The organization of the Quebec Summer Festival (FEQ) began selling its regular passes an hour earlier than planned on Wednesday, even before the unveiling of its programming, raising the ire of festival-goers who had to leave the festival website empty-handed.
“The unprecedented enthusiasm and increasing volume of people in the waiting room prompted us to open the ticket office at 11 a.m. [plutôt qu’à midi] to ensure that the sale runs as smoothly as possible,” indicated the FEQ on its Facebook page.
The complete sale of 105,000 regular passes ended at 1:05 p.m., according to the FEQ organization. But the advance of the sale, announced for midday, set the festival page on fire, which had received more than a thousand comments from people on Wednesday afternoon, the majority of them angry.
“It’s really inconceivable that such a large organization would decide to change the time of ticket sales at the last minute like that,” writes Chloé Fournier. We adjust our work schedules to free up a certain hour. This is truly a lack of management on your part. » More than 500 people approved this comment.
You should know that it is impossible to buy tickets to see a single show, festival-goers must obtain a pass (at $150) for all of the festival’s shows (except the VIP areas) to attend a show.
“Resellers like tickets. They say thank you once again,” added Philippe Cardinal (a comment also liked by nearly 300 people). “I think we should consider other sales models,” Karoline Boushay also wrote. Or again: “I had set an alarm… so I wouldn’t miss my shot at noon,” said, not without irony, Marjolaine Charland.
Already on Wednesday afternoon, ticket resale sites were having a field day, offering passes at exorbitant prices. Tickets, listed by date, are listed for several hundred dollars. On the Stubhub website, tickets are sold for up to $1,200. On tickets. ca, 11-day passes are available for resale between $190 and $575.
For the moment, the festival organization, which had only revealed the program at noon, has contented itself with publishing a message which justifies its decision.
“We understand your dissatisfaction with this last minute change, this decision was the most prudent in the circumstances. Please note that the sale continued after the programming reveal, the intention was not to force people to buy blind. »
On April 4 at noon, the FEQ must sell VIP passes – Gold and Silver Front Stage Zone, Bell Signature Zone and Air Canada Garden.