A look at the Central Statistical Bureau's data shows that last year more than 600,000 people attended performances by the country's seven professional theatres and 390,000 people attended concerts organised by the six state capital companies.
"Last season was really successful for the National Theater. With a plus sign," says Māris Vītols, director of the Latvian National Theater, noting that last season the theater managed to increase the number of spectators by 55 thousand or 40%.
"It is ticket revenue, our own revenue, that has increased by 10%. That's about 250 thousand euros," the director says.
Asked how much the theater's income was last year, Vītols said: "So 2.5 million is our net turnover. And usually it's the state giving us a grant, but we ourselves have earned more than the state has helped us with in the form of grants. And that's what it looks like in the coming seasons, that our own income will grow faster than the state grant."
Valmiera Drama Theater also had a financially successful season last year, managing to maintain a stable number of performances despite prolonged renovations. Evita Ašeradena, director of Valmiera Drama Theater, says: "I think that Valmiera Drama Theater is special and it is difficult to talk about capacity."
"And last year we had almost 50,000 spectators, which is a very respectable number considering the size of the city and the theatre's homelessness."
Last year, Valmiera Drama Theater staged more than 320 performances, which was even more than in 2022.
"And the total revenue grew compared to previous years because the ticket price increased in general. And it was more than 800 thousand euros, which was just ticket revenue," says the director.
This year, Valmiera Drama Theater does not plan to raise ticket prices, but in general it is looking forward to the year with renewed vigor and at the end of this month it will start staging performances in the renovated theater's Great Hall.
Meanwhile, the concert organization "Latvijas koncerti" is looking forward to the autumn and winter cultural season with some trepidation, as the Great Guild, its main concert hall, is closed for renovation.
Guntars Ķirsis, a member of the company's board, explains, "We are forced to rent space in perhaps less traditional venues such as the Riga Circus or the University of Latvia. However, people tend to go to a traditional concert venue, so will they be able to react so quickly and follow the concerts we offer?. We will see and hopefully that will be the case."
Guntars Ķirsis says that concert organisers, unlike theaters, have a year-round season, and overall this year has been a success with an increase in attendance.
Turnover was also up. This was also at the expense of ticket price increases, as Latvijas koncerti increased ticket prices by 15% this year. There are no plans to increase ticket prices further in the coming months.
