Midsumma is one of Australia's most renowned queer arts and cultural organisations and for over thirty years has been at the forefront of creating greater visibility, career development opportunities and incredible events for LGBTQIA+ artists, practitioners and audiences alike.
Midsumma's primary event – Midsumma Festival – ran from Sunday 21 January to Sunday 12 February in 2023, and featured over 200 events that showcased diverse art forms and genres, including visual arts, live music, theatre, spoken word, cabaret, film, parties, sport, social events, and public forums.
Taking place, across the Melbourne metropolitan area and regional Victoria, Midsumma Festival 2023 attracted an audience of 306,820 who were drawn by the action-packed program featuring local, national and national performers, and major events such as Midsumma Carnival, Midsumma Pride March and Victoria's Pride Street Party, as well as smaller bespoke events, all of which tapped into the many hidden and mainstream facets of LGBTQIA+ culture, making for one enormously fun celebration.
Midsumma engaged Culture Counts to conduct an evaluation of this year’s festival. Surveys were distributed via interview by Midsumma volunteers across Midsumma Festival, as well as an open link to the online survey via the Midsumma website and e-newsletter.
In total, 1,179 members of the public were surveyed through interviews and online surveys.
This report includes data from the Victoria's Pride survey, a standalone event as part of the Midsumma Festival 2023 program.
Each survey contained a range of ‘dimension’ questions, asking members of the public about their experience of the event. These dimensions have been developed and tested in collaboration with industry, practitioners and academics to measure the impact and value of arts and cultural events and activities.
Appropriate dimensions were chosen based on their alignment with Midsumma Festival's strategic objectives.
| Domain | Dimension | Dimension Statement |
|---|---|---|
| Cultural | Meaning | It moved and inspired me |
| Social | Connection | It helped me to feel connected to people in the community |
| Safe | It made me feel safe and welcome | |
| Wellbeing | It had a positive impact on my physical health and mental wellbeing | |
| Quality | Local Impact | It's important that it's happening here |
Dimensions are assessed on a Likert scale, in which respondents move a slider to a point that indicates whether they agree or disagree with the dimension statement. An example of a dimension question in the Culture Counts survey tool is presented below.
| Evaluation | Survey | Responses |
|---|---|---|
| Midsumma 2023 | Midsumma Festival 2023 - Event Producer Survey | 57 |
| Midsumma 2023 | Midsumma Festival 2023 - Public Survey | 814 |
| Midsumma 2023 | Midsumma Festival 2023 - Volunteer Survey | 61 |
| Midsumma 2023 | Midsumma Pride March 2023 - Participant Survey | 56 |
| Victoria's Pride 2023 | Victoria's Pride 2023 | 175 |
Note that 'public' data shown in the charts below comes from the surveys 'Victoria's Pride' and 'Midsumma Festival 2023 - Public Survey' only.
All survey respondents were asked to provide their ages and gender at the end of the survey. This enables Midsumma to understand the demographic mix of its audiences, identifying whether particular groups are more likely to attend festival events and whether they are impacted differently by their experience. This knowledge can facilitate targeted marketing in future years.
Respondents were also asked about the ages of the children attending the festival with them. These proportions have been added to the age chart below.
At the 2023 Midsumma Festival there were a similar proportion of female and male-identifying respondents, with females making up 44% of the sample and males 41%. 9% of respondents identified as non-binary, 3% identified as transgender and less than 1% identified as agender/no gender.
Just under a third of respondents were aged 25-34 (31%), which was the largest age group. This was followed by those aged 35-44 (22%), while attendees aged 45-54 made up 16% of respondents, and the 18-24 age group accounted for 12%. 8% reported their age as 55-64 and 5% were 65 or over.
Of the children attending with survey respondents, 3% were teenagers between 12 and 17 years, 2% were aged 5 to 11 years and 1% were aged 4 and under.
Survey respondents were asked to provide information regarding their identity. It enables data to be matched to the wider population and responses to be filtered to understand differences in demographics.
