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Surrounded by flat and fertile farmland, STRATFORD is a homely and likeable town of 29,000 people that's brightened by the Avon River trimming the centre and by its grandiose city hall, a brown-brick fiesta of cupolas, towers and limestone trimmings. More importantly, the town is also the home of the Stratford Festival ( www.stratford-festival.on.ca ), which started in 1953 and is now one of the most prestigious theatrical occasions in North America, attracting no fewer than half a million visitors from May to early November. The core performances are Shakespearean, but there's much other drama too, from Racine to O'Casey and Beckett. The Festival Box Office at the Festival Theatre (Jan to late April Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 9am-2pm; late April to early Nov Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 9am-2pm; tel 1-800/567-1600 or 519/273-1600) accepts ticket orders by phone or in person; by mail (PO Box 520, Stratford, ON N5A 6V2); by fax (tel 519/273-6173); or by email ( orders@stratford-festival.on.ca ). Tickets cost anywhere between $25 and $75 depending on the performance and which seat category you have. Many plays are sold out months in advance, but the box office does set aside a limited number of rush tickets for two of the three main theatres - the Festival and the Avon, but not the Tom Patterson - at about $25. These are for sale from 9am on the day of the performance, but the seats are the worst in the house. The box office also organizes a number of discount packages with savings upwards of ten percent for various categories of performance, plus accommodation ranging from hotels down to guesthouses.
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