Fringe World Festival'S 2021 audience numbers and box office sales were lower than in previous years after a COVID-19 lockdown caused the cancellation of 85 shows.
Fringe World Festival'S 2021 audience numbers and box office sales were lower than in previous years after a COVID-19 lockdown caused the cancellation of 85 shows.
The festival was the first to go ahead since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was interrupted by a snap lockdown from January 31 to February 5. Reduced capacity restrictions remained in place until February 14.
According to Fringe World Festival’s 2021 impact report, the lockdown caused 85 of the 474 events to be cancelled, leaving 70,238 tickets to be refunded.
About 226,800 tickets were sold, resulting in box office sales of $5.9 million, compared to 414,081 tickets sold and $10.9 million in box office sales in 2020.
Artrage chief executive Sharon Burgess said the 2021 festival’s box office sales were on track to exceed the organisation’s initial expectations when the lockdown was enforced.
“Had we not had the lockdown and we ran the numbers from the first two weeks, we would have exceeded our expectations,” Ms Burgess told Business News.
“I’d love the numbers to be higher and I’d have loved there not to be a lockdown and I would have loved to have had a few years of extra reserve in the bank but COVID has not given us that luxury.
“We are very resilient and we are very good at bouncing back and that’s what our intention is.”
Ms Burgess said the festival had learned from the 2021 festival and was making sure it had the systems in place to deal with mass show cancellations.
Despite the lockdown, the impact report said total direct economic impact of the festival was $19.9 million, giving local hospitality venues a boost.
Three-quarters of festivalgoers ate at a restaurant before or after a show and 66 per cent had a drink at a bar.
A total of 2,470 artists participated in the festival of which 94 per cent were from Western Australia, 4 per cent were from interstate and 2 per cent were from overseas.
The festival gave new artists a shot on the stage, with 20 per cent of artists saying they had never participated in a fringe festival before.
Artists who were to perform in Fringe World Festival venues and had their shows cancelled, or their shows went ahead with reduced capacity between January 31 and February 13, received 50 per cent of their potential earnings through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries Getting the Show Back on the Road Fund.
Fringe World Festival and its artists received $1.4 million from the fund.
Ms Burgess said the fund was a lifesaver for some artists.
The festival’s Fringe Fund also raised $91,248.81 and distributed it to artists and venues which lost money from ticket sales.
