ABSTRACT
Most of us in the leisure profession used to have a clear understanding of what was meant by ‘cultural activities’ and ‘the arts’. Of late, however, some confusion has crept in. This may be partly as a result of the naming of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which separates culture from sport; but then sport is included as one of the major components in Local Cultural Strategies. It may be because the government now uses ‘the arts’, ‘cultural activities’ and ‘the creative industries’ at times differently and at times to convey the same things. Or it may be because in official national reports such as the Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom, under the heading ‘cultural activities’, only the traditional arts are listed: plays, classical music, ballet, opera and contemporary dance (see for example Table 16.1).
