Lancaster Footlights & Grand Theatre Celebrate Record-breaking festive season!

Lancaster Footlights & Grand Theatre are delighted to announce an extraordinary start to the New Year after smashing attendance records for the third consecutive festive season. The charity organisation, which incorporates the amateur dramatics group Lancaster Footlights, as well as the Lancaster Adult Panto & Funcast Character Company, welcomed a whopping 19,657 attendees to their pantomime productions over November and December 2025, surpassing previous years by several thousand and outperforming wider national trends in live arts participation.

This achievement comes at a time when engagement with live theatre remains vibrant, even as wider arts participation figures fluctuate nationally, with 90% of adults reporting at least one arts engagement in the last year. GOV.UK

Audiences from across the Lancaster district, including families, schools and international visitors, flocked to Lancaster Grand Theatre’s seasonal offerings, which included 47 festive performances across three pantomimes, 27 completely sold-out shows, and close to capacity audiences on all others. The theatre also hosted three sold-out warm-up performances with celebrated English physicist and musician Professor Brian Cox, showcasing his brand-new world tour Emergence.

In total, the theatre welcomed nearly 21,000 visitors over this period, a remarkable feat for a community-focused arts charity supported by a small team of paid staff and dedicated volunteers who help bring performances to life both on-stage and behind the scenes.

A Message from the Chair

Mark Hutton, Chair of Lancaster Footlights and Grand Theatre CIO, said:

“It was amazing to see so many visitors to the theatre over the festive season. As a small charity, our mission is to be a 'place of joy and a centre for artistic and cultural excellence' and judging by the beaming faces, howls of laughter and some fantastic reviews, our 2025 offer, which included school, family and adult pantomimes, as well as three nights with Professor Brian Cox, certainly seemed to deliver the goods!"

“I wanted to take a moment to recognise, celebrate and applaud the people that came together to make it all happen. As a charity we have a small but incredibly dedicated team of paid staff that work hard throughout the whole year, but really pull out the stops in December, when every aspect of our operation goes into over-drive - they are quite simply amazing. We are also incredibly lucky to have a team of dedicated Front of House volunteers without whom we simply couldn’t exist. Most visitors to the theatre won't realise that the majority of the team they see that run our coffee bars, usher guests to seats, and generally take care of their safety and accessibility needs during a visit, are volunteers giving up their own precious time to ensure others can have a good time! We never take such commitment and dedication for granted”

“We always try to ensure our productions are affordable, as we want to ensure local theatre is accessible to as many people as possible. Throughout December we hope we have helped share the joy of live performance and in doing so have done our bit to enthral and inspire current and new generations of theatre goers. In a digital age where more and more entertainment comes through screens, it's vital we can continue to showcase the sheer joy joining a crowd of like-minded souls, forgetting life's troubles for a couple of hours, and being whisked off into a magical theatrical world can bring. This joy isn't just for Christmas though! Our amateur society, Footlights, is already working hard on 2026 productions including ‘Enchanted April, The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe, Frankenstein, and Robin Hood'. We will also be hosting other local societies, dance schools, and professional acts, as well as ‘evenings with’ famous celebrities that will see us provide over 230 shows in 2026 - so hopefully we will have something for everybody and can continue to keep the joy of live performance at the Grand Theatre alive and flourishing. We hope to see you here!”.

Celebrating Community Engagement Across All Productions

Funcast Character Company marked its third year of school pantomime with Puss in Boots, welcoming over 6,000 schoolchildren from 45 schools and nurseries spanning Penrith to South Lancashire. A spokesperson for Funcast said:

“We’re still absolutely over the moon after the incredible feedback and success of our Schools Panto. It was a true joy to welcome so many young people into the gorgeous Lancaster Grand Theatre. Seeing so many children experience live theatre, many for the very first time, is exactly why we do what we do. A huge thank you to the schools, teachers, and students who joined us and helped make this production so special.”

The Lancaster Adult Panto also celebrated a fully sold-out run with its 17th annual production, with this year’s title: Robin Hood. The team said:

“Huge thanks to the theatre team, our incredible cast & crew and to every single one of you who came out to see us and support live theatre, you lot are our favourites!”

Thank You, and See You in 2026

Everyone at Lancaster Footlights and Grand Theatre CIO, together with our festive production partners, want to share a heartfelt thank you to audiences for choosing Lancaster Grand Theatre for your seasonal entertainment. We are truly humbled by your support and overwhelmed in the best possible way.

Tickets for 2026 shows are already on sale, with adult panto selling fast and family and schools pantos to follow shortly. Be sure to book early to avoid disappointment!

Book online:
www.lancastergrand.co.uk
Box Office: 01524 64695