Fane sells over 70,000 tickets for online season

Production company Fane has announced it has sold more than 72,000 tickets, 54% of those including a book, for the online events season it launched in September.

The firm went digital in response to the pandemic, and has held 69 events so far. These attracted viewers from 107 countries across the globe and brought 1.1 million people visiting its site, the company said.

Around 70% of the events featured a Hachette or PRH author, with others coming from Pan Macmillan, Bonnier Books UK, Faber, HarperCollins, Black & White Publishing and Jacaranda. Those on the bill have included Nadiya Hussain, Dawn French, Nigella Lawson, Matthew McConaughey, a festival for Jacaranda’s 20 in 2020, Brit Bennett, Arsene Wenger, Ant & Dec, William Boyd, Matt Haig and Margaret Atwood.

Book sales were fulfilled with the At Home with 4 Indies bookshops, Toppings, Sevenoaks Bookshop, Jarrolds and Waterstones, as well as Fane. They were also achieved internationally with partners in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The programme was billed as raising the bar from the generic Zoom standard with many of the events being filmed using two or more cameras to broadcast quality.

Fane has also been partnering with events organisations including Penguin Live, How To Academy, Apples & Snakes and 14 regional theatres across the UK.

A number of events were to raise money for charity and to date the total raised stands at £136,498 for organisations including the Black Cultural Archives, Blood Cancer UK and The Prince’s Trust.

The online programme continues into the New Year with January and February 2021 shows currently on sale. The full line-up can be seen online.