Local authority arts events and the South Asian community: unmet needs – a UK case study

Abstract

This paper focuses on the South Asian Community in Blackburn, UK, and seeks to gain a better understanding of their requirements for arts and cultural events using primary research to ascertain their specific needs. The paper concludes that at present the needs of this potential market are insufficiently understood and therefore not catered for within the local authority's event programme. Furthermore, there are many differences identified within this community and, therefore, they cannot be treated as one homogenous subgroup. These differences within the community and similarities with sub-groups outside of the community suggest that any simplistic segmentation based on ethnicity alone is likely to be ineffective. The characteristics which appear to affect event preferences relate to language, age, gender, and economic situation and cannot be generalized merely from country of origin or religious belief.