The cultural sector is recovering at a good pace from the corona era, when only limited events could be organized. The year 2022 has been even record good for many.
Last spring, the cultural sector finally got rid of the corona restrictions and began to return to normality.
Yle sent a survey to the biggest cultural institutions about how the year has gone and how they have recovered from the corona crisis.
Based on the answers, efforts have been made to return to the surface from the pit. However, it has required stretching, saving and reorganizing what is done.
Now you can already see the light beam.
The positive aftereffects of the pandemic have been the hunger for culture and the need for experiences.
A record year with the museum card
The museum card has been a success. From the beginning of the year to November, there were a record 1.6 million museum card visits, which is more than ever before.
Before the corona in 2019, there were about 200,000 fewer visits.
This year’s favorite destinations were Amos Rex and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki and the Exhibition Center WeeGee in Espoo.
The Sinebrychoff Art Museum set an all-time visitor record this year. In December, the limit of more than 90,000 museum visitors was exceeded.
One of the favorite exhibitions has been *Under the cherry tree – Japanese woodcuts*.
The number of visitors to the sites of the National Museum of Finland has risen to the pre-corona level.
This year there have been more than 180,000 visitors. That is more than 60 percent more than last year, when the entire museum building was closed for four months due to corona restrictions.
At gigs, the atmosphere is on the roof
The music industry also got out of the corona hole.
In the summer, after a long time, we got to go to the festival and use the concert tickets we bought a long time ago. Last summer became the festival summer of all time due to its abundant offerings.
More concerts were organized in autumn than ever before.
Several of the club and arena gigs organized by the event industry company Live Nation during the summer and autumn have been sold out.
The various organizers say that the hunger for experiences has been felt in the audience: the performers have been encouraged and the atmosphere at the gigs has been exceptionally high.
Familiar and safe sell in the theater
Ticket sales at the Turku City Theater have gone even better this fall than in the years before the pandemic.
Also at the Tampere Theater, \”ticket sales have gone very well\”.
The public now wants to relax with comedies and musicals. The Tampere theater says that customers want to make sure that they can have a good time, and they don’t want to make risky choices.
– If customers are short on money, life is restless and the world oppresses, a familiar and guaranteed experience brings posture and rhythm to life, he continues.
The autumn performance season at the Helsinki City Theater has been organized for a long time without the restrictions caused by the corona virus. The occupancy rate has been good and group and company sales have almost returned to their former levels.
The joy of disco music *Priscilla, Queen of the Desert* has been a box office magnet for the theater, filling the auditorium night after night.
A good year in the national opera and ballet
– We have been terribly lucky. The public has found us and our occupancy rate has been 90 percent.
The sold-out performances of the fall have included *Romeo and Juliet, Valkyrie, Innocence, CircOpera and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.*
– I believe that culture brings people hope and also necessary moments of rest in this world political situation, says Gita Kadambi.
He emphasizes the importance of common experiences and experiences.
– You can’t experience that via the internet.
Financial support a condition of existence
Several actors in the cultural sector state that the corona support received during the pandemic has helped in balancing the economy. For many, it has been an absolute prerequisite for existence.
The National Theater is reminded that the support was used, because theater performances were not allowed to be organized at the beginning of the year.
The money was needed, among other things, for the additional costs caused by moving premieres and extended rehearsal schedules.
Tampere Työväen Teatteri received a total of 900,000 euros in corona support this year and played an important role in securing the continuity of operations.
The Helsinki City Theater states that especially the latest grant payment, paid in April, was absolutely important, because there were no shows at all in January-February.
Tom Cruise stars in the movie
The corona era crowded movie theaters. The premieres had to be postponed again and again, and in the end the number of viewers remained modest for some of the films.
– It has helped Finnkino survive the challenging times brought by the corona restrictions.
Now it looks brighter for movies as well.
In the autumn season, domestic films have had half as many viewers as before the corona.
The most popular domestic film has been *Mielensäpahoitat Eskortti iämäsä*. By the beginning of December, it had been seen by almost 200,000 viewers.
Buying a ticket can add to the electricity bill
The corona era left its mark on the consumers of culture.
All event organizers are united by the same observation: people are still cautious when buying admission tickets.
The decision is made and the ticket is bought only right before the event. That is why the preliminary assessment of the number of visitors is even more difficult.
– People book tickets in advance, but they don’t always materialize as purchases, confirms Otso Kautto, theater director of Tampere Työväen Teatter.
There is also a change in the popularity of group tours.
People don’t go to the theater with a big group as enthusiastically as before the corona virus. The reasons given by the groups are the prices of bus trips, which are driven up by even more expensive gasoline.
– The fear of financial crisis has an effect. Many of the group travelers live in the countryside and are clearly looking forward to the next electricity bills. Such concrete things affect us, Kautto sums up.
The observation of Turku City Theater is also that ticket buyers are worried about the increased cost of living, and that’s why ticket purchases are being considered more carefully.
However, theater director Otso Kautto is optimistic about the future.
– I’m not worried and I’m waiting with interest to see what happens.