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Global ticketing and events marketplace Eventbrite has released new research that examines how millennials define, discover, spend on and engage with performing and visual arts events.

Eventbrite, which experienced a 54% year-over-year increase in performing and visual arts events, surveyed more than a thousand Americans who attended an event in this category in the past 12 months. The study, The Art of Attraction: How to Grow Your Millennial Arts Audience, uncovers key insights including:

Millennials are social creatures looking to mingle
Millennials are a social bunch. 64% attend arts events with friends, with unmarried millennials even more likely to go with a peer group (74%). And they want to mingle. 42% of this generation said they’d prefer going to events where they get to meet new people, and 32% would go to more events if there were people their age or friends in attendance. Adding a social component, like a happy hour or reception, would inspire 23% of millennials to frequent more arts events. In 2014 alone, Eventbrite saw performing and visual arts events with happy or cocktail hours grow by over 80%.

Dress code is a form of self-expression for millennials
Millennials embrace the tradition and formality around arts events and appreciate the opportunity to dress to impress at fancier gatherings - 35% of millennials would rather attend an arts event that’s formal instead of casual. Nearly half of millennials (49%) even said they think performing and visual arts events are not dressy enough. While formality can be a draw for some millennials, they don’t want to be forced into formal dress. 63% of millennials would prefer events without the rules of a dress code, proving a little creative freedom can go a long way.

The way to millennials’ hearts is through their mouths
Two in three (66%) millennials prefer arts events that have food, and over half (58%) prefer events that serve alcohol. 31% of millennials would attend more arts events if they could nosh and sip on something during the show. And the arts community is more than willing to quench this thirst. In 2014, Eventbrite saw over 60% growth of performing and visual arts events that were alcohol-friendly.

Millennials love experiences with a twist
Millennials are looking for new, unique experiences, and specifically seek this in performing and visual arts events. 63% of millennials prefer events that are different from other events they’ve attended, and 29% would go to more events if they were held in a unique or unexpected venue. Some millennials are even craving a closer, more interactive look at the performing and visual arts world. 43% would prefer to attend events that incorporate audience participation.

For millennials, offline = out of touch
For many millennials, an online presence adds legitimacy to performing and visual arts events. Many members of this generation actually would steer clear of events that don’t have a website (30%), Facebook or Twitter page (20%), or a YouTube page (19%). If events aren’t online, how are social-happy millennials supposed to do their research and spread the word to friends?

Not only is a digital presence important to millennials, digital tickets are critical too. 39% would be less likely to attend an arts event if it didn’t provide the ability to buy tickets online.

Millennials are selective about their seats
Who doesn’t love a good seat? One in five (20%) millennials would not attend a performing or visual arts event if they couldn’t get a good seat. Many millennials are also looking to choose where they sit in advance. By having the ability to pick their seat in advance, 30% of millennials would attend more arts events.
The millennial arts audience is a new generation with unique needs and behaviours, and they’re eager to attend more events! The survey found that 70% of millennials who recently attended a performing or visual arts event expressed they’d like to do so more often. 

Millennials Attend and Spend
The millennial generation currently commands an estimated $1.3 trillion in direct annual spending and they are allocating a healthy amount of their disposable income to performing and visual arts events; one in five millennials spend $500 or more in the past year on or at performing arts or visual arts events. They also splurge on souvenirs at these events; one in three millennials said they were likely to buy merchandise, such as posters or apparel, while attending an arts event.

Numerous millennials are apt to prioritize spending on arts events over other discretionary spending. When presented with the question, if you won $1,000 and had to spend it all in the next 12 months, more millennials said they would allocate the money to arts events (50%) than coffee (35%) or alcohol (29%).

Defining and Fueling a New Performing and Visual Arts Experience
Millennials are expanding the definition of 'arts' and 'arts' events: nearly one in three (31%) feel that iPhone photography is considered a visual art, more than half (54%) consider graffiti or street art a visual art, and 43% consider comic books or graphic novels a visual art. While some speculate that millennials are less engaged with the arts, Eventbrite's survey found millennials are often more engaged than boomers and crave a closer, more interactive look at the performing and visual arts world. 43% of millennials said they would prefer to attend events that incorporate audience participation, while only 29% of boomers feel the same way.

Some millennials take this engagement even further and set out to acquire new skills following arts events. Millennials are more than five times as likely as their boomer counterparts (21% vs. 4%) to take a class related to the arts after attending an event, such as enrolling in dance lessons after visiting the ballet.

Eventbrite is a global marketplace for live experiences that allows people to find and create events. Since 2006, the self-service platform has helped event organisers of all kinds to sell more tickets through robust technology and promotional tools, totalling $3.5 billion in gross ticket sales. In addition to providing technology for organisers, Eventbrite has become the destination for consumers looking to discover a variety of live experiences from small photography and yoga classes to large concerts and festivals with tens of thousands of attendees. More than 200 million tickets have been processed on the platform, and in 2014 alone, Eventbrite processed $1.5 billion in gross ticket sales for attendees in more than 180 countries.

For more information go to www.eventbrite.com.

Click here to view The Art of Attraction: How to Grow Your Millennial Arts Audience.

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We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

The news we publish at www.ausleisure.com.au is independent, credible (we hope) and free for you to access, with no pay walls and no annoying pop-up ads.

However, as an independent publisher, can we ask for you to support us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine - if you don't already do so.

Published bi-monthly since 1997, the printed Australasian Leisure Management differs from this website in that it publishes longer, in-depth and analytical features covering aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues management.

Subscriptions cost just $90 a year.

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