Frome Festival smashes box office records

EXCITEMENT is running high in the town as people pounced on tickets for this year’s Frome Festival, breaking all its sales records in a blowout opening day last month.

Tickets have been flying off the shelves since sales started in May, with Friends of the Festival alone spending over £10,000 on advance tickets even before they went on general sale. There was another surge in the following days as people from further afield rushed to get their hands on the tickets.

Creative director Martin Dimery expressed his delight at the continuing success and said, “We are now able to offer a more efficient service in the supply of tickets, with priority bookings from Festival Friends becoming increasingly popular, and the advent of online sales for all Festival events through the Cheese and Grain’s modernised box office system. This has meant we can spread the demand, and avoid long queues on one day.

“Our major events at the Merlin Theatre, Cooper Hall, Memorial Theatre and Cheese and Grain have all been available through each venue’s box office, but we ensure some tickets are retained for the official opening. In the case of Cheese and Grain sales, including The Ukulele Orchestra, Billy Bragg, From the Jam, and Reef, sales had already surpassed 1,200 tickets.”

Festival Chairman, Bob Morris, who is responsible for the distribution of brochures added, “It’s been very helpful to have had the brochures earlier than in previous years; the distributors have been busy from just before the bank holiday onwards.”

Details of all events, including those free of charge can be found on the Festival’s website www.fromefestival.co.uk