Arts and cultural organizations are swallowing hard as the end of the summer festival season approaches.

There are some small signs that are making theatre managers' notoriously sensitive stomachs even queasier. The question is, are people still a bit reluctant to return to (indoor) live events?

While Covid-19 is in the rearview mirror for most people, although the illness continues to strike many, executives in the entertainment industry are studying the numbers. The question they are asking is, when people were locked up during those covid years, their entertainment choices changed but are they coming back?

People were forced to find alternative forms of entertainment during the pandemic when theatres and arenas were closed and dark. Some bought every streaming service they could find and binged-out; others rediscovered their love for books; some discovered the beauty of a solitary stroll through a wooded area; others played virtual games. Some just drank wine.

It is certainly too early to determine if audience preferences have shifted. Special weekend festivals for music and food have seen big numbers in many cities. But clever theatrical general managers, orchestral executive directors, and others running arts and cultural organizations and events are quietly wiping their palms on their skirts or trousers as they look at the attendance figures and try to figure out if there are new audience trends emerging.

The implication for municipal governments is hovering darkly in the wings. Canada has traditionally under-funded its arts and cultural sectors, and the provinces have never been noted for lavishing operating dollars. That means if arts organizations get into financial difficulty, their only survival plan would be a major local philanthropist, or their city council.

Municipal governments across Canada have distinctly different approaches to supporting their hometown arts groups. A very few are generous, most are modest at best, and a few are downright stingy.

When it comes to bailouts, again there have been mixed council decisions.

Orchestras in several cities have been denied funding and gone under, as have other members of the cultural diaspora. Sometimes that denial of funding has come after a previous effort by the council to support a flailing organization; often the organization has been poorly managed financially, and too often weak boards have not faced reality.

I worry that we are entering a time when long-time audience shifts are a real possibility. That will demand a nimble and brave approach by arts organizations that want to survive in this new environment.

Many will succeed; some will not. But almost invariably, the local government will be dragged into the proceedings. If the council is not prepared for this imminent possibility, then there will be scrambling, shouting, and a public battle that will not be pretty.