Stratford Festival ends 2024 season with $1.1 million deficit

A sign for the Stratford Festival seen in July 2023. (File)

The Stratford Festival’s 2024 season ended with a $1.1 million deficit even though the festival said it cut expenses by 4 per cent.

According to a media release following the festival’s annual meeting, attendance “fell short of expectations.”

The 2024 season attracted 430,000 people. That’s around 13,000 less than the previous year.

“As we look at attendance in the performing arts in this post-pandemic world, we do so with a knowledge of just how bad things can be,” Executive Director Anita Gaffney said in the media release. “The challenge of winning back audiences has been felt around the globe, and we know it is a challenge we must surmount.”

2023 figures

In 2023, 35 per cent more people attended the Stratford Festival compared to 202(2?).

That leap in attendance helped lead to a surplus of $404,000 for the Stratford Festival in 2023. A report showed that revenue reached $80.1 million, while expenses sat at $79.7 million.

Total revenue in 2024 from the festival was $75.3 million with earned revenue at just over $39 million and contributed revenue $36 million. That number represents a nearly $5 million dip compared to the previous year.

Highlights of 2024

Gaffney is still proud of the 2024 season.

“We attracted 430,000 people, a tremendous accomplishment at a challenging time in theatrical history. We presented a playbill that celebrated classics, musicals and exceptional new work,” said Gaffney.

The two musicals, Something Rotten! and La Cage aux Folles, were extended by three weeks to meet demand last year.

“Something Rotten! was such a runaway hit that more than 8,000 people came to see it more than once, including a remarkable 75 who saw it seven times or more,” said the media release.

Sales to school groups went up by 14 per cent. Around 40,000 students from 500 schools came to the theatre to check out performances. The festival also had an international impact thanks to its digital education program Classroom Connect. Around 45,000 students worldwide and 40 universities, colleges and high schools made use of the program to take in performances virtually.

The festival’s subscription streaming service Stratfest@Home was also used more than 46,000 times by people in 90 countries last year.

The 2025 season kicks off this month with Annie on April 19. This season will also features As You Like It, Sense and Sensibility, Dangerous Liaisons, Macbeth, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Anne of Green Gables, The Winter’s Tale, Forgiveness, Ransacking Troy and The Art of War.