Friendship & Sponsorship

Each year more than half the tickets are sold to Friends and Sponsors.

As most our tickets are sold at the same price, all levels of Friendship entitle you to early booking and better seats: the higher the level of Friendship, the better the seats. Sponsors also receive the best seats.

Importance of Friends and Sponsors

We rely on the generosity and support of our Friends and Sponsors to maintain the standards of the Festival, secure its future and further its aims, which are to:

• Organise and produce a summer opera festival of high quality on the Côte d’Azur

• Present interesting works particularly suited to performance as chamber opera

• Encourage and promote young talent and commission new works.

Ticket sales only account for 50% of the Festival’s income, the balance (more than €150,000) comes from the generosity of its Friends, public support and corporate sponsorship.

Ticket sales face the competitive pressure of the state funding of French opera which accounts for 70% to 84% of the typical budget, whereas we only get 2% from public funds. We pay very close attention to our costs.

If you want further information on Friendship and Sponsorship , please download the pdfs at the top right of this page.

L'Association des Amis du Festival "Les Azuriales"

This is the official organisation that runs the festival and it is an officially registered "Association" with its registered office ("Siège Social") at the Festival's Nice address. All Friends become "Membres Amis". The President is Sarah Holford, the founder of Les Azuriales.

Les Azuriales Opera Trust

This is a UK registered charity (Reg. No. 1077210), whose main objective is to support the Festival, although its objects include the supporting of music generally, including helping young singers and promoting education through opera. It is also, where appropriate, able to support repair and restoration of the buildings in which we perform.

All UK Friends' donations are given to the Trust and both they and it are able to reclaim tax on the donations.

The trustees are Sarah Holford, Mark Holford, George Gluck and Rex Harbour. Its registered address is the London office of the Festival.