Portico introduces £5 tickets

13th October 2022

As the nights draw in and the heating bills rise, worrying about money is becoming a real issue for many. The Portico of Ards in Portaferry is meeting this challenge head on by offering tickets at significantly reduced prices to many of its concerts. 

On Saturday 29 October, family show Dracula The Panto! has a standard ticket price of £15 for adults and £9 for children. Under its new scheme, Portico is offering £5 tickets for those unable to afford the standard ticket price with “no questions asked”. It means that a family of four could attend the Ards and North Down Borough Council subsidised show for just £20.

It’s not just for family shows. The comedy double bill of Diona Doherty and Teresa Livingstone taking place on Friday 4 November is also offering £5 tickets, as is the classical music concert with the Fidelio Trio on the afternoon of Sunday 6 November.

The offer isn’t available for every concert though as Portico Manger Verity Peet explains, “We’d like to do it for more concerts but at the moment we can only offer the reduced prices for gigs which are subsidised by either Ards and North Down Borough Council or the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.” 

However, Verity is quick to point out that there are other ways of seeing some of the really popular artists without paying: “Lots of our volunteers tell us that one of the reasons they volunteer is so they get a great social life for free. We are always looking for new volunteers and we like to say we can find a volunteer role to suit most abilities. All we ask is that volunteers enjoy meeting new people so if that’s you get in touch.” Would be volunteers can contact Verity@porticoards.com.

Other highlights of the autumn season include The Illegals, ANÚNA and an organ recital with Katherine Dienes-Williams.

To find out more or book tickets visit porticoards.com