“Overall they are up 13% from the first week last year, so that is promising,” says Devon Strang, Marketing Manager.
Box Office Manager Jason Jardine reported that customers started lining up at five o’clock in the morning on Monday, anxious to be first in line to get their tickets. While sales got off to a good start at the Box Office in Sydney, Celtic Colours fans from around the world also got in on the action, snapping up a record number of tickets online and over the phone. By the end of the day, almost 4000 tickets had been sold, more than any other opening day.
“We’ve had tickets bought by folks in eight provinces and two territories, thirty US states, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and New Zealand,” notes Strang. “Since tourism numbers have been slow so far this summer due to weather and other factors, we’re very happy to see that demand remains strong for our concerts.”
Over the past fifteen years, Celtic Colours International Festival has established itself as one of the top festivals in Canada, with a reputation for excellence that is known around the world. The combination of top notch talent—both local and visiting, with spectacular Cape Breton scenery, has inspired Festival-goers to keep coming back year after year. And to tell their friends about it. Strang believes there is another factor that contributed to strong sales this opening week.
“In just over two years our social media communities have grown to the point where we’ll likely have 10,000 followers between our eNewsletter subscribers and Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by festival time in October,” he says. “Our audience checks in throughout the year to hear about and discuss the artists and events that make up the festival. It’s a way for them to share their memories of past festivals and their excitement for the upcoming year.”
This will be the fifteenth year for Celtic Colours International Festival which opens October 7 with the Distant Sons and Daughters concert in Port Hawkesbury featuring The Black Family, Dougie MacLean, Ashey MacIsaac, Mary Jane Lamond, Wendy MacIsaac, and Artist in Residence Bruce Molsky, among others. The Festival wraps up in Sydney, October 15 with a special concert presenting the Barra MacNeils in a unique collaboration with a variety of festival artists from home and away.
For more information about Celtic Colours visit www.celtic-colours.com. Tickets can be purchased online through the website, by phoning 567-3000 (local) or 1-888-355-7744 (toll free), or in person at the Box Office located in the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion on the Sydney Waterfront.
