The Stratford Festival is heading into the 2017 season after exceeding sales targets in 2016 and breaking through the half-million attendance mark again.
The festival posted a surplus of $687,000 on revenue of $62.4-million, with attendance of 512,016.
The festival has recorded four consecutive annual surpluses, offsetting 2012’s $3.4-million deficit. Attendance figures have surpassed 500,000 in each of the last four years.
The Stratford Festival’s 2017 season gets under way soon, with the first preview of Guys and Dolls on April 15.
"We set out to broaden the audience and in 2016, we saw 80,000 people under the age of 18 enter our theatres either as part of a school trip or with their families," says Executive Director Anita Gaffney. "We set out to celebrate the work of Shakespeare and in 2016 saw a 25% increase in attendance at our Shakespeare productions."
The season, which runs until October 29, also features Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, HMS Pinafore, Treasure Island, The School for Scandal, The Changeling, Bakkhai, Tartuffe, The Madwoman of Chaillot, The Komagata Maru Incident, The Virgin Trial and The Breathing Hole.
"We set out to make it easier to get to Stratford, introducing twice-daily bus service from Toronto, which has now generated almost $14-million in economic activity for the regional economy," says Gaffney. "We set out to increase our fundraising efforts, and in 2016 saw a 12% increase to almost $14-million. We set out to build up our Endowment fund, and in 2016 it topped $79-million, up from $54-million in 2012."