THANKS TO OUR FUNDERS, SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

Support the Festival

St Magnus International Festival has been at the heart of Orkney’s cultural life for over 40 years, presenting an annual programme of entertaining, stimulating and sometimes challenging performances, all set against the background of Orkney at midsummer.

Income from ticket sales provides only 20% of the funds needed to stage the Festival; the remaining 80% has to be raised annually through grants, sponsorships and donations. So the contributions of our Supporters are highly valued and are important in helping us maintain the quality of Festival performances and all the associated community and education projects. You can help us by becoming a Festival Supporter.

Two levels of support are available, all of which enable you to enjoy special privileges such as priority booking. Benefactors’ support also enables us to claim Gift Aid on part of the amount.

BENEFACTOR

Individual: £200 Joint*: £325

Advance mailing/emailing of the Festival ticket brochure
Invitations to previews
One week’s priority booking in advance of patrons
Your name(s) credited in the Festival Programme Book as Benefactors
Free copy of the Festival Programme Book
Invitation to Opening Reception
Invitation to Benefactors Reception
During the priority booking period, individual Benefactors are entitled to buy two tickets per event, joint Benefactors four tickets per event.

*joint rates apply to two people at the same address

PATRON

Individual: £55 Joint: £85

ORKNEY OUTER ISLES - Only available to residents of the Orkney Outer Isles

Individual: £25 Joint*: £45

Advance mailing of the Festival ticket brochure
One week’s priority booking in advance of general booking
Your name(s) credited in the Festival Programme Book as Patrons
During the priority booking period, individual Patrons are entitled to buy two tickets per event, joint Patrons four tickets per event.

*joint rates apply to two people at the same address

The 2020 membership form is available here.

Vital Statistics

The 2019 Festival customer base was made up of 53% Orkney residents; 22% from England and Wales; 19% from Scotland; 3% from the US and Mexico; 2% from Europe; and a total of 1% from Australia and Canada.

9% of Festival customers became Patrons of the Festival, which contributed 4% to total sales, and 2% became Festival Benefactors, which contributed 3% to total sales.

Over 100 local people perform with the Festival Chorus each year.

Approximately twenty technical, lighting, sound and stage crew work voluntarily to ensure performances run smoothly each year.

Approximately sixty volunteers help with Front of House duties each year.

The Festival puts an extra £1.3 million into the Orkney Economy each year.

93% of audiences agreed that the Festival provided them with a high quality experience.

Every £1 that goes into the Festival brings almost £3 of benefit to the Orkney Community.

Each year it costs about £500,000 to stage the Festival

About £100,000 comes from ticket sales. Generous ongoing support from Creative Scotland Orkney Islands Council and a range of other trusts and sponsors allows the Festival to continue but this money needs to be raised each year. The Festival costs more to run than similar events on Mainland UK because of the costs of travel to Orkney and the extra time that artists need to take to travel here. To compensate, we ask them to take part in lots of events and we have an unrivalled contribution by volunteers to keep costs down.

The Festival operates as a Scottish Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee.

Where does the money go?

Artists and Commission fees 31%

Venues, Staging & Production 17%

Travel 13%

Accommodation 10%

Publications 4%

Student Bursaries 1%

Staff, Premises & Admin 24%

Reviews

“There is no other event, certainly in Scotland, that blurs the boundaries between community arts and the professional world as relentlessly as Orkney's St Magnus Festival.”

Keith Bruce - The Herald