The following charts show the proportion of survey responses captured for the identity and sexual identity questions.
23% of the sample identified as a person living with a mental health issue and 17% identified as a culturally diverse or a Person Of Colour. 15% of survey participants identified as autistic/neurodiverse, while 10% cited they were a person living with chronic illness and/or chronic pain. 9% identified as a person with disability, 4% reported as being a carer for someone with disability, 4% identified as being hard of hearing, 2% stated they identified with the 'Blind/low vision' option, and 1% of the sample identified as being deaf. 2% of respondents identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, First Nations, Bla(c)k, Indigenous heritage.
Almost half (48%) of the sample identified with none of the listed categories, with an additional 3% indicating that they would prefer not to say.
One-third (33%) of Midsumma Festival survey respondents identified as gay, followed by heterosexual (17%), queer (13%), lesbian (12%) and bisexual (11%). 5% of the sample identified as pansexual and the smallest proportion identified as asexual (3%). 3% cited 'Other', while 3% preferred not to say.
The majority (91%) of survey participants indicated that they do not have an intersex variation, with 6% citing they were unsure and 2% preferring not to say. 2% reported having an intersex variation and less than 1% responded with 'Other'.
Survey respondents were asked to provide their current living location and postcode. This data identifies the demographic sample of people who responded to the survey and took part in the diverse array of events at Midsumma Festival 2023.
The following charts show the proportion of survey responses captured for respondents' identified living location and top postcode results.
The majority of those surveyed indicated that they reside in the Melbourne metropolitan area (85%). 8% were based elsewhere in Victoria and 4% live interstate. 3% of respondents indicated that they were from overseas.
The top 10 postcodes were located within the inner and middle ring suburbs of Melbourne. The most commonly cited postcode was Melbourne (4.3%), followed by Brunswick (3.2%), South Yarra, Windsor and Coburg which were cited by (2.6%) of the sample respectively.
Respondents were asked about their household structure and combined household income. The results can be seen distributed on the charts below.
Those living in a household structure as either a couple or single were the largest representative household groups, with couples (35%) making up the largest proportion of the sample, followed by singles (33%). Respondents who reported living in a share house accounted for 18% of the sample and those who lived with family made up 14%.
44% of the sample reported their combined household income as being $100,000+, followed by $80,000 - $100,000 (11%) or 'Under $40,000' (11%). This was followed by respondents who cited their household income as $60,000 - $80,000 (10%) and $40,000 - $60,000 (9%). 14% preferred not to say.
Respondents were asked about who they attended Midsumma Festival with, whether they attended with children and the ages of those children. The results are displayed in the charts below.
Most of the survey respondents attended the festival with friend/s (57%), followed by those who attended with their partner/s (20%). 13% of the sample reported attending the festival by themselves, 5% attended with family and a further 5% attended with family or friends including children under 18 years.
From the respondent group who attended with children, 50% reported attending with teenager/s over 12 years old, 43% attended with a child/children between 5 years and 11 years, and 21% attended with a child/children under 4 years.
Respondents were asked about which events they attended as part of the festival, how many events they attended and whether they had attended Midsumma Festival before. The results from these questions are displayed in the charts below.
Just over two-thirds (68%) of the sample indicated that they had attended the festival in previous years, while the remaining 32% reported that this was the first time that they had attended. This demonstrates the festival's ability to both retain existing audiences and attract new ones.
Survey respondents were most likely to have attended the Midsumma Carnival (22 Jan) (63%), followed by the Midsumma Pride March (5 Feb) (52%), or Victoria's Pride (12 Feb) (47%). Just under half attended the 'Performance event/s' (41%) and 21% participated in 'Party/Club/Social event/s'. The least commonly cited options were 'Faith event/s'(2%) and 'Youth event/s' (2%).
The majority of respondents reported attending 3-5 events (40%), followed by one event (24%), two events (21%) and 6-9 events (8%). 4% attended 10 or more events or no events.
