Theaters and concerts attracted 14 million fewer visitors last year

Professional venues, such as theaters and concert halls, attracted almost three quarters fewer visitors in the corona year 2020 than the year before. This is evident from figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Last year 5.3 million people attended a performance, more than 14 million less than the year before. The number of performances offered fell by half during that period.

The cultural and event sectors have been hit hard by the corona crisis. Stages were closed for large parts of the year and when they were allowed to open, strict rules often applied to the maximum capacity – according to many institutions, organizing performances in this way was unfeasible. In order to prevent loss of income, venues received a total of around 120 million euros in corona support in 2020. About half of this came from the central government, in the form of, for example, wage cost support and the allowance for fixed costs.

According to CBS, this financial aid, together with the elimination of costs for organizing performances, has ensured that most theaters and concert halls “were able to close their balance sheet on a positive note.” Nevertheless, the turnover of professional venues fell last year: the total revenue of these institutions decreased by about 27 percent. Income from entertaining audiences fell the most, by nearly 70 percent.