Top line figures poses questions about the artistic opportunity Cheltenham’s management face
Good news from Cheltenham’s PR team today: ticket sales are up. Everything is OK. Or at least, that’s the intended message behind the story about a ‘30% increase in concert goers since COVID’.
There’s no doubt that things are on the up and earlier than normal – a healthy looking increase a month or so before the Festival gets underway. But looking at individual concerts performance some different observations emerge. Cheltenham’s Berlioz Te Deum for example looks to be almost sold out (in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral, at least); other concerts considerably less so. The 30% in concert goers isn’t across the board. Might indicates that audiences in the West Country are drawn to big spectacles like the Te Deum? In comparison, the BBC’s New Generation Artists concerts aren’t selling as quickly with a lot more availability. Maybe the Shires aren’t as enthused by the NGAs as the BBC is: maybe that’s a learning for the BBC – when you reach out to a wider, less-informed audience, your elite performers suddenly seem less of a draw.
No matter. The high level of availability at most concerts isn’t, in itself, bad news. The Festival doesn’t get underway until 4 July. A finger in the air reminds us that most artistic endeavours—be they seasons or festivals—see the bulk of their bookings in the final three weeks before things get underway. When people hesitate to spend, spending happens closer to the wire. There’s another six weeks to go yet for Cheltenham. Compare Cheltenham’s availability with Aldeburgh’s opening night in two weeks’ time on 13 June, and Cheltenham’s doing well. Better to take a snapshot of where things stand in three weeks’ time. That might be a time to worry.
The more interesting question is posed by the ticketing insight: big collective events sell. People don’t talk excitedly about Berlioz’s Te Deum (not beyond the classical bubble). What’s the draw? Is it the spectacle—a massed choir, orchestra, and soloists? Probably. Orchestras, by comparison, playing brilliant music aren’t necessarily as big a draw as we might assume they would be.
So, a big question presents itself: what will be the signature events in years to come that draw people in and secure coverage during new artistic director Jack Bazalgette’s tenure? Bazalgette’s recent interview for Thoroughly Good might provide some insights.
Cheltenham started amid the post-war collective enthusiasm for the arts, around the same time as Aldeburgh and Edinburgh. That story in some respects feels lost in the melee of Cheltenham’s 80th anniversary programme. The Festival feels like a vehicle for classical artists whose summer calendars aren’t as full as their agents might like. Whilst the range is undoubtedly diverse (a strength), there feels as though there’s an opportunity in future years to change the narrative around Cheltenham, perhaps to deepen its curation. Here then, an opportunity presents itself for Bazalgette in the years to come. What is Cheltenham’s story to tell? What are the big-event moments? What differentiates it from other UK festivals? What will we be saying about Cheltenham in five years’ time?
A festival isn’t just a programme of concerts. It’s a space to challenge minds, expand horizons, and inspire discovery. That doesn’t just mean contemporary music (there’s newness in Cheltenham ‘25). It means bold, thoughtful curation that connects the dots between old and new, past and present. It means concerts that make audiences ask: Why this piece, now? What story does this concert tell? Festivals have the opportunity to lead and stretch audiences, not simply serve them.
A flick through the brochure sees one event in particular drawing attention: the BBC National Orchestra of Wales celebration of the Festival’s 1945 roots, another Festival first, Malcolm Arnold’s fifth symphony, a work premiered at Cheltenham in 1961. Bristling with Arnold’s masterful orchestration, this moment—a replay from the festival’s history—is surely a starting point in securing Cheltenham’s future in the UK’s cultural landscape. Success will depend on the kind of derring do Arnold so deftly stitched into his scores—inspiration found in the final bars of the symphony. It will be fascinating to see how the Festival adapts in the years to come.
