98.5 percent

Whitsun Festival rejoices over strong capacity utilization

Erwin Schrott performed at a gala for Plácido Domingo.(Bild: SF / Marco Borrelli)

The Salzburg Whitsun Festival is very satisfied with the performance that ended yesterday. The occupancy rate was 98.5 percent. More than 13,000 guests from 52 nations were in Salzburg.

The audience response was outstanding, said the Salzburg Festival in its review of the Whitsun Festival on Tuesday. "With more than 13,000 visitors and an occupancy rate of 98.5 percent, the 2024 Whitsun Festival seamlessly continued the great successes of recent years", explained Kristina Hammer, President of the Salzburg Festival.

For the first time, the Artistic Director of the Whitsun Festival, Kammersängerin Cecilia Bartoli, placed the genius loci at the heart of her program with "Tutto Mozart". "And the audience followed her enthusiastically," said Hammer.

Festival Director Markus Hinterhäuser praised Bartoli's "unerring sense of musical and dramaturgical quality". The festival ended with a gala concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Spanish star tenor Plácido Domingo's Salzburg stage debut.

The guests came from 52 nations. The countries with the most visitors included Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, the USA, Italy, Great Britain, Hungary, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. 71 accredited journalists wrote articles for media in 16 countries. Lukas Crepaz, Commercial Director of the Salzburg Festival, summed up that Cecilia Bartoli's concept was once again a complete commercial success.