The recent Galway Arts Festival, one of the designated millennium festivals, found itself in the peculiar position of attracting unprecedented audiences to its free events this year, but paying for this by a 15 per cent drop in box office takings.

"Galway Arts Festival has always been the guinea pig, so other festivals around Ireland might find our experience this year valuable," says its manager, Fergal McGrath, in the wake of this year's event, which was designated a millennium festival.

"The Millennium Festival support expanded our free open-air activities. The public response was unprecedented, nothing short of the Pope's visit to Galway. Interestingly, we had to sustain a loss on our ticketed events, since people who would normally have attended four to six paid events, this year selected only one or two, and spent the rest of their time enjoying the free ones.

"In financial terms the cost of this success was £30,000, accounting for a 15 per cent drop in ticketed events. While obviously we would rather not have lost this money, we realise that there is a financial cost in providing access and participation for the public. The Arts Council, local authorities, and the corporate sector need to acknowledge the need for continued support. Increased audiences do not necessarily translate into increased box office. We are delighted that we are at the forefront of developing new audiences, providing high quality experiences for people.

"We've gone up a gear this year, and have no intention of gearing down again. The Millennium Festivals committee will provide some additional support next year, and we hope that the real impact we have made will encourage new and existing corporate sponsors and the necessary increased support from the public sector."