Denmark’s festival scene is now bigger than pre-Covid levels according to a new report.
Figures from governmental organisation Statistics Denmark show that live music events attracted 7.4 million attendees in 2022, which was three times the totals from both 2020 and 2021. The number is still 10% down on 2019, which was the final year before pandemic restrictions were imposed. The live music statistics include concert events where the artists are remunerated for their performance. All concerts with public access are covered, from pop music to orchestras, stadiums to churches.
Music festivals attracted 1.3 million visitors, which was up slightly on 2019. Statistics Denmark said some of this increase is due to a more precise registration of organiser types in the database, including small music festivals.
Regional orchestras consisting of the Odense, Sønderjylland, Aalborg and Aarhus Symphony Orchestras and the Copenhagen Phil had a total of 165,000 guests at 300 concerts in 2022, which was somewhat lower than in 2019, when the regional orchestras held 400 concerts with 244,000 guests.
Although there was overall progress in 2022 compared to the previous two years, not everyone has the same number of concert guests as before corona.
Esben Marcher, director of Dansk Live, said: “It is very good news that the figures for 2022 are so positive. It bodes very well for the future in the live sector and shows that we have come back well after a few years which hit the organisers hard.
“However, we must not forget that there are still venues that experienced challenges in ticket sales as recently as spring 2023. We hope that the concertgoers really return to the places that have experienced the number of visitors as sluggish, and that they too can again reach the same level as before corona. In any case, we will follow developments closely.”
Statistics Denmark’s separate Cultural Habits survey shows that the proportion of people who went to live music concerts in 2022 was at the same level as in 2019. The comparison of the two statistics shows that the proportion of the population who went to concerts is unchanged, but that the individual concert guest went to fewer concerts in 2022 compared to 2019.
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