The first Night Out show was in Nantybwch Senior Citizens' Hall
in Tredegar, on 13th October 1980.
The first tour was by a company called "SMALL CHANGE
THEATRE" who performed "Hope Street" - about the Gresford
Colliery disaster. Night Out was developed by John Prior and
was initially part of South East Wales Arts Association.
This was followed by six more performances, in Cwm, Swffrydd,
Cwmafon, Pontymoile, Gilwern and Llanhilleth to average audiences
of 93. That first year 1980/81 produced 11
promoters, who hosted 34 with an average attendance of 82.
In 1999 Night Out became a national scheme as part of the Arts
Council of Wales working in conjunction with the local
authorities.
In 2019/20 322 promoters hosted 538
performances through the scheme in 350 different
venues. A grand total of 13008 shows since the
scheme started
267 performers performed 329
different shows. 57% were from Wales, 37% from the rest
of the UK and 6% overseas
27% of performers in the medium of Welsh
1980/81 11 promoters, who hosted
34 performances
1981/82 24 promoters host 49
performances TOTAL 83
1982/83 90 promoters host 103
performances TOTAL 186
1985/ 86 116 promoters host 194
performances TOTAL 380
1986/87 80 promoters host
140 performances TOTAL 520
1987/88 115 promoters host
115 performances TOTAL 635
1988/89 138 promoters host
213 performances TOTAL 848
1989/90 124 promoters
host 223 performances TOTAL 1081
1990/91 127 promoters host 141
performances TOTAL 1222
1991/92 129 promoters host 196
Performances TOTAL 1418
1993/94 108 promoters host 201
performances TOTAL 1819
1995/96 107 promoters host 171
performances TOTAL 2179
1996/97 77 promoters host 146
performances TOTAL 2325
1997/98 90 promoters host 184
performances TOTAL 2509
1998/99 159 promoters host 300
performances TOTAL 2809
1999/2000 111 promoters hosted 201 performances TOTAL
3010
2000/01 50 promoters hosted 307
performances TOTAL 3317
2001/02 165 promoters hosted 298
performances TOTAL 3615
2002/03 187 promoters hosted 374
performances TOTAL 3989
2003/04 206 promoters hosted 392
performances TOTAL 4381
2004/05 252 promoters hosted 411
performances TOTAL 4792
2005/6 276 promoters hosted 508
performances TOTAL 5300
2006/7 347 promoters hosted 638
performances TOTAL 5938
2007/8 230 promoters hosted 535
performances TOTAL 6473
2008/9 316 promoters hosted 573
performances TOTAL 7046
2009/10 350 promoters hosted 589
performances TOTAL 7630
2010/11 344 promoters hosted 574
performances TOITAL 8204
2011/12 337 promoters hosted 580
performances TOTAL 8784
2012/13 380 promoters hosted 572 performances TOTAL
9356
2013/14 336 promoters hosted 532 performances
TOTAL 9878
2014/15 343 promoters hosted 521 performances
TOTAL 10399
2015/16 331 promoters hosted 534 performances TOTAL
10933
2016/17 319 promoters hosted 513 performances TOTAL
11446
2017/18 319 promoters hosted 511 performances TOTAL
11957
2018/19 312 promoters hosted 513 performances TOTAL
12470
2019/20 322 promoters hosted 538 performances TOTAL
13008
2020/21 Covid- all events cancelled
2121/22 72 promoters hosted 108
performances TOTAL 13116
2022/23 277 promoters hosted 402 performances TOTAL
13518
