Thrive: Making Culture Count

What is the reality of cultural engagement in Northern Ireland? Thrive exists to answer that question. Did you know that over 90% of people in Northern Ireland engage with arts and heritage each year? We want to take the data and make it work for you. Thrive started in 2004 as Audiences NI with a focus on collecting ticketing data in Northern Ireland. It was the first time any organisation had created a picture of audiences in the region and gave local arts venues concrete information on which to build. In 2017, we rebranded as thrive and moved away from a membership model to be more accessible to all. We needed to help a struggling sector to know and grow its audience. In 2020, Covid shifted the cultural landscape again, and thrive adapted to respond. We redirected our focus to help the sector keep on top of a constantly evolving picture. For the first time, organisations began to understand the value of detailed audience research and wanted more. Since then, we’ve led the way on cultural research in Northern Ireland to help our sector be seen, heard and appreciated.