Lottery open for Greenwich Town Party
GREENWICH — If you plan to attend the Greenwich Town Party when it marks its 10th anniversary next Memorial Day weekend, the time to act is now.
The lottery to purchase community tickets for the allday music festival opened Friday and continues until Sept. 6. Residents, students and people who work in Greenwich can enter for an opportunity to buy tickets when they go on sale.
The only way to enter the lottery is to visit www.greenwichtownparty.org and fill out the application, with name, address, town residency or employment status, and how many community tickets or senior tickets are wanted. The limit per person is six community tickets for $85 each, which is the equivalent of general admission, and up to four senior tickets, for $20 each.
This is the second time that the Greenwich Town Party has used a lottery system for ticket sales. It was put into place after the 2018 party, which was headlined by Eric Clapton, sold out in minutes, leaving many residents disappointed and unhappy.
Ray Rivers, copresident of the nonprofit Greenwich Town Party Inc., said the ticket lottery worked well for this year’s party.
“We were able to eliminate the pressure people felt in previous years to be online on a certain day at a certain time, and that change was exceptionally effective overall,” Rivers said. “The lottery system gives everyone an equal opportunity to apply for tickets and participate in the process.”
The maximum capacity for Roger Sherman Baldwin Park is 8,000 people, which limits the number of tickets that can be sold at the community level as well as the pricier neighbor and sponsor levels. The lottery does not solve the supply and demand issue, Rivers said, but it gives everyone an equal chance to buy tickets.
In the lottery, the Greenwich Town Party will pull names at random, place them on a list and offer the winners a chance to buy tickets.
If the tickets are not purchased by a specific date, which has not yet been announced, they will go to the next name on the list until all the tickets have been sold.
According to party organizers, anyone signing up between now and the Sept. 6 deadline will have an equal chance to be chosen.
The next Greenwich Town Party on May 23, 2020, is expected to be a festive event as it celebrates its 10th year.
The featured performers will be announced over the winter. In addition to Clapton, past headliners include musical legends Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and James Taylor. John Fogerty, George Clinton, the Alabama Shakes and Blues Traveler have performed, and Dave Matthews made a surprise appearance one year.
Last year’s Greenwich Town Party featured The Beach Boys and Lynard Skynard.
“We are grateful the community has embraced the GTP and we are thankful support has grown year after year,“Rivers said. “It’s hard to believe it has already been 10 years. This success could not have happened without the whole community pitching in. Thankfully, that support has broadened out from the handful of supporters we had in the early years. Here we are a decade later, and the GTP is the can’tmiss event in Greenwich.”
Every year local bands and performers are also picked to perform. They can submit applications to be considered next year.
The party organizers always look forward to the live music and local talent, “But, the true highlight of the day is having the community come together to celebrate together,” Rivers said.
Tickets are already for sale at the Neighbor level for $500 and Sponsor level for $1,500. Those tickets come with perks that include designated parking, access to VIP areas, and catered food and beverages. Tickets at those levels for 2020 are already on sale at the party’s website at www.greenwichtownparty.org.
Rivers said the higher level tickets help fund the party, and he wants to “make our 10th anniversary the event of the year.”