{"id":5371,"date":"2013-02-05T15:49:18","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T14:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=5371"},"modified":"2013-02-05T15:49:18","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T14:49:18","slug":"test-drive-the-arts-ni-celebrates-3rd-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2013\/02\/test-drive-the-arts-ni-celebrates-3rd-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Drive the Arts NI Celebrates 3rd Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Test Drive the Arts NI reaches another important milestone with its 3rd<\/sup> birthday this Saturday, the 9th<\/sup> of February, and Audiences NI has 15745 reasons to celebrate this flagship arts development project.<\/h2>\n
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Alfie Taggart joins Test Drive the Arts to share his 3rd birthday with this successful Audience Development Project on 9 February 2013 and is joined by Karen Hassan (currently on stage at the Lyric Theatre in Mixed Marriage) and Paul Boyd from Comedy of Errors (opening at Theatre at the Mill on 19th February). Representing Audiences NI is Victoria Taggart. Test Drive the Arts NI enables anyone in Northern Ireland to get complimentary tickets to some of the best arts show and events across the province on www.testdrivetheartsni.org Photography by Nigel Williamson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since its launch Test Drive the Arts NI has seen 15745 new attenders be issued tickets for arts event across Northern Ireland<\/p>\n

The website www.testdrivetheartsni.org<\/a> enables anyone in Northern Ireland who has never been to live theatre or performing arts events to get complimentary tickets to some of the best shows and events across the province. \u00a0Test Drive the Arts NI was designed to help organisations increase their audiences by offering the tickets, from unsold capacity. The result is that the Test Driver experiences the very best of what the arts has to offer and is encouraged to return as a paying customer to another event.<\/p>\n

It is a simple process.\u00a0 All the Test Driver needs to do is pick a show, apply on-line and wait for their tickets.\u00a0 As long as the applicant is over 18 and hasn\u2019t attended the venue in the last three years they can look forward to sampling the very best that the Northern Ireland arts scene has to offer. Test Drive the Arts NI also continues to provide best value to its subscribers with exclusive special offers on a monthly basis for theatre, film, dance, music and much more.<\/p>\n

There are currently 86 arts organisations taking part, including venues such as An Droichead, Belfast Waterfront, Grand Opera House, Lyric Theatre, Strule Arts Centre, Millennium Forum and the Theatre at the Mill. Local theatre companies such as Bruiser and Kabosh are also on board, while the Cinemagic, Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen\u2019s, Cathedral Quarter Out to Lunch and Belfast Children\u2019s Festival are just some of the festivals represented.<\/p>\n

Audience members who have successfully received tickets through Test Drive the Arts NI have the following to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cFantastic opportunity to attend events you might not otherwise attend. Great experience, would recommend.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a fantastic idea! I was really impressed with how simple it was. All that’s left to be said is a big thank you for a wonderful day out and we will be seeing you again very soon!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely a good way to be reintroduced to the Arts.\u00a0 Loved it.\u00a0 Thanks for the opportunity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You can watch a selection of Test Drivers talk about their experiences at http:\/\/www.audiencesni.com\/what-we-do\/Test-Drive-The-Arts-NI<\/a><\/p>\n

Chief Executive of Audiences NI, Steven Hadley, says \u201cWe are very excited to see Test Drive the Arts NI reach its third birthday and to be providing this opportunity to access the arts to the people of Northern Ireland. The project is a great way for anyone who hasn\u2019t tried the wide range of arts performances available in the province to get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are at present a wide range of events online on www.testdrivetheartsni.org<\/a> and those interested can register for regular updates on shows being added to the site.\u00a0 Potential applicants can look out for regular updates on the Test Drive the Arts NI Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages also.\u00a0 Audiences NI encourage everyone to challenge themselves to experience a new art form and take a Test Drive of one of Northern Ireland\u2019s many excellent arts productions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Test Drive the Arts NI reaches another important milestone with its 3rd birthday this Saturday, the 9th of February, and Audiences NI has 15745 reasons to celebrate this flagship arts development project. Since its launch Test Drive the Arts NI has seen 15745 new attenders be issued tickets for arts event across Northern Ireland The … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5373,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371\/revisions\/5373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}