A total of 160 theatres operated from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020. A number of professional theatres have permanent venues at their disposal, either in-house or located somewhere else. Therefore, along with 89 professional theatres, there were 9 operating permanent venues. In addition, there were 31 professional children’s theatres, which included 9 puppet theatres and 40 amateur theatres.
Due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of all public institutions in spring 2020, the number of active professional and amateur theatres decreased. The number of amateur theatres decreased by 12% compared to the previous season. According to data by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2020b), this difficult season for performing arts affected professional children’s theatres the least: professional theatres for all ages performed 34% less plays and had 36% less visitors than in the previous season; amateur theatres performed 41% less plays and had a decrease in the number of visitors of 57% compared to the 2018/2019 season, while professional children’s theatres had 18% less plays and 28% less visitors than in the previous season.
During the 2019/2020 season, there was a significant decline in the concert season for professional ensembles, orchestras and choirs. Compared to the 2018/2019 season, the number of concerts declined by 30% and attendance dropped by 39%. Professional choirs performed 18 concerts, which was a decline of 45% compared to the previous year. Concerts were attended by 12 150 visitors, which was 51% less than in the 2018/2019 season. These are stark differences in comparison to previous years and are shown n Table 4 which shows cultural attendance trends in the 1983-2020 period. For example, attendance in cinemas has shown a constant increase in the last decade, which is also visible in museum attendance as well as in attendance at professional children’s theatres. In the period 2013-2017, there was a slow but steady increase in radio and television subscribers, as it can be seen from Figure 2.
Table 4: Attendance data for specific cultural fields (in thousands), 1983-2020
| Year | Professional theatres* | Cinemas | Museums and museum collections | Professional children‘s theatres* | Professional orchestras, ensembles and choirs* |
| 1983 | 1 101 | 21 324 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1994 | 643 | 4 562 | 580 | N/A | N/A |
| 1997 | 705 | 3 233 | 1 129 | N/A | N/A |
| 2000 | 658 | 2 743 | 1 073 | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 | 879 | 2 766 | 1 074 | 426 | 279 |
| 2003 | 1 024 | 2 343 | 1 268 | 429 | 286 |
| 2004 | 1 043 | 2 976 | N/A | 436 | 374 |
| 2005 | 952 | 2 174 | N/A | 374 | 409 |
| 2006 | 941 | 2 669 | 1 674 | 370 | 378 |
| 2007 | 959 | 2 483 | N/A | 419 | 443 |
| 2008 | 1 067 | 3 283 | N/A | 404 | 318 |
| 2009 | 1 033 | 3 524 | 2 191 | 379 | 323 |
| 2010 | 1 184 | 3 355 | N/A | 387 | 320 |
| 2011 | 1 261 | 3 558 | N/A | 399 | 290 |
| 2012 | 1 211 | 4 064 | 2 284 | 399 | 294 |
| 2013 | 1 161 | 4 156 | N/A | 569 | 332 |
| 2014 | 1 374 | 4 079 | N/A | 386 | 356 |
| 2015 | 1 245 | 4 347 | 2 710 | 477 | 270 |
| 2016 | 1 690 | 4 532 | N/A | 487 | 317 |
| 2017 | 1 540 | 4 814 | N/A | 555 | 380 |
| 2018 | 1 435 | 4 859 | 2 912 | 570 | 469 |
| 2019 | 1 485 | 5 026 | N/A | 557 | 297 |
| 2020 | 917 | N/A | N/A | 394 | 175 |
Source: Republic of Croatia – Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Yearbooks for noted years and from ‘First Releases’ of ’Cinematography’, ‘Artistic production and live performances’ and ‘Museums, galleries and collections’ (see also Sources and links).
Note: Table is compiled from four different Tables (Culture and Arts, Museums and Museum Collections, Professional Children’s Theatres, and Professional Orchestras, Ensembles and Choirs) given in the section “Culture, Arts and Sport” in all yearbooks and ‘First release’ data collections(see also Sources and links).
* The data provided concerns seasons not years, thus data for 2002 reflects the season 2001/2002.
Figure 2: Radio and television subscribers in Croatia, 2013-2017. Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, 2019a.
There have not been any representative surveys taken in recent years on receptive or on active participation. In addition, there are no special surveys monitoring the participation of national minority groups or immigrant groups in cultural life or specific research on the composition of audiences at multicultural or other type of festivals.
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