Copenhagen is investing in the next generation of cultural consumers

30,000 children in Copenhagen will this year have the opportunity to experience a theatrical performance through the new One-For-All scheme. For performing artists, the scheme means that more people gain access to their performances, and that a new generation of audiences gets more of those important, early encounters with the performing arts.

By Julie Westh Nielsen
SKJUL performance by ZeBU.

More children in the audience is not only good news for the children. It is also good news for the performing artists who create the shows the children are going in to experience.

With the One-to-All pilot scheme, the City of Copenhagen has allocated 1.4 million kroner for theatre tickets for around 30,000 children in the municipality's schools and day-care facilities.

For the Danish Artists' Union, it is essential that the municipality prioritises funding to bring more audiences into theatres. Chairperson Sara Indrio welcomes the scheme, and hopes it can be rolled out to many more municipalities:

“Making the performing arts part of the state school system means that all children gain access to art and culture. For the performing arts, it is important that society invests in the audiences who will carry cultural life forward. Schoolchildren are the next generation of cultural consumers and thus also the future audiences for performing artists.”
says Sara Indrio, chair of the Danish Artists' Union.

More children are getting access to the performing arts

The scheme gives every class, nursery and kindergarten group the opportunity to have the cost of a ticket for one theatre performance covered during 2026. Teachers and educators choose for themselves among the performances that are part of the offer, and the cost of the tickets is covered by the City of Copenhagen.

Consequently, the finances of the individual school, institution or family will to a lesser extent determine whether a child gets the opportunity to experience performing arts.

It is important, thinks Sara Indrio:

“Danish performing artists produce and create a rich array of exciting performances for children and young people. It is therefore very encouraging when the local authority provides structural support for targeted audience development. The challenge will be to promote the many different forms of performing arts that exist – not least within the circus genres, which in recent years have produced many critically acclaimed shows for both children and young people,” she says.

Performing arts empower children and communities

A survey carried out by Seismonaut on behalf of Sjællands Teater and Teatercentrum, in collaboration with the Bikuben Foundation, amongst more than 150 schoolchildren points out that the performing arts can, amongst other things, foster a sense of community and togetherness, improve concentration, and give children the opportunity to identify with others and reflect on both their own feelings and the world around them.

“When a local authority prioritises schemes of this kind, it is also recognising that access to the arts and culture is something for which we all share responsibility. The arts help to shape us as people and as members of society. The performing arts give children the opportunity to share experiences, feel a range of emotions and see themselves, one another and the world from new perspectives. That is why it is important that all children have the opportunity to engage with the performing arts, regardless of their background. And hopefully, reflecting on the experience together with their teachers will also become part of their education,”
says Sara Indrio.

Also read: A common code of conduct for fair working conditions in the cultural sector.

How the scheme works

The All-Children scheme applies to children in primary schools and day-care facilities in the Municipality of Copenhagen.

Each class or nursery group is eligible for reimbursement of the cost of one theatre ticket in 2026. The scheme also covers teachers and nursery staff who attend with the children.

The City of Copenhagen has allocated 1.4 million Danish kroner to the scheme, which this year will give around 30,000 children the opportunity to go to the theatre.

The school or nursery chooses the performance and tickets via bu.theatertickets.dk.

Do you put on shows for children and young people? Find out how your show can be included

If your theatre is already part of the Teaterbilletter partnership and you sell group tickets for children and young people, the performances can be registered directly in Tereba.

For each individual performance, the theatre must, under the ‘Ticket Sales’ tab, select the option to sell tickets via Teaterbilletter.dk and specify the age group the performance is aimed at, for example, nursery or pre-school children.

If the theatre is not yet part of the Teaterbilletter partnership, producing theatres that are eligible for dissemination grants from Pool 2 under the Dissemination Scheme may join the partnership through Scenit.

Scenit administers the ‘One-to-All’ scheme on behalf of the City of Copenhagen.