Over the last six months, Australia and New Zealand have been fortunate enough to reintroduce live entertainment and fill seats with fans who are ready to get back to attending live events.
Susie Kyrou, General Manager – Data and Insights for Australia and New Zealand has said that “fans are very optimistic about returning to live.”
In 2020, Ticketmaster surveyed over 9,000 fans from Australia about their thoughts on restrictions lifting and their expectations when it comes to health and safety precautions for live events. According to the survey, fans are optimistic about the return to live with 85% of fans planning on returning to live within three months of restrictions being lifted and with a majority of fans saying they will attend 2-4 events within the first six months of restrictions being lifted, meaning that fans will be continuously searching for events. For travel purposes, 77% said they would travel for a live event (one to four hours distance) and 29% said they would travel anywhere, domestically within Australia. The survey also found that 72% of fans were most looking forward to spending on Live entertainment regarding lifestyle purchases.
Here’s a gallery of some of the recent top live events Ticketmaster has ticketed:
Come from Away, Victoria – Musical fan favourite Come from Away re-opened at the Comedy Theatre on the 28th of January!
Frozen, New South Wales – The theatrical production of Frozen in New South Wales was the first theatre event to reopen in Australia. Photo Credit: Lisa Tomasetti 
Magic Mike Live reopened in New South Wales on the 17th of December. Photo Credit: Peter Brew 
Mary Poppins, NZ – The stage show Mary Poppins was the first theatre event to reopen globally and packed theatres in Auckland 
Lime Cordiale, QLD – Popular Aussie indie band Lime Cordiale performed at the Tivoli in QLD. Photo Credit: somefx 
Benee, NZ – Popular New Zealand singer Benee performed in front of a live audience. Photo Credit: Kenzie Pigman 
WA Unlocked, WA – Western Australia’s first major live event since the ending of restrictions included performers such as Crooked Colour and Slumberjack. Photo Credit: @brendancphoto 
Crowded House, NZ – Crowded House has a packed venue in New Zealand. Photo Credit: Aaron Lee 
Van Gogh Alive, NZ – This was the first time the Digital Nights Van Gogh Alive exhibition was held outdoors with COVID safe measures in place. Photo Credit: johnny Hendrikus 
Imaginaria, VIC – Immersive experience involving technology and the imagination in the Docklands. Photo Credit: William Hamilton-Coates 
AFL 2021 – Essendon V Hawks, VIC – fans at the Essendon V Hawks game at Marvel Stadium cheer along for their teams. Footy is back with 50% capacity! 
First Blues game, NZ – Rugby has returned to New Zealand! 
Sounds Better Together, Mallacoota – Tones and I performed at the regional event where Kylie Minogue made a secret appearance!
We wanted to hear from fans on their thoughts on Live events returning so we reached out and they came back with immense excitement for the return. Here’s what they had to say:
Fans are as excited as ever to return back to live events. Here are a few more quotes from thrilled fans about the return to live entertainment:
“Yes it was busy and yes we had to go through all sorts of different lines and check-ins etcetera etcetera, but the whole thing ran smoothly and certainly didn’t detract from our enjoyment of the show.”
Annette, Australia
“I think it’s really important that everyone gets out and keeps living their life and enjoying themselves, it’s great for mental health.”
Sarah , Australia
“The atmosphere of the bands, and everything was great. Totally keen to go again. Actually looking forward to the beer festival coming up.”
Tracey, New Zealand
“Just to be able to go back out and have fun, seeing all the live theatre is just a great way to spend your life. Can’t wait to get out and see my next show.”
“I couldn’t find too much different to attending the event prior to COVID-19 and to now, except everything moved a lot smoother and quickly.”
Karen, Australia
Susie Kyrou is the General Manager for Data and Insights across Australia and New Zealand for Ticketmaster. If you have any questions or want to be involved in any future research regarding data and insights for live events, contact Susie.
If you’re interested in learning more about how we can help audiences return to live visit https://business.ticketmaster.com.au/return-to-live/ or contact us at https://business.ticketmaster.com.au/contact/
