Spoleto Festival USA Partners with True Tickets to Bring Digital Ticketing to One of America’s Premier Arts Festivals
BOSTON / CHARLESTON, SC, Oct. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- True Tickets, the secure digital ticket delivery service reshaping audience relationships for arts and cultural institutions, has announced a new partnership with Spoleto Festival USA — the nation’s leading multidisciplinary performing arts festival, held each spring in Charleston, South Carolina.
The move marks True Tickets’ continued expansion into the festival space. Unlike fixed performing arts venues, festivals require a mobile-first ticketing solution that can scale across multiple locations, manage a range of ticket types, and support flexible audience journeys. Password-less login and contactless delivery ensure swift, fully accessible entry.
Now in its 50th season, Spoleto Festival USA presents a world-class lineup of opera, theater, dance, and music across Charleston’s historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces. Through this partnership, Spoleto will leverage True Tickets’ seamless, Tessitura-integrated technology to enhance the patron experience, reduce ticketing friction, and strengthen its direct connection with guests.
“As a festival that spans genres and venues, we needed a ticketing experience as dynamic as our programming,” said Susan Kelly, Associate Director of Patron Services at Spoleto Festival USA. “True Tickets offers a best-in-class solution that gives us greater control while making things easier for our patrons. It’s the kind of innovation that supports both our unique operations and our audience.”
The partnership also reflects a growing trend: forward-thinking festivals and arts organizations seeking greater visibility into who’s actually attending their events, and not just who bought the ticket. True Tickets’ digital tickets are delivered as dynamic QR codes that help festivals like Spoleto prevent fraud and duplicate scans. Every delivery, share acceptance, reclaim, and scan event is captured and synced back through a deep Tessitura integration that others can’t match. This uncovers their hidden shadow audience—actual attendees whose information was previously unknown—and puts actionable shadow-audience data in the CRM to build targeted marketing campaigns that foster loyalty, drive repeat attendance, and increase revenue.
“Spoleto isn’t just a festival — it’s a cultural landmark,” said Ken Lesnik, Head of Business Development at True Tickets. “We’re proud to support their vision with technology that respects the artistry, enhances the guest experience, and brings audience data directly back to the organization. This is a great example of how digital delivery can elevate festivals in the same way it’s transformed performing arts venues.”
The partnership is live in advance of Spoleto’s 50th season in 2026, taking place from May 22 to June 7 at iconic venues throughout Charleston.
About True Tickets
True Tickets is a secure contactless digital ticket service that puts venues and event organizers in control of their tickets and in communication with their true audience. To date, True Tickets has delivered 21.7 million digital tickets worth USD $1.4 billion and enabled 2.9 million secure shares across 100+ arts organizations worldwide. Available to Tessitura Network members, True Tickets' business-to-business solution seamlessly integrates with primary ticketing systems, empowering its partners to leverage the advantages of digital-native tickets to ensure extraordinary live experiences for their guests. With True Tickets, ticket issuers can set rules and track ticket custody, limit the excesses of the secondary market, and restore direct relationships between their audiences and the live events they love. Learn more at True-Tickets.com, where you can book a demo or follow True Tickets on Twitter or LinkedIn for updates.
About Spoleto Festival USA
Spoleto Festival USA was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to create an American counterpart to the annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, which he had founded in 1958. Now in its 50th year, Spoleto Festival USA is internationally recognized as America’s premier performing arts festival. For 17 days and nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston’s historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with performances in opera; theater; dance; and chamber, symphonic, choral, and jazz music. Spoleto’s mission is to present programs of the highest artistic caliber while maintaining a dedication to young artists, a commitment to all forms of the performing arts, a passion for contemporary innovation, and an enthusiasm for providing unique performance opportunities for established artists. Beyond its role as a launching pad for young talent, Spoleto also serves as a catalyst for cultural change and has aided in Charleston’s flourishing as a top arts and culture destination. The 2026 season takes place from May 22 to June 7 in various locations throughout Charleston. Spoleto Festival USA is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.
Media inquiries: True Tickets Crystal Henderson crystal@thepresshouse.com Spoleto Festival Lauran Van Liew lvanliew@spoletousa.org
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