Melbourne Cabaret Festival Sees 89% Attendance Boost; Grows to Second Largest in World

More than 15,200 people saw a cabaret show in Melbourne in the past fortnight, positioning the Melbourne Cabaret Festival as one of the city's major winter arts events.

Audiences at the fourth Melbourne Cabaret Festival grew 89% on last year, catapulting it to the second largest cabaret festival in the world. Attendees were up 375% on the inaugural Festival in 2010.

Artistic Director, David Read, says that the growth of the Festival is extraordinary. "Looking back on the first Melbourne Cabaret Festival in 2010, when we had over 3,000 attendees to our shows and, now, four years later welcoming over 15,000 is completely beyond anything we could have hoped for."

"Cabaret has clearly entered the mainstream."

The Opening Gala at the Palais Theatre was attended by over 1,200 and set the scene for a Festival that keeps hitting new heights on the Melbourne arts calendar. Other big sellers included Motown Royalty Mary Wilson, Fem Belling's Dear Blossom, Oprahfication, Yana Alana's Between The Cracks, Little Orphan trAshley and Spiderlash.

"It's not just about the audience numbers though," Mr Read said. "It's about the employment we generate for hundreds of performers, front-of-house staff, tech team and so forth, and the experience we provide volunteers. It's the fact that a festival delivers greater economic impact than any other art event, including for restaurants and venues. It's about the estimated 1,300 tourists who contributed to the bed nights of multiple accommodation providers and spent money shopping, eating, travelling and entertaining in Melbourne."

"It's about the audiences we build for cabaret which are then passed onto our venue partners operating year round. It's about the eight overseas shows we introduced to Melbourne and the knowledge they passed onto local performers through our professional development program. It's about the collaborations between artists that formed over the festival. It's about celebrating Melbourne."

Mr Read paid tribute to the people who made the Festival happen. "To our performers who inspired and enthralled Melbourne for a massive two weeks; our audiences who enthusiastically shared in the spirit of the festival; our team of staff, volunteers and suppliers who made us look good; and our partners who have grown with us and share our passion ... we couldn't have done it without you - thank you."

Mr Read is now on the hunt for a naming rights sponsor who wants to share in the growing success of the Festival.

Mr Read said the Festival spirit was not yet extinguished, with Channel 31 set to broadcast a documentary about the Festival in early August.

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