Attendance at cultural events

Attendance at cultural events and visiting places of culture in the last 12 months

Across the years, attendance at any cultural event in Glasgow has decreased from around 80% in 2018 and 2019 to around 70% in 2022 and 2023 after the COVID-19 outbreak. Cinema has consistently remained the highest attended activity, although attendance decreased from 61.4% in 2018 to 53.5% in 2023. Attendance at libraries has declined from 34.4% in 2018 to 22.9% in 2023. Museum attendance has also slightly decreased from 48.8% in 2018 to 41.1% in 2023.

Attendance at cultural events or places by gender

Female attendance levels were generally higher than male attendance levels across both Glasgow and Scotland, with 77.9% of females attending a cultural event compared to 74.5% of men in Scotland in 2023. There were only minor differences in participation rates between the city and national levels, with some categories showing near parity in attendance.

Attendance at cultural events or places by age

People in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups were the most likely to attend cultural events across both Glasgow and Scotland. Attendance at cultural events declined with age in both Glasgow and Scotland.

Attendance at cultural events by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Both nationally and at a Glasgow level, people from the most deprived areas were the least likely to attend cultural performances or to visit cultural places (62.1% for people who live in the 20% most deprived areas compared to 81.5% for people who live in the least 20% deprived areas in Glasgow). Glasgow had slightly lower rates of attendance compared to Scotland within the 20% most- and least-deprived SIMD groups, and a slightly higher rate compared to Scotland for the rest of the population.

Attendance at cultural events or places in the last 12 months by long-standing illness, health problem or disability

Those with a long-term physical or mental health condition were less likely to attend cultural events in both Glasgow and Scotland. In Glasgow, only 48.4% of individuals with a long-term condition attended a cultural event, compared to 80.5% of those without such a condition. Those with a long-term health condition in Glasgow were also less likely to attend cultural events than their counterparts in Scotland overall, where 59.5% of those with a long-term condition participated.

Notes

The categories ‘Classical music performance or opera’ and ‘Classical music performance’ have been merged into one group ‘Classical music performance’.

This page wast last updated in March 2025.