The Huntsville Festival of the Arts celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2007 and with solid attendance, it proved to be its best year ever.
Ticket sales brought in $87,000 more than last year, an increase of 36 per cent, and the May Marché fundraiser, which was enjoyed by 530 patrons, up by 150 from the previous year, netted $42,000.
The final balance sheet reflects a surplus of $62,420, of which $7,500 has been placed in a reserve for education expenditures. The remainder will act as a cushion in case of losses in future years.
The festival had 43 bookings at the Algonquin Theatre in the past year. From Sept. 6, 2006 to June 2007 there were 11 concerts and a three-performance play.
During the July core season there were 16 mainstage concerts over the 19 days, including double-bill shows for Jim Cuddy, Bruce Cockburn and Hawksley Workman. Nine of the shows sold out, which was a record.
In July there were also 10 Music at Noon concerts presented at Trinity United Church. They too garnered record attendance.
There were three performances of Stina Nyquist’s play The Lost Chord and the first jazz festival in August, with four evening concerts followed by three concerts and a play that ran three nights.
The jazz festival will return in 2008 and will be expanded to incorporate the new River Mill Park and other outdoor venues.
In 2006-2007 the Huntsville Festival of the Arts also gave out five scholarships totalling $2,500, donated $2,000 to the Huntsville BIA to go toward the community mural, and provided $2,000 to the Algonquin Theatre for a sound board.
It underwrote the rental of the theatre for the HHS Christmas concert; presented Cadence, a singing group, for a workshop at HHS; rented the theatre to allow the Battle of the Books to hold their final event; presented a concert to a full house of public school students featuring talented students from HHS and supported the first annual Artsfest showcasing HHS students in the visual and media arts.
