The main difference to other opera houses is that it receives no subsidies. Attendees pay the high ticket prices because they enjoy the format, the walk through the gardens, the formal dress and the opportunity to have a picnic. Most of the attendees are the people that you will find in London at Covent Garden, The Barbican or Wigmore Hall in the winter months. It is their opportunity to have a day out in the countryside and, when it is sunny, as I anticipate it will be tomorrow when we visit, it is glorious.

you should put Santa Fe Opera Festival on your bucket list. It's an amazing location and opera house.