A total of 2,180 tickets for all events were sold at the Cheese and Grain Box Office. When added to those tickets available for Memorial Theatre, Merlin Theatre and Cooper Hall box offices from their own allocations, the figure is likely to be in excess of 2,500.
In total over £27,500 in ticket sales was taken at the Cheese and Grain box office alone. Martin Dimery, Creative Director of the Festival expressed his delight at the sales figures: “Even accounting for inflation, this is the best advanced sale I can recall in 10 years with the Frome Festival. It has to be remembered that many of our events are between £5 and £10 and very few go over the £20.00 mark, even some of the biggest names on the bill.”
Several events have already sold out including comedian Jeremy Hardy at the Merlin Theatre on Friday 14th July. The regular Frome Tunnels Walks again sold out over the first weekend. The Alternative Guide to Frome ‘The Poldark Years’ was also a full -up favourite. The pre-Festival Gala Night featuring the famous soprano Dame Felicity Lott at Cooper Hall on Wednesday 5th July, was also sold out within days.
The Frome Festival will run from Friday 7 to Sunday 16 July at venues throughout the town. “I believe this year’s Festival compares with any we’ve hosted to date in terms of crowd pleasing performers and artistic quality, said Martin Dimery. “Also - a third of our events are free, whether in galleries, open spaces,- like the Food Feast, or the pubs.
“All of this is managed with the great support of our sponsors and from Frome Town Council, our only funder. We are delighted that the Town Council has agreed to maintain our current level of funding for the next three years. It wouldn’t be possible to achieve all this without financial support, as the lion’s share of tickets sales inevitably goes to paying the performers. Our insurance bill alone is £2,000 per year.”
The Frome Festival is expected to increase tourism into the town by up to 80% when compared to other weeks of the summer. Tickets are still available for some of the headline acts including The Wonder Stuff; Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel; comedian Andy Parsons; personalities like Gyles Brandreth, Germaine Greer, Ann Widdecombe and Dr. David Starkey.
Further information is available on the Festival website: www.fromefestival.co.uk. Festival Box office: 01373 455420 / www.cheeseandgrain.com
