Theater Visits and Book Publishing Decline Due to Downturn
The economic crisis has had a negative impact on Estonia's cultural world, with fewer people visiting theaters and printing of Estonian-authored books declining, according to a new Ministry of Culture survey.
The ministry's data show that theater attendance dropped by 110,000 visits between 2008 and 2009, Eesti Päevaleht reported.
Lack of money also had a negative influence on publishing, with the number of books and brochures per citizen falling from 3,818 in 2008 to 3,611 in 2009. However the number of visits to libraries rose by more than 800,000 over last two years, the survey found.
Movies, on the other hand, have grown in popularity, as fierce competition between cinema houses has cut the price of movie tickets by half. Last year 2.13 million tickets were sold, 300,000 more than in the year prior.
Ingrid Teesalu