27 things to consider when planning for your venue reopening

There is a lot of information out there already on reopening your venue or building. It can be daunting and overwhelming. But at thrive, we noticed something missing from some of the guidelines – and that is the audience viewpoint. So we have put together something that will help you make audience focused decisions when thinking about the return.

It’s not surprising that we have been very keen on talking to audiences during lockdown. For most of lockdown, we’ve been running the ‘After the Interval’ audience survey in which 43 cultural organisations in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland asked their audiences what they thought about returning to arts events and social distancing measures. And we have taken some of those insights to help us shape this resource.

Not everything will be relevant to you or your venue. Not all of you will have food and drink offers or ticketed seating. But you all have audiences or visitors. And it is vital that you think about their needs, as well as your own, when working out how things will have to change when you reopen.

We always recommend speaking directly to your own audience and listening to what they want and need. Let them know when you first reopen that you are trying your best to make them feel safe and welcomed and if they have any feedback or advice, you're there to listen - we are all learning in this!

Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reopening and it has to work for you as an organisation and for your staff and of course, audience. If you are doing or plan to do anything we haven’t listed, please let us know as we are always learning too.

We hope you find this resource useful and are here to help you each step of the way to reopening. If you have any further questions or queries, you can book a free audience appointment with one of our team to talk through any challenges or opportunities you are facing.

Download 27 things to consider when planning for your venue reopening