Bregenz Festival draws 133,000 visitors by halfway point

The Bregenz Festival has attracted around 133,000 visitors in the first half of this year’s programme, ORF reported on Thursday. Both the sold-out lake stage production and the other performances have drawn large audiences.

The festival said it had received a positive response from audiences and the media. The production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, presented on the lake stage since July 22, is expected to have attracted 104,595 visitors by Friday across 14 sold-out performances, including the dress rehearsal and Young People’s Night.

There has been no cancellation because of rain so far. Fourteen more performances are scheduled before the festival ends on August 23. All 28 performances were sold out before Easter.

Strong attendance for other productions

The festival described The Excursions of Mr Brouček as the season’s discovery. Its three performances at the festival hall drew 4,495 visitors, giving it an occupancy rate of 98 percent.

Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, a guest production by Vienna’s Burgtheater, attracted 1,454 people across three performances, with occupancy at 99 percent. The premiere of Passion of the Common Man on the workshop stage drew 850 visitors, filling 96 percent of available seats.

Singalong creates record day

The festival also highlighted the Singalong event on August 1, held to mark its 80th anniversary. Amateur singers, choirs, vocal groups, professional singers and festival soloists performed famous opera choruses together on the lake stage.

The 6,548 participants helped make August 1 the busiest day in the festival’s history, with around 15,000 visitors recorded across the festival grounds.

The remaining programme includes the premiere of Natalie Baudy’s under the influence at Theater Kosmos on August 12, Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at Theater am Kornmarkt on August 17, and the premiere of YUM! by Chinese composer Wen Liu on the workshop stage on August 20.

The season will close on August 23 with a morning concert by the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra under conductor Leo McFall, followed by what is currently planned to be the final performance of La traviata. The opera will return to the lake stage next year.