = 173 visitors; 2021, 2022, 2023 Analysis: Arts Council England
Of the 172 visitors who provided further details of their visitor groups, 121 visitors attended with someone else and 51 visitors attended on their own.
A total of 306 visitors attended with respondents.
Including the respondent, the groups of the visitors surveyed totalled 478 people, an average of 2.8 people per visitor group. Regarding the average number of visitors per age range for each visitor group:
- 0.2 visitors aged 0-4 years per visitor group
- 0.6 visitors aged 5-11 years per visitor group
- 0.1 visitor aged 12-15 years per visitor group
- 1.9 visitors aged 16+ per visitor group.
| Number of accompanying visitors within profiles / respondents | Yes - accompany respondent | No - not accompany respondent | Total no. accompany respondent | Respondent no. | Total visitor numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No one | 51 | 121 | 0 | 51 | 51 |
| Aged 0 - 4 years | 25 | 147 | 38 | 0 | 38 |
| Aged 5 - 11 years | 40 | 132 | 98 | 0 | 98 |
| Aged 12 - 15 years | 13 | 159 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Aged 16+ years | 95 | 77 | 157 | 172 | 329 |
| Total | 121 | 51 | 306 | 172 | 478 |
Sample base = single response, all visitors who provided a response, 2024 = 172 visitors who provided visitor group details
Frequency of participation in arts and culture experiences
Chart 17: Frequency of participation in arts and culture experiences
Sample base = single response, all visitors who provided a response; 2023 = 197 visitors, 2024 = 173 visitors; 2023 Analysis: Arts Council England
Visitors in 2023 and 2024 were asked how often they attend or participate in arts and culture experiences. By this, it was explained, are online or in-person activities produced by arts organisations, museums and/or libraries, such as exhibitions, performances, literature events, gigs, festivals, creative participation, etc.
82% of visitors have participated in previous arts and culture experiences in 2024, and for 18% of visitors surveyed in 2024, Encounter Festival was their first experience.
62% of visitors in 2024 attend or participate in at least two arts and cultures experiences a year, with 23% participating 2-3 times a year, 13% attending or participating 4-5 times a year and 27% of visitors participating 6 or more times per year.
Chart 18: Time since visitor last attended this/an NTO event
Sample base = single response, all visitors who provided a response; 2023 = 76 visitors, 2024 = 169 visitors; 2023 Analysis: Arts Council England; NB: 2023 category = Last 2-3 years; 2024 category = Last 2 years or longer
In 2024, 57% of visitors surveyed had never attended this/an NTO event previously. This compares to 47% of visitors surveyed in 2023.
43% of visitors surveyed in 2024 had visited this/an NTO previously. 17% of visitors have attended in the last 12 months, 15% within the past 1-2 years and 11% have attended 2 years or longer ago.