VIENNA, (PNA/Xinhua) — Despite the widely-claimed success of the 2013 Salzburg Festival, Mayor Heinz Schaden on Tuesday called for the event to be made smaller due to what he said as “overkill.”
Schaden said the 280 events at the festival which finished Sunday had caused performers and staff to become tired and frustrated, and added it was “just too much.”
He believed in a “less is more” approach to the number of events going forward, the ORF reported.
The record number of ticket sales at 290,000 announced by the Festival Board of Directors on Tuesday was also too much for the 14 venues at the event, the mayor added.
Festival President and Business Manager Helga Rabl-Stadler was more upbeat, saying the 29 million euros (about US$ 38 million) in revenues at this year’s Festival beat the previous record of 28 million euros in 2006, which was the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birthday. In addition it was 2.4 million euros more than expected.
The event also brought significant business to the local economy, with hotels in the area booked out completely, compared to 2011 when they were only 70 percent full, said Festival Director Alexander Pereira. (US$ 1 = 0.76 euro)