AS excitement builds ahead of this year’s MTN Bushfire Festival, social media has been flooded with people buying and reselling tickets online. Some tickets are being sold at inflated prices.
A review of Facebook posts and stories shows a growing demand for the highly sought-after Golden Lounge and Main Mania Arena tickets, particularly full festival passes. One Facebook user posted that he was looking for 16 Bushfire Golden Circle tickets, attracting dozens of comments from potential sellers. Some said they had available tickets, though none had all 16 tickets that the Facebook user had requested.
In response to the post, one Facebook user commented that there were two Golden Lounge tickets that were available, as advertised in another platform. Each ticket, according to the user, costs E4 000. This is slightly above the official Phase 4 price for a Golden Lounge Full Fest ticket, which was sold at E3 950 through official ticketing outlets. Meanwhile, a Main Mania Arena Full Fest Phase 4 ticket was officially sold at E2 200.
Other users said they also had extra tickets, some selling each Golden Lounge Full Festival ticket at E2 500. Due to the high demand for festival tickets, some resellers explained that their prices were non-negotiable. The online resale activity suggests that some festivalgoers who had already secured tickets are now attempting to make profits as demand continues to rise closer to the event.
One ticket reseller, Sibonelo Dlamini, said she sold five tickets in less than a day after she advertised them on Facebook. She said she had purchased Full Festival Main Arena tickets in advance and later resold them. Each ticket was sold from the official ticketing platform for E1 250 for early birds, while it cost E1 580 for those who bought them in the first phase. In the second and third phases, the ticket cost E1 780 and E1 980, respectively.
ALSO READ | MTN Bushfire prepares roll-out
For Dlamini, she made an income of E7 500 in hours, as she sold each for E1 500. She had advertised the tickets on Sunday afternoon and they were all bought by Monday morning. Dlamini said the demand was overwhelming. Other resellers said they had bought tickets to the MTN Bushfire Festival with the intention to attend the event. However, due to other commitments, they said they were forced to sell them.
Due to the high demand, the resellers expressed satisfaction that they did not incur any losses from purchasing the tickets early, although they will not be attending the event. Meanwhile, others are still desperately searching for tickets after official outlets reportedly experienced high demand for premium access passes.
They said although the tickets were sold out from the official ticketing outlet, they were hopeful that they would still secure them so that they could attend the event that will be starting tomorrow. One Nondumiso Mkhabela expressed her determination to attend. She said she was hoping to secure a ticket so that she could go watch her favourite South African artist Young Stunna.
“I did not buy a ticket earlier because I was waiting to see this year’s entertainment line-up. I knew that I would get a ticket even after they had sold out at the official retailer,” said Mkhabela. She added that she anticipated securing a ticket at an affordable price.
“I hope I will get the tickets soon at E1 200. That is my budget,” she said. Every year, tickets for the internationally acclaimed festival attract strong demand from both local and international attendees.
