Stratford Festival celebrates 2023 surplus amidst attendance jump

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

There were 35 per cent more people that took in a play at the Stratford Festival last year than in 2022.

That’s just one of the highlights of the 2023 season in Stratford that saw more than 443,000 patrons attend a show at the Stratford Festival.

That leap in attendance helped lead to a surplus of $404,000 for the Stratford Festival, despite an increase in expenses. The report showed that revenue reached $80.1 million, while expenses sate at $79.7 million.

2023 also saw the Stratford Festival surpass $1 billion in ticket sales since its inception in 1953.

The 2023 recap comes on the heals of a new Sport Tourism Canada study that shows the wide ranging impact that the festival has on Stratford, Ontario, and Canada.

The study found that the festival’s overall economic impact is $276.7 million. Of that, $147.3 million is spent within Stratford and area, with restaurants leading the way with $24.4 million spent by visitors to the Festival.

The Stratford Festival has over 1,400 employees, with 1,000 of those working in Stratford, according to the report.

The festival’s 2024 season kicks off on April 16 with previews of ‘Something Rotten,’ followed by featured plays including ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ‘Twelfth Night,’ and ‘Wendy and Peter Pan.’