Saturday vs Sunday

[mpharris]

At all the events Saturdays are always much busier than Sundays, regardless of which guests are only doing either day or what talks etc. are on either day. Why is this? I would figure there are more people who may have to work Saturdays than Sundays so would expect Sundays to be busier. I've been going to Showmasters events for 9 years now and could never work out the disparity. The only real reason I can think of is that public transport isn't as good on a Sunday but that can't account for all the difference can it? Any ideas?

[AxelV]

I don't work weekends, but at any weekend event, I will only tend to do the Saturday - Sunday is my day of rest before I'm back at work on the Monday lol. It's as simple as that for me.

[RedSimon13]

At all the events Saturdays are always much busier than Sundays, regardless of which guests are only doing either day or what talks etc. are on either day. Why is this? I would figure there are more people who may have to work Saturdays than Sundays so would expect Sundays to be busier. I've been going to Showmasters events for 9 years now and could never work out the disparity. The only real reason I can think of is that public transport isn't as good on a Sunday but that can't account for all the difference can it? Any ideas?

You mentioned it at the end of your post...transport. Saturday transport is miles better than Sunday. I am fortunate to have a car, but many others use public transport. Also, with the working week being more 7 days a week depending ont he industry there is still a large number of jobs that are Monday to Friday and many people have posted on these and other forums they book days off to come up. If people go back to work on a Monday I would think many would want a day off to recharge than go on a Sunday and be tired the following day. I was fortunate enough to have the week off so it was not an issue.

[ziggy31]

My boyfriend has to get up at 5 am to go to work on Monday, so doesn't want to stay out late on Sunday. It takes us a good three hours to get home. :)

[Not_Pennys_Ship]

People go to church on Sundays.

[Starbuck17]

I have only been to one con and I did all three days but transport on the Sunday was a big issue for me. Train, followed by a bus (which I had to wait 45 mins for) made for a very long journey home. Next time will invest in an extra night in a hotel.

[mpharris]

Interesting theories, the public transport one seems most logical so far. I have to book weekends off to attend the events and usually have to be up before 6am the following day but that doesn't stop me going on a Sunday (I usually go both days unless there is nobody I want to see on a particular day) but of course we are all different. As for the church theory (although I suspect it was tongue-in-cheek) the percentage of the population who regularly go to church on a Sunday is about 10% and I suspect a large proportion of that is elderly people so really don't think that would affect con attendance.

[Mehetabel]

As for the church theory (although I suspect it was tongue-in-cheek) the percentage of the population who regularly go to church on a Sunday is about 10% and I suspect a large proportion of that is elderly people so really don't think that would affect con attendance.

My daughter is 15 and she won't miss church for anything other than a family holiday or a Con :) You're right though, I'm sure that percentage is VERY small.

 

I think the most common reason is that people have to get up for work on Monday morning and don't want to be getting home late on Sunday after an exhausting day.

[GoldenGreen]

A number of factors here I would think:

 

1. Normally I would go on a Saturday , the main reason being my two boys have school on a Monday, so having a long and tiring day on the Sunday doesn't make sense when trying to get them up. (This year was the first time in ages we had gone on Sunday, which was actually down to originally missing out on Stan Lee photo tickets for the Saturday)

2.Public transport on a Sunday is absolutely woeful, I know the maintenance has to be done at some time, but if you are trying to travel either from near or far chances are you are going to have a longer and more problematic journey on a Sunday.

3. There are people / families that still like to consider Sunday as a day of rest, some may well go to Church, others may just like to consider Sunday as the one day of the week when basically they don't do very much.

 

Sunday this year was by far the busiest I have ever seen at the LFCC, certainly on a par with last years Saturday, so as the saying goes, well I might have just made it up "If you get the guests, the people will come !"

[RedSimon13]

Interesting theories, the public transport one seems most logical so far. I have to book weekends off to attend the events and usually have to be up before 6am the following day but that doesn't stop me going on a Sunday (I usually go both days unless there is nobody I want to see on a particular day) but of course we are all different. As for the church theory (although I suspect it was tongue-in-cheek) the percentage of the population who regularly go to church on a Sunday is about 10% and I suspect a large proportion of that is elderly people so really don't think that would affect con attendance.

As a regular church attendee, the average age is coming down with many young families attending. I am Cof E and I have good friends in different religions who attend religious services at different times of the week and having asked them the question of age diversity, they mirror my experiences saying that the more mature ages of say 60 plus has come down greatly in recent years.

[mpharris]

 

Interesting theories, the public transport one seems most logical so far. I have to book weekends off to attend the events and usually have to be up before 6am the following day but that doesn't stop me going on a Sunday (I usually go both days unless there is nobody I want to see on a particular day) but of course we are all different. As for the church theory (although I suspect it was tongue-in-cheek) the percentage of the population who regularly go to church on a Sunday is about 10% and I suspect a large proportion of that is elderly people so really don't think that would affect con attendance.

As a regular church attendee, the average age is coming down with many young families attending. I am Cof E and I have good friends in different religions who attend religious services at different times of the week and having asked them the question of age diversity, they mirror my experiences saying that the more mature ages of say 60 plus has come down greatly in recent years.

 

Interesting. I was basing my assumption largely on the fact that there is a church near the shop I work in and it is mainly pensioners who come in after service to buy their Sunday papers etc. but of course it could just be that they are the only ones coming in or that they are the only ones who have obviously been to church because they dress up for it.

[GoldenGreen]

 

Interesting theories, the public transport one seems most logical so far. I have to book weekends off to attend the events and usually have to be up before 6am the following day but that doesn't stop me going on a Sunday (I usually go both days unless there is nobody I want to see on a particular day) but of course we are all different. As for the church theory (although I suspect it was tongue-in-cheek) the percentage of the population who regularly go to church on a Sunday is about 10% and I suspect a large proportion of that is elderly people so really don't think that would affect con attendance.

As a regular church attendee, the average age is coming down with many young families attending. I am Cof E and I have good friends in different religions who attend religious services at different times of the week and having asked them the question of age diversity, they mirror my experiences saying that the more mature ages of say 60 plus has come down greatly in recent years.

 

You might have access to some more recent figures, but the average age in the Church of England survey for Churchgoers was 61 with some more rural congregations having an average of 65.

[carryfiasco]

normally for me, if i'm travelling to an event that is on all weekend, i'll either stay the full weekend and book monday off work to travel home (or travel overnight and have monday off to recoup) or i'll travel down friday night, be at the event saturday and travel back sunday so i would assume it probably is travel that has this affect on numbers.

 

would be interesting to see how a bank holiday effected the numbers. presumably it would even out more on the saturday and sunday since people have the monday off to in most cases.

[RedSimon13]

 

 

Interesting theories, the public transport one seems most logical so far. I have to book weekends off to attend the events and usually have to be up before 6am the following day but that doesn't stop me going on a Sunday (I usually go both days unless there is nobody I want to see on a particular day) but of course we are all different. As for the church theory (although I suspect it was tongue-in-cheek) the percentage of the population who regularly go to church on a Sunday is about 10% and I suspect a large proportion of that is elderly people so really don't think that would affect con attendance.

As a regular church attendee, the average age is coming down with many young families attending. I am Cof E and I have good friends in different religions who attend religious services at different times of the week and having asked them the question of age diversity, they mirror my experiences saying that the more mature ages of say 60 plus has come down greatly in recent years.

 

You might have access to some more recent figures, but the average age in the Church of England survey for Churchgoers was 61 with some more rural congregations having an average of 65.

 

Obviosuly I can only speak for the parishes I attend when helping with church business, but through many discussions with my Vicar about how the church can appeal to more people he has mentioned about how the average age across the UK has come down alot in recent years which is something the higher ups in the Church of England are very happy with as it brings in more generations to the church which bodes well for the future.

 

As regards surveys, I always take these with a massive grain of salt due to how many people actually take part. I am always intrigued to the make up of surveys and always look to see if they ever publish the number of people polled in the survey.

 

But anyway, back on topic and I believe a major factor is transport on a Sunday. Not only local to the event, but also from all over the UK where people travel from. I am fortunate enough to drive and have always driven to events whether for the day or a whole weekend. I have friends who are not so lucky and are always tired when they get there and try to go a day early if there for the whole weekened just so they are fightign fit for the start.