Bermuda Festival to suspend operations for ‘foreseeable future’
Organisers of the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts expressed their sadness as they announced the suspension of operations after 48 years.
The halt comes after audience numbers dropped and costs increased.
It is expected to provide opportunities for the team to reconsider how best to deliver programmes that attract residents and future generations.
David Skinner, the festival’s chairman, told The Royal Gazette yesterday: “We’re sad but we’re hopeful that we can find a way to make this work and that we can re-emerge as soon as possible, in whatever form that takes.
“We need to do some root-and-branch analysis and some research to try to figure out what that is.”
He added: “The festival has so much to be proud of. Over its 48 seasons it has been an integral part of the cultural landscape of Bermuda.
“We have brought world-class performances to the doorstep and showcased the best of both international and Bermudian artists.
“Our outreach programmes have impacted tens of thousands of students, adults and underserved in the community.
“We are grateful to the foundations, companies and individuals including hundreds of volunteers who have continued to support the festival in its mission.
“In recent years competition for financial support for charities has increased and audience numbers have declined while costs have increased significantly.
“Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a position that is untenable and it is time to pause and re-evaluate the viability of the festival going forward.”
Mr Skinner added that market research would be carried out to “take the pulse of the community”.
David Skinner, the chairman of the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, recalled a handful of highlights among hundreds of performances delivered over almost half a century.
He said: “One of the first ones that comes to mind is Jonathan Butler.
“Jonathan was the first Black South African to have his music played on White South African radio.
“He came to Bermuda and packed the house both nights at the Southampton Princess.”
The Southampton Inspirational Choir was also part of the event and joined the singer in his show.
Mr Skinner added: “It was a memorable occasion because by the end of the concert, when the choir came on and did two numbers with him, everybody was standing and swaying back and forth and it was as if they’d gone to church.”
He continued: “Years before that we had [a cappella group] Pentatonix, who are now well out of our reach.
“They were fantastic.
“We’ve had other groups like them, we had The Queen’s Six in 2019, who are a group of singers who are resident at Windsor Castle.
“We had to get the Queen’s permission for them to appear, which we got, that was wonderful.
“We had a group called the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, a Scottish rock band complete with bagpipes and they incorporated the Bermuda Islands Pipe Band in their performance.
“[Also] The Mountaintop, the story about the night Martin Luther King was shot.
“Some of these performances have just been memorable because of the experience and the thought-provoking nature of them and others for pure entertainment.”
A spokeswoman said all operations and productions would be suspended “for the foreseeable future”.
She added: “Our vision has been to enrich the quality of life on the island through creative, engaging and inspiring experiences.
“It has been the only Bermuda platform for important and rising international artists in music, dance and theatre.
“We recognise that the arts sector, along with the world, is changing rapidly and that our current model may not fit the needs of future generations.
“The suspension of operations is an opportunity to think afresh about the priorities, structures and purpose of a future presentation of performing arts in Bermuda.
“As an organisation we fervently believe in the value of the performing arts to enhance the quality of life in a community and to bring people together.
“It is our hope that this suspension will provide opportunities for the board and perhaps others to reimagine a performing arts organisation for everyone, one that focuses on highlighting many different performance genres and providing outreach that will fit Bermuda’s desires and needs.”
Cindy Campbell, the festival’s executive director, said: “For us, like many around the world, the Covid-19 shutdown period was a difficult time.
“The absence of live performances for essentially two seasons placed a severe financial strain on the festival.
“Staff were laid off, salaries reduced, and we gave up office space that could no longer be afforded.
“We achieved a 60 per cent reduction in operational costs compared to before the pandemic.
“During the shutdown the festival redesigned its processes and structures and in this first full post-Covid festival it has maintained an expense level of 40 per cent below pre-pandemic averages.
“Unfortunately, these cost-cutting measures have not been enough to overcome the dual income challenges of fundraising and ticket sales while expenses continue to increase.
“While some of the performances in this first full season since the Covid-19 shutdowns have enjoyed good attendance, overall we experienced a 67 per cent decline in ticket sales compared to pre-pandemic averages.
“There may be many factors that have affected ticket sales. However, with the combined pressure on revenues and expenses, the festival did not see a clear path forward to sustainability.”
Ms Campbell told the Gazette that the suspension would result in the end of contracts for two members of staff, including herself, on July 31, although she has agreed to continue with the festival on a “consulting as needed” basis.
Four part-time consultants who helped to drive the festival’s social-media presence were made aware of the news yesterday.
Ms Campbell said: “Our research indicates that all performing arts organisations worldwide are facing similar pressures.
“What we’ve also noticed is that the organisations that seem to be coming back have taken the time to do the research, to find out what the future generations of audiences want, because it’s not necessarily the same as what people may have wanted 25 years ago.
“I think for us, if Covid hadn’t happened with those financial pressures, we might have been able to do that research while continuing to produce shows but it’s been too many difficult financial years in a row.”
She and Mr Skinner highlighted their passion for outreach programmes delivered by the organisation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bermuda Festivals Purpose Trust — a registered charity.
Ms Campbell said the latest programme was “amazing”.
She explained: “We went into the prisons, we went into the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, we went into Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy, so we really changed the focus of our outreach … unfortunately we are taking this pause after a year that I would consider very successful from what we produced.”
Mr Skinner added: “It’s really the outreach which is the raison d’être for the festival.
“It’s not as if the performances aren’t important. They are very important because without the artists doing the performances we wouldn’t have the outreach leaders, but it really is the outreach, that’s the work that deserves to continue and we are desperately trying to find ways to make sure that it can continue and can be sustained.
"Limping from year to year just isn’t going to work, so we need to take this pause and hopefully it will be a short one.
“Hopefully it will be just a year and we can figure out some solutions to these questions that we don’t know the answers to at the moment.”
Cindy Campbell, the executive director of the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, recalled how a prisoner was among the people moved by outreach programmes delivered by the organisation.
Actors from the London Stage joined inmates at Westgate for a workshop this year.
Ms Campbell said: “Everybody was pretty closed and on-edge when we walked in and by the end of it, they were so happy, they were smiling, there were no barriers between the prison staff and the prisoners or the festival staff.”
Ms Campbell added: “There was one prisoner … I think he had been there for seven years or more, and he said to me, I haven’t smiled since I came in this place until today.”
She said: “That outreach programme was about communication and emotional control through theatre.
“That’s moving … we made a difference in somebody’s life that day.”
Ms Campbell also remembered the joy of residents at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute’s programme for adults with learning difficulties.
She said one participant sang a song taught by her mother to her when she was a child.
Ms Campbell added: “You’ve got tears in your eyes because it was so emotional for her because all of a sudden she remembered her mom.
“The festival makes a difference in people’s lives.”
The spokeswoman added that the festival, founded in 1976, left “an incredible legacy for our community”.
A participant of the 2004 Othello outreach workshop said recently: “Being a child of modest means, without the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, I wouldn’t think a life of art would be possible.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to know that it is.”
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