Survey respondents moved a slider to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with the dimension statement using a Likert scale. The chart contains data for all public responses, showing the average score and the percentage of people that agreed or disagreed with each of the statements across the festival evaluation as a whole.
The Culture Counts digital platform aims to capture survey responses via various methods at minimal marginal cost. Achieving larger samples enables organisations to be confident that the average scores and opinions of the survey group are representative of the total audience.
This chart shows the margin for error for each dimension from the sample.
Of the five dimensions measured, 'Local Impact' and 'Safe' received the highest levels of average agreement, each with 91/100, demonstrating that respondents were most likely to agree that it's important that the event was happening in Melbourne and that it made them feel safe and welcome. 'Connection' (85/100) and 'Wellbeing' (83/100) also scored highly, indicating that respondents also felt the festival helped them feel connected to people in the community and that it had a positive impact on their health and wellbeing. While still a positive result, 'Meaning' received the lowest average agreement level overall (82/100).
At a 95% confidence level, the margin of error for dimensions ranged from 0.9% to 1.2%. This means that we can be 95% confident that if we surveyed the entire visitor population, the average outcome for 'Safe' would fall within 0.9% of the average generated by the sample.
Survey respondents moved a slider to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with the dimension statement using a Likert scale. The chart contains data for all public responses, showing the average score and the percentage of people that agreed or disagreed with each of the statements across the festival evaluation as a whole.
All dimensions achieved very high levels of agreement at 91% or above, demonstrating that the Midsumma Festival excelled in achieving outcomes in line with its strategic goals and audience expectations. 'Safe' (97%) and 'Local Impact' (96%) achieved the highest levels of overall agreement, showing that almost the entire survey sample agreed that the festival made them feel safe and welcome and it's important that the event was happening in Melbourne. 'Connection' (93%) also received a particularly high level of agreement, demonstrating that the vast majority of the sample also agreed that the festival helped them to feel connected to people in the community.
Respondents were asked about their overall experience of attending Midsumma Festival, with a choice of five options - Excellent, Good, Neutral, Poor, and Terrible.
This chart shows the percentage of respondents that rated the events overall across these five options and the results per event.
Almost the entire sample (98%) reported having a positive experience overall, an outstanding result. Of this sample, the majority (74%) stated their experience was 'Excellent' and 24% reported their experience was 'Good'. 1% of respondents reported having a neutral experience and less than 1% reported their experience being poor or terrible.
Results can be filtered by demographics and custom questions to see whether particular groups within the Midsumma Festival audience experienced the festival in different or more impactful ways.
The following charts distribute the average dimension scores given by the age and gender cohort that respondents identified with.
Respondents who identified as male, female or transgender tended to report similar results across the full range of dimensions, however, transgender survey participants provided the highest result for three out of the five dimensions measured. Results from those who identified as 'non-binary' tended to fall somewhere in the middle for most dimensions, with the exception of 'Local Impact' where this group provided the highest score, and 'Safe' which received the lowest result of all genders, while still a positive result.
Respondents aged 45-54 tended to provide the highest, equal highest or second-highest scores across all of the dimensions measured. Those aged over 55 tended to provide results slightly lower than the other age brackets. Across all age groups, the scores tended to be similar and resulted in a high average level of agreement of 79/100 or above.
The following charts distribute the average dimension results pivoted by the various identity options that were presented to respondents in a list.
Respondents identifying as a person living with chronic illness and/or chronic pain provided the highest average level of agreement of all identity groups (94/100) for the 'Local Impact' dimension. This group also tended to provide high or the highest average levels of agreement across the range of dimensions.
Respondents who identified as being blind/low-vision provided the lowest average result of all the dimensions (76/100) for 'Connection'. 'Local Impact' received the highest average level of agreement from those who identified as living with chronic illness and/or chronic pain (94/100), and high levels of agreement from the other identity groups as well. When examining the event's impact on the different sexual identity groups, there was little variance in scores based on sexual identity, with the exception of the 'Meaning' dimension which had a range of +11/100 agreement across the sexual identity groups.
The highly consistent results for 'Local Impact' and 'Safe' demonstrate that identity and sexual identity did not have a large influence in determining whether attendees felt that it was important for the festival to be happening in Melbourne and that it made them feel safe and welcome.
The following charts distribute the average dimension results given by the living location of respondents.
Respondents from elsewhere in Victoria tended to provide the highest or equal highest levels of agreement across the dimensions, particularly seen for 'Safe' (94/100) and 'Local Impact' (92/100). Survey participants from the Melbourne metropolitan area were most likely to agree with the 'Local Impact' and 'Safe' dimensions out of all dimensions, which both received a score of (91/100) respectively, as was the case with participants based interstate who gave average levels of agreement of 89/100 each. Attendees who were based overseas tended to provide lower scores across the majority of dimensions, despite still giving positive results.
Dimensions used in the Midsumma Festival 2023 evaluation were also measured in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. This allows organisers to benchmark their results and track progress in achieving strategic outcomes over time. The following chart compares the results for previous years.
The average dimension results for the 2023 festival though still high, were slightly lower than the results recorded in 2022. Despite this, the 2023 results tended to be higher than all years prior to 2022. This is a positive result for Midsumma Festival 2023 that demonstrates the development of the festival and improvement across all associated outcome areas over time. Similar to previous years, Midsumma Festival 2023 received the highest average levels of agreement for 'Local Impact' and 'Safe', demonstrating that the festival has consistently provided a festival that attendees felt was important to be happening in Melbourne and that it made them feel safe and welcome.
Culture Counts encourages the use of consistent demographics between evaluations, allowing results to be compared over time. The charts below compare results for gender and age breakdown for Midsumma Festival since 2018.
When examining Midsumma Festival's participant age data since 2020, the level of engagement has been relatively consistent across the respective age groups. Those aged 25-34 have consistently represented the highest proportion of the sample/s over time, followed by those aged 35-44.
2023 saw the distribution of age groups spread more evenly across the range of brackets, with larger representation from those aged 18-24 (+2%), 45-54 (+4%), 55-64 (+3%) and 65 and over (+4).
Those identifying in binary genders, male or female, tended to be the largest groups represented at the festival since evaluations began. Results were relatively stable for these groups, with male responses representing 37%-49% and female survey participants, 37%-49% over the years.
There was also a slight increase (+1%) in those identifying as transgender in 2023 from previous years (3%), and a small increase (+4%) from 2018 to 2023 of respondents identifying as non-binary. The number of non-binary participants who took part in the survey was the same percentage as 2022 (9%).
The charts below compare results for diversity and sexual identity breakdown each year at Midsumma Festival from 2018 to 2023.
Across the identity groups, results tended to be similar for the majority of these groups from 2021 to 2023. This was especially true for those who identified as 'Culturally diverse or Person Of Colour/Non-English speaking background', with this group representing 17% of the sample since the 2021 festival.
The largest year-on-year difference was reported by those who identified as autistic or neurodiverse, which saw an increase of +6% in 2023, making up 15% of the overall sample. Less respondents chose 'none of the above' than in the years prior to 2021. This may be due to a range of additional options being introduced in 2021, as the options have remained consistent since 2021.
Of the sexual identity groups, those who identified as gay have consistently been the sexual identity group most frequently cited by respondents. This group decreased by 10% in 2023, however these numbers were similar to results received each year from 2018-2021. The percentage of respondents identifying as heterosexual increased in 2023 results to 17% (+3%), which was a similar percentage received in 2020-2021. Those identifying as asexual increased slightly to 3%, while the results for other sexual identities remained relatively consistent across the years.
Respondents were asked how they first heard about Midsumma Festival to evaluate the success of various marketing methods. 13 options were provided and respondents could choose as many options as were applicable from a list.
The majority (44%) of respondents heard about Midsumma Festival through social media, and this was followed by 'Someone told me about it' (30%) and the Midsumma Program Guide (20%). 19% cited they had always attended Midsumma Festival and (10%) discovered the event via the Midsumma eNews. The least commonly cited marketing methods were 'Google/Online Ad' (5%) and via a 'Blog' (1%).
Survey respondents were asked if they could recall the supporters and partners of Midsumma Festival. Respondents were asked to list the organisations they could recall, first by typing in the name of the organisation without prompting, and then again from a multiple-choice list.
The following charts detail the sponsor and brand awareness and recall for the event.
The majority of respondents indicated they could recall any sponsors of the Midsumma Festival (78%). When asked to list the brands they remembered in an unprompted free text answer, 27% of respondents mentioned NAB, 15% recalled the City of Melbourne and 9% listed Dan Murphy's.
When prompted via a question where the list of sponsors was provided, the number of respondents who recalled the event's sponsors increase substantially. 61% recalled City of Melbourne, recollection of NAB increased to 50%, Yarra Trams was cited by 35%, and Dan Murphy's was cited by 35%. This was followed by JOY Media (31%), Victoria State Government (29%), Jetstar (28%) and City of Port Phillip (27%), which each had a strong level of recognition.
Respondents were asked to provide general feedback and comments about Midsumma Festival. The word cloud below enlarges words that were repeated more frequently in the collected survey responses.
Note: Combines responses to the following freetext questions: "Any other thoughts or comments?" "Any final thoughts, comments or suggestions?" "Do you have any comments or feedback about Midsumma Pride March 2023?" "Do you have any thoughts and/or suggestions that you would like to add?"
Respondents were asked to leave any additional feedback about their experience at Midsumma Festival 2023. This feedback has been classified into positive, neutral or negative categories, with the percentage of feedback sentiment types presented in the following chart.
Feedback helps organisations understand where the value of visitor experiences lies and how they can be improved and strengthened in the future. A selection of comments have been highlighted underneath.
"Fantastic festival with a great variety of events to attend and a great representation in the community. Will absolutely attend next year."
"Saw the cabaret circus show with my 19 year old gender fluid, bisexual daughter and it was one the best nights out we have had in a long time, event was funny while also being awe-inspiring and something we will definitely attend in the future. Being midsummer made my daughter feel very welcome and proud to be a part of the community around her and she really came alive that night being 100% herself."
"Amazing and important event!! Well done. It's such a mammoth effort and is a real asset to this city."
"Every year I try to attend as many events as possible, particularly the plays, talks, and outdoor group events, as it's the one time of the year that I really feel like I'm a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Thank you!"
"It was an uplifting, well-organised and joyous carnival."
"Keep up the splendid work Karen and the whole loving team. The disability community needs a little more help at large events such as Victoria's Pride where the disability support clocked off before 4pm, but you're definitely on the right track."
"Loved Collingwood pride - such a good day. Could all the events not be put on Sundays though?!"
"I'd love to see a space for quiet queers - a low sensory chill out environment to help autistic/neurodivergent queers self regulate, recover, and keep enjoying big events."
"Whole event fabulous, more accessible toilets at March next time pls."
"Pride was wonderful. But those anti-police protesters spoiled the parade. I hope they were not an official marcher and just interlopers."
"Everything has been good so far except for two things. A: Toilet situation at Ian Johnson oval was bad. B: Sounds system at Vic Pride Centre was also poor. Very hard to hear some performances. (and my hearing is great)."
"The dj dance floor on peel street needs some fake grass or a more appealing dance floor. Was great last year on the grass 2022."
"less/no cops at pride events."
Spending questions ask survey respondents about how much they spent in the local area on items like shopping, food and beverage etc. as part of their attendance at the event. Respondents are asked to exclude accommodation as this is separated as part of the economic impact calculations.
Respondents are also asked what they would have done otherwise if it was not for their attendance at the event. This question is used to determine 'additionality', which is the percentage of spending that could be considered to be additional, or could genuinely be attributed to the event. The proportion of expenditure that would have occurred anyway is accounted for through an additional adjustment that takes into consideration the reasons why respondents are spending money in the local area and what they would have done had they not attended the event. Melbourne respondents were asked what they would have done if they hadn’t attended the event, and respondents from elsewhere were asked if attending Midsumma Festival/Melbourne Pride was a reason for their trip.
The following charts show the visitor spending and additionality results used in the economic impact analysis.
The majority of respondents reported spending less than $300 per person at the event and in the local area (80%), with most people reporting to have spent between $0 - $100 (37%) or between $100-$200 (29%). After the outliers were removed, the average spend was determined as $191 per person.
Close to two-thirds (63%) of respondents from Melbourne would have stayed home or gone to work if they had not attended the event and a similar number (66%) of respondents from outside Melbourne reported that the festival was one of their main reasons for visiting the area.
Survey respondents were asked to estimate how much they had spent as part of their visit, the level of influence on their decision to visit, as well as indicate what they would have done if they had not visited. Combining this data with attendance figures allows an overall impact figure to be generated.
Economic impact is determined by three main factors:
Attendance: The number of people spending money (converted to the number of nights for accommodation and longer trips).
Spend: Spending in the local economy. Includes spend as part of a visit and spend on accommodation for those staying overnight. Excludes spending on tickets or other items that would be captured through organisation expenditure (i.e. to avoid double-counting).
Additionality: The percentage of spending that would not have occurred otherwise.
To calculate the economic impact on the local area, only additional visitation is included. From those visits, only expenditure that would not have otherwise occurred is considered. In this case, the economic impact is from attendees who would have otherwise stayed at home, gone to work, or those who would have done something else outside the local area.
The tables below detail a breakdown of visitation by additionality (i.e. new visits to the area because of the event), visitor expenditure (if they came and stayed in the area because of the event and any other spending they did), and total economic output.
| ORIGIN | UNIQUE ATTENDEES | EVENT/VISIT SPEND | ADDITIONALITY | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Metropolitan Area | 80,073 | $178 | 66% | $9,374,965 |
| Elsewhere in Victoria | 11,428 | $153 | 78% | $1,360,811 |
| Interstate | 4,261 | $417 | 64% | $1,131,092 |
| Overseas | 3,285 | $303 | 33% | $332,163 |
| TOTAL | 99,048 | $187 | 66% | $12,199,031 |
| ORIGIN | NIGHTS STAYED IN THE AREA | ACCOM SPEND/NIGHT | ADDITIONALITY | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Metropolitan Area | 25,839 | $154 | 66% | $2,620,452 |
| Elsewhere in Victoria | 10,537 | $103 | 78% | $842,676 |
| Interstate | 15,453 | $200 | 64% | $1,963,611 |
| Overseas | 20,998 | $111 | 33% | $776,115 |
| TOTAL | 72,827 | $146 | 66% | $6,202,854 |
| Total Nights Generated (attributed to festival) | 42,042 |
| Attendee Spending | $18,401,885 |
| Event/Visit | $12,199,031 |
| Accommodation | $6,202,854 |
| Organiser Expenditure | $3,759,579 |
| Gross Ticket Sales Revenue | $1,232,693 |
| Total Direct Impact | $22,161,464 |
| Total Multiplied Impact | $62,717,095 |
Note: For the purpose of this analysis, output multipliers derived from ABS Output Tables 2012-13 have been applied to direct impact expenditure.
Event expenditure scaled by an output multiplier of 2.96 (representing an average of national Retail and, Food and Beverage multipliers (2.88 and 2.96 respectively).
Accommodation expenditure scaled by an output multiplier of 2.75 (the national Accommodation multiplier).
Organisation expenditure scaled by an output multiplier of 2.67 (the Australian National Heritage, Creative and Performing Arts Output Multiplier).
This report has been prepared by Culture Counts. The authors would like to thank all stakeholders and staff for their participation in this research.
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past and present.