Ten year high at Lighthouse Poole

Ticket sales at Lighthouse Poole have reached a ten year high, with more people attending shows and screenings than at any point since the pandemic.

During the last financial year, the Poole arts venue sold two hundred and one thousand eight hundred tickets across one thousand one hundred and thirteen performances and screenings, marking an eleven per cent rise on the previous year and exceeding levels last seen a decade earlier.

Cinema attendance also increased, with the relaunched film programme recording a rise of thirty seven per cent compared with the year before, alongside more than twenty thousand people visiting Lighthouse for the first time.

Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain said the results reflected strong local backing, adding, “We know many in our community are feeling the pressure of the current economic climate, which makes this level of support especially meaningful.”

The year to April included a wide mix of productions, ranging from theatre and live music to family shows, with returning artists, touring productions and a pantomime created specifically for Poole audiences.

Alongside performances, Lighthouse expanded its work with local people, delivering more than nineteen thousand creative workshop engagements, including over thirteen thousand sessions with children and young people under nineteen.

Support for artists also increased through the Sanctuary residency scheme, working with more artists than the previous year, the majority based in Dorset, to help develop new work for future touring and performance.