Each year we welcome almost 325,000 attendees to our theatre.
In 2023, we will have produced over 900 performances of 18 separate productions and concert series – with 14 of those running concurrently in daily rotating repertory – meaning each theatre runs as many as three different shows every day and each actor is performing in two or more plays and/or concerts that often also includes understudying several more.
These productions occur on three indoor and two outdoor stages, six days a week. They began in February, ramping up to full capacity April to mid-October and resume with two holiday shows – Brigadoon and A Christmas Carol – in November and December – and beginning next Sunday, the 5th. I hope you will come to see them.
Beyond the performances, we will offer almost 4,000 additional audience engagement and community outreach activities, events and classes.
We are supported in this work by our Shaw Guild, an organization of 350 local volunteers who help us in everything from gardening and greeting to ticket taking and backstage tours; and by our four volunteer boards of directors.
Shaw patrons come and stay in the area for long periods, often anchoring extended annual vacations around a multi-performance theatre experience. The average Canadian household buys six tickets. The average U.S., or international household, buys 8-10. With only 15-17% of those attendees coming from the Greater Niagara Region or Hamilton corridor, we are the epitome of a cultural tourism destination.
Last year, 2022, saw the highest gross revenue year in our history, with income of over $36.5 million. As we receive only around 5% of our normal operating budget from all government sources, including provincial and federal arts councils, we must raise over $12 million in annual charitable donations from individual philanthropic supporters simply to break even. Fortunately, more than 14,000 households choose to support us philanthropically each year, from both the U.S. and Canada.
U.S. patrons account for between 30-35% of our normal attendance, and while much of that is border state driven, with tens of thousands of attendees coming annually from centers like Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Rochester. Chicago, Manhattan and Florida are also major markets. Added to that, we have over 1,000 attendees coming every year from each of nine more distant markets including Southern California (San Diego/ LA Jolla), Connecticut, Texas (Houston, Dallas, Austin), Illinois (rural), Minnesota (MSP), New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts and Maryland. We also get approximately 3,000 international attendees each year. They all anchor long stays in the Region around their Shaw experience. In fact, 92% of our visitors specifically cite the Festival as their primary reason for visiting Niagara.
The rest of our attendees arrive from across literally every district of Ontario and beyond.
Because of this unusually long visitor stay culture, and the variety of available activities that surround us, The Shaw has grown to become the largest generator of economic impact of any independent arts and culture charity in Ontario, and one of the largest in North America.
The economic impact of the Shaw Festival on the Region of Niagara – pre-pandemic and will hopefully become again – was, according to a recent PwC Canada study on The Shaw’s economic impact to the province that was released last month, in excess of $237.8 million/annum and the single largest factor in Niagara’s arts and culture economy.
This includes over $85 million in hotels and accommodations, $77 million in restaurant, bar and grocery spend, $37 million in retail and local attractions and $31 million in travel, including rail, air and ground.
This results in total GDP, or value added, of almost $200 million/annum.
PwC Canada also tells us more than 2,100 Niagara area jobs in tourism and hospitality, beyond our own 600+ employees, are reliant on us for their existence and stability, and we know, synergistically, that we are reliant on them for their gold standard services and amazing wine, food and activity offerings.
To read more from Shaw Festival, Executive Director Tim Jenning’s speech for the Niagara Economic Summit: Shaping a Better Future (2023), click below.
Tim Jenning’s Speech