The Stratford Festival is celebrating the artistic and financial successes of the 2018 season.
Festival officials have announced a $1.9 million surplus, with a 10 per cent increase in attendance to well over 500,000.
"The strength of our in-season fundraising, coupled with the astonishing success of the Spirit of the Tent Campaign for the new Tom Patterson Theatre Centre speaks to the incredible loyalty and trust that the Festival has earned over the years," said the festival Executive Director Anita Gaffney.
Total revenue for the 2018 season was $65.8 million, up eight per cent from 2017 when the festival posted a surplus of $232,765.
Strong sales to all productions resulted in the highest ticket revenue in a decade – $33 million – the third-highest in the festival’s history.
Roughly 105,000 newcomers attended the Festival in 2018, up from 86,000 the previous year.
"Having worked diligently over the past six seasons to achieve a measure of financial stability, Antoni [Cimolino, the artistic director,] and I are delighted to be able to direct $1 million from the 2018 surplus to the Spirit of the Tent Campaign," said Gaffney. "The balance will go into our Artistic Excellence Fund, a special fund within our Endowment that allows us to tackle ambitious artistic projects that require incremental investment."
