Knowing Your Audience

When you picture your event who do you see in attendance? Is your objective to make the arts more accessible and affordable? Is your objective to attract people to an arts event who don’t usually attend the arts? How will you better understand their reasons for attending? Arts in the Parks has put together a comprehensive evaluation plan to help us understand who is attending, and this helps us adjust our planning.

We promote Arts in the Parks as a family-friendly event. Our surveying tells us important information about our attendees. People of all ages attend though they are most commonly between the ages of 35-54 (36%). Many of them attend with family and friends. Most attendees come as a result of making a specific plan, but others are “just passing by” and decide to check out what’s happening. The sight of stilt walkers and the sounds of drumming combined with a parade of people in bright costumes are enough to lure bicyclists, dog walkers and those out for a stroll over to the performance.

The majority of attendees live in or near the neighbourhood where the activity is taking place, which is meeting the AITP objective of making the arts accessible at a local level. Other attendees come from across the city, some from cities close to Toronto, and a few are tourists from across Canada plus a handful of international guests.

Our surveys also tell us what our audiences value and care about.