Paphos Opera ready to stage Lakme in Cyprus

Ticket sales “doing well” on Friday, Saturday

The medieval castle in Paphos harbour has been closed to visitors in order to allow for workers to erect the stage and stands of this year’s opera, Lakme, to be performed by the National Opera of Sofia on September 4, 5 and 6.
Ticket sales, according to promoters, are “doing well” on the opening night, Friday and the second performance on Saturday, while on the third and final night on Sunday, seats are still available.
Paphos Mayor Savvas Vergas is confident that this year’s eleventh annual opera will be just as successful as last year’s Madame Butterfly, leaving its mark on the world culture scene, as the town steams ahead with plans to host the European Cultural Capital in 2017.
Vergas, who also chairs the organiser Paphos Aphrodite Festival Co., said that although Leo Delibes’ opera, Lakme, is not as popular as last year’s opera, he feels confident that the 2,400-seat capacity will be sold out with sales so far are at the same levels as this time last year.
He added that this year he expects more online sales through the organiser’s website (www.pafc.com.cy) and the improved telesales system deployed by Evresis Call Centre on 8000-8005. Ticket are being sold at EUR 35, 50, 60 and 80.
The mayor said that he has convinced the restaurant owners on the main harbour strip to extend their serving hours to accommodate opera-goers as they leave the performance, while several hotels traditionally provide an early dinner or late evening snacks, such as the Paphos Amathus, the Elyssium, the Kanika Alexander the Great and the Aphrodite Hills resort.
With hotel bookings recording a slump throughout this summer season, the opera is the single cultural attraction that helps boost overnight stays in Paphos, with the Cyprus Tourism Organisation promoting the event in 22 countries and airlines, such as Emirates, creating special packages to attract short-stay visitors from the Gulf as well as Malta.