Adelaide Festival Centre lost millions when it shut down because of COVID-19
More than 77 show bookings were cancelled and $2 million in tickets had to be refunded at the Adelaide Festival Centre when COVID-19 closures were introduced.
Arts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Arts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Adelaide Festival Centre had to refund more than $2 million in tickets and lost another $2.4 million in venue hire fees between March and June as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Income from the centre’s sales of goods and services fell to just under $16 million, down from almost $28 million the previous year.
In late March, the centre reduced staff levels by 58 per cent, including the loss of 180 casual staff who were stood down and six full-time or part-time roles which were not renewed or replaced. Another 98 staff volunteered to take two days a week as unpaid leave until the end of June.
In its annual report, chief executive Douglas Gautier said the centre had only raised 51 per cent of its operating budget from earned income in 2019-20, compared to an average of 70 per cent each year for the past decade.
Mr Gautier said the centre had performed strongly for the first half of the financial year, with successful seasons of touring musicals including The Book of Mormon, West Side Story and Billy Elliot.
However, after declaration of the public health emergency, all its performances, functions and events were suspended from March 17.
“In the following weeks, AFC’s ticketing agency, BASS, refunded 19,560 tickets with a gross value of more than $2 million for School of Rock the Musical, which was due to open in March,” Mr Gautier said in the report.
“Between the closure and the end of the 2019-20 financial year, 77 bookings for shows in AFC venues were cancelled or postponed, resulting in more than $2.4 million in lost revenue from venue hire.
“This in turn resulted in similar revenue losses in ticketing, food and beverage, production and marketing services. All the functions, conferences and weddings which would usually fill AFC’s Banquet Room and restaurant and generate revenue were also cancelled.”