A LAKE District theatre has announced the ballot for tickets to see Sir Ian McKellen perform in the county have been drawn.

The Theatre by the Lake, on Lake Road in Keswick, has revealed that the majority of tickets have been processed for ‘Ian McKellen on Stage’, a solo show which will play on 80 stages across the country.

The ballot received more than 3,000 entries, making it more than eight times over-subscribed for the number of available tickets for the event, which takes place on Tuesday, August 20.

One third of the theatre’s available seats were weighted towards regular attenders, supporters, and Friends of Theatre by the Lake, to give them a higher chance of being successful in the ballot.

Changes to the normal terms and conditions were in operation to ensure that ticket touts didn’t capitalise on the performance.

Those successful in the ballot cannot re-sell or reallocate their tickets to others. Tickets will be held at the theatre until the day of the event, and only exchanged to those with matching ID.

An allocation of complimentary tickets have additionally been offered to local community groups including CFM Cash for Kids, West Cumbria Hospice at Home, Carlisle Youth Zone, the Calvert Trust, West Cumbria Carers and Ewanrigg Local Trust and ENTRA.

All profits from this special performance will raise funds to benefit TBTL’s work supporting local communities, through initiatives such as their schools programme, Young and Elders Companies, and Setting the Scene workshops for people living with dementia and their carers.

Rachel Swift, head of communications at Theatre by the Lake said: “We’re delighted that so many people entered the ballot. There will undoubtedly be a number of disappointed people, but we hope that people understand that we have operated the ballot to be as fair and even-handed as possible; even our staff have no more chance of being successful in the ballot than anyone else.”

Rachel also added there could be last-ditch chances to get tickets.

“It’s possible that we’ll receive return tickets before the performance in August, if this is the case we will go back to the ballot and draw from there to give people one last chance of being selected.”

The theatre have held back four seats and will launch a final competition for ticket hopefuls in June.

The competition for those tickets will be run on the theatre’s social media channels in June, so hopefuls are advised to keep an eye out online for its launch.