Intense Demand Expected for Remainder of Harvest Tickets July 17th
July 12, 2010
After a phenomenal Early Bird sale two months ago, the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival will put the remainder of its tickets and passes on sale Saturday, July 17th at 8:30am. Organizers expect sales to be very strong and are advising patrons not to wait to purchase tickets and passes for the Festival.
Tickets and remaining passes will be available online at ticketpro.ca, by phone at 1-888-311-9090, and in person at the Harvest Store. A significant lot of tickets and passes will be reserved for in-person sales Saturday morning at the Festival’s Harvest Central Store at 81 Regent Street in Fredericton. Patrons purchasing Ultimate and Nightly Passes through any channel will be limited to four per customer.
“It’s clear from the incredible demand during the Early Bird Sale that we simply won’t be able to meet the intense demand from patrons, particularly for passes. Our advice is to buy early to get the shows you want to see, especially once the passes sell out, which we expect will happen within minutes of the remaining inventory going on sale July 17th,” says Brad Wasson, Chair of the 2010 Festival.
In addition to tickets and passes, the Festival will unveil a new and exciting line of merchandise for the 20th anniversary of New Brunswick’s largest music festival. All merchandise will be 20% off on July 17th only, in honour of our 20th anniversary.
“We’ve got an awesome new line of merchandise with very creative, cool designs. We think fans are going to love their 20th anniversary Harvest swag,” says Wasson.
Approximately 50% of tickets and passes were put on sale May 15th. The Festival’s popular Ultimate Pass sold out in less than 20 minutes.
A significant portion of the Ultimate Passes available July 17th will be sold in person, at the Harvest Store only. There is no guarantee that waiting in line will mean getting an Ultimate, however organizers are suggesting that is the best option for patrons. There will be giveaways in the line-up, including tickets to the July 22nd Hey Rosetta! show at the Boyce Farmers’ Market.
“We’re committed to not over-selling the venues in order to stick to our “Room to Groove” philosophy, ensuring comfort for patrons. That means demand will far outstrip supply of tickets for key shows. We expect Ultimate Passes to sell out almost immediately. Some key shows could sell out quickly as well,” says Wasson.
Once the Ultimate Passes have sold out, organizers suggest buying a combination of Nightly Passes for Friday and Saturday, and individual show tickets, to keep full mobility between tents on those nights at a comparable price to the Ultimate Pass.
“There will be some disappointment by those who really wanted Ultimate Passes, but when you examine the schedule closely, there are ways to see just about everything the Ultimate covers at close to the same price,” says Wasson.
Tickets and passes will also be available online at the Ticketpro website. Organizers have some tips for patrons ordering online. First, in order for online transactions to run smoothly, patrons MUST refresh their screen (by holding down shift and hitting the ‘refresh’ button) prior to beginning the ordering process. Second, transactions must be completed within 20 minutes to ensure that the order will not expire before being processed. Third, putting tickets in your purchase basket does not “reserve” tickets. Patrons seeking Ultimate Passes are advised to make those purchases right away, then return to consider other shows and seat selections for Playhouse shows.
“This is an exciting year for us as organizers, and it’s evident that the public shares our excitement as well. We recommend patrons buy as early as possible, to avoid disappointment,” says Wasson. “It’s not just passes that are in high demand. We have had some shows sell out in our Early Bird Sale, and we expect that when we put the remaining tickets on sale July 17th, they will go quickly as well.”
As the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi band was only recently signed to replace Gregg Allman, who is recovering from a liver transplant, tickets for the Trucks and Tedeschi shows, as well as the new Grace Potter Early Afterburner shows will go on sale for the first time on July 17th.
The shows that are expected to sell out first are: The Super Session with Big Sugar and The Trews, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band, Xavier Rudd, John Hiatt, Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers, Matt Andersen, and Jonny Lang. It is highly advised to purchase these tickets on July 17th to ensure seeing these world-class performances.
The Harvest Store, located at 81 Regent Street, will open at 8:30am on Saturday, July 17th. Tickets and passes will also be available online at ticketpro.ca and by calling the Ticketpro call centre at 1-888-311-9090. For more information on the First Day of Ticket Sales, visit harvestjazzandblues.com or call the Harvest office at 1-888-NBBLUES.
