After a record year in 2019 and the pandemic dealing a hard blow to cultural organizers, we’re back to 80% of theater attendance and the city of Quebec is hoping to bring back even more audiences by improving its free ticket program.
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Building on a “phenomenal” success last year when all 6,500 tickets were sold in just under 12 hours, the city of Quebec is expanding its “Let’s go out together?” campaign, offering a free ticket with the purchase of a regular-priced ticket. The campaign is aimed at broadcasters in the city center.
Councilwoman and board member Catherine Vallières-Roland formalized the infusion of $500,000, more than double last year, into this campaign, making 16,000 tickets available for 150 shows. The number of participating stations increases from 11 to 18.
Visual of the campaign Are we going out together? which offers free tickets to the show. Courtesy of the City of Quebec
Economic impact
Ms Vallières-Roland recalls that this program has a “direct impact on the vitality of the cultural environment” but also on the economic fabric of the city. The president of Culture Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches, Christian Robitaille, recalls that, according to the Quebec Institute of Statistics, a dollar invested in culture brings a benefit of $4.
The pandemic slowed the momentum of Quebec’s cultural community, which had achieved record attendance, occupancy and ticket revenue in 2019 (see table). The goal is to bring everything back to the same level as this successful year. Today we have achieved 80% of this goal.
“The tickets that we will sell, we are talking about 16,000 tickets, that will help us reach the goal, that’s for sure,” says Mr. Robitaille. The impact last year’s campaign had on the reach and speed at which tickets were sold caused a stir, which is very important to us.
The campaign is funded by a $5 million envelope from the provincial government aimed at revitalizing the city center post-pandemic. In doing so, the city of Quebec caused “a lot of jealous people” in other communities, testified Mr. Robitaille, who said that many “wished that their elected officials had made the same decisions.”
How To?
In order to use the offer, you must subscribe to the newsletter on the ose.media website. They can view the show offerings and receive a promotional code that they can use to purchase their tickets. These will go on sale November 8th at 9am. Sale ends if supplies last or November 9th at 9 p.m.
2019, record year in the state capital
- Total attendance: 1,170,558 spectators
- Paid occupancy: 70.2%
- Ticket revenue: $51,828,282
- Average ticket sales per performance: $22,944.67
Broadcasters participating in the program “Are we dating?”
- L’Anti, bar and shows
- The Quebec Musical Club
- The choir of rhapsodes
- The Imperial Bell
- The border
- The Rotunda
- The diamond
- The trident
- The periscope
- The King’s Violins
- The Quebec Musical Improvisation League
- The House of Literature
- The Quebec Opera
- The Quebec Symphony Orchestra
- The Montcalm Palace
- first act
- The Capitol Theater
- The Petit Champlain Theater
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