Since The Dixie’s doors opened, they have held over 300 school time performances, over 800 main event performances, and over 900 classes for both adults and children. They’ve sold out shows in a few, short hours and had Grammy-award winning artists take the stage year after year. Experiences like this exist because The Dixie has a very supportive patron base and a passionate staff that take pride in each show, each class, and each school time performance for the entertainment and arts education of our community.
With staff and patrons’ health a top priority, The Dixie ended the 2019-2020 season prematurely in early March due to Covid-19. While their doors have been closed to productions, The Dixie team has provided online readings to school-aged children, shared ways to support former Dixie artists, and held in-person art classes to kids and adults which followed the recommended CDC procedures and guidelines.
As a nonprofit organization, The Dixie relies heavily on event and ticket revenues as well as community support to bring world-class acts to their stage. With many months of postponed and canceled events, they experienced a major loss in revenue. While the Town of Huntingdon has made the necessary adjustments to expenditures, there’s still a gap that must be addressed to keep moving forward and be ready to welcome patrons back to The Dixie.
The Dixie has always been blown away by the support of their patrons but especially over the past few months. Patrons have held on to tickets to rescheduled shows, donated them back to The Dixie, or simply made a donation to the organization. Through the patrons’ generosity, The Dixie has been able to continue its mission of enriching lives through the arts.
Because of the incredible support of the patrons, the venue has been inspired to create The Dixie’s Encore Fund. Through The Dixie’s Encore Fund, they will be able to maintain their theater and make the necessary safety adjustments and enhancements to prepare for reopening; provide virtual performances and educational programs for all ages; retain staff to prepare for the time when it is safe to fully reopen their doors and to offset revenue lost from canceled performances. No gift is too small to help keep the theater supported until it’s time to gather together and experience the curtains rising again.
To support The Dixie’s Encore Fund, visit DixiePAC.net or call The Dixie’s Box Office, Monday – Friday, 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. at 731.986.2100.
