Proms attendance up on pre-pandemic levels

Average attendance figures for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall this year were significantly up on 2019.

According to figures released by the BBC, more than half the main evening concerts at the venue sold out, with an average audience attendance across the season at the Hall of 93%. This is up seven percentage points on pre-pandemic levels in 2019. 

Nearly half (47%) of audiences at the Royal Albert Hall were attending a Prom for the first time.

Meanwhile, nearly one million people watched the First Night of the Proms on BBC Two, its strongest overnight TV audience since 2009. A peak audience of 3.5 million people watched the Last Night of the Proms on BBC One.

Sam Jackson, Controller of BBC Radio 3 said: "This has been a fantastic year for the Proms, and demonstrates the country’s appetite for classical music from the BBC. 

"In multiple ways, audiences are higher than pre-pandemic figures, and I’m particularly pleased to see so many young people coming to classical music, often for the very first time."