First Thursdays, an initiative started in 2012 by Thursdays Projects, has become an institution in the Cape Town CBD, contributing significantly to the night-time economy. The popular monthly event, which was inspired by similar initiatives in other international cities, encourages people to visit art galleries, cultural attractions, businesses and restaurants. To better understand how the initiative is impacting on the CBD’s economy, the CCID has once again conducted a dipstick survey to find out who is coming to town, why and where they spend their time and money. Here are the results of the survey we conducted in December 2019, with the responses of 348 participants.
1. Age of attendees
2. Where they live
3. What their favourite thing was about First Thursdays
4. How they rated First Thursdays on a scale of 0 (not bad) to 5 (really great)
5. How they got to First Thursdays
Interesting percentages
- 38% had not visited galleries in the CBD before coming to First Thursdays
- 84% planned on eating at a restaurant or buying street food
- 49% planned on buying from retailers
- 43% had been to First Thursdays five more times before
- 28% wanted more street performers
IMAGES: CCID
Note: The article appeared in the autumn edition of City Views.