Oyster festival tickets offered at premium
BLUFF’S popular oyster festival has sold out and two tickets have already appeared online, being auctioned at more than three times their original price.
For the third consecutive year, the event sold out by Waitangi Day.
Bluff Oyster and Food Festival committee member Kylie Fowler said she was still fielding calls from people desperate to get their hands on some tickets.
‘‘Oysters aren’t a problem, but getting into the festival is,’’ she said.
‘‘We sold the last tic ket on Waitangi Day, just like last year.’’
Mrs Fowler said there was no possibility of increasing the capacity of the venue in future years.
Less than two days after selling out, the first two tickets appeared online on Friday morning.
The seller claimed they had bought eight, but two people had backed out.
By Friday evening the bid was $206, almost three times the original $70 the tickets would have cost. They sell for $35 each.
By Monday morning another pair of tickets was on offer.
Mrs Fowler said she had received several calls from people saying they had struggled to find accommodation for the May 25 event.
She said Air New Zealand had laid on two sameday return flights from Auckland and Wellington, catering for about 170 people.
Kelvin Hotel general manager Aaron Mills said the weekend of May 25 had been booked out a year in advance.
‘‘We’re full. We’re chockablock.
‘‘Most people who come down here for it book their rooms for the next year before they leave.